Routers

Wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless broadband technology that utilizes radio frequency (RF) to transmit and receive data through the air, minimizing the need for wired networks.

There are two competing RF technologies in the use of Wireless LAN, the IEEE 802.11 standard and proprietary technologies. Both fall under wireless broadband technology. Broadband means the ability to transmit high-speed voice, data and video traffic using a wide range of frequencies on a single wireless medium or device.

This page aims to give you an overview about Wireless Broadband -IEEE 802.11 standard commonly called Wireless LAN. 802.11 is a standard agreed by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology. 802.11 is the standard adopted by IEEE to define an over the air interface between a wireless client and base station or between two wireless clients.

The 802.11 standard has evolved over the years and became one of the most successfully deployed technologies. The standard now covers 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g systems.

Radio Frequency (RF) is the medium use by wireless networks in the transmission of information over the air. RF works by converting electrical current into radio waves and transmit those waves over the air using a defined frequency of the radio spectrum. An example, the AM and FM radios two most commonly known uses of the RF spectrum.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the one administering the use of radio spectrum between the frequencies of 9 Kilohertz (KHz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). 802.11 WLAN systems operate in the radio spectrum available to the public, also known as the unlicensed frequency band. These radio spectrum bands are unlicensed, free for use by anyone provided FCC regulations are complied with.

The FCC as a regulatory governs the maximum transmit power of wireless radios as well as, type of encoding and frequency modulations to be used. In 802.11 operations, it is provided for by the FCC that non-licensed radios (such as 802.11) must accept interference from licensed electronic systems. FCC considers licensed device as the primary equipment.

802.11 Wireless LAN Standard Operating Frequencies: The 802.11 standard are assigned frequencies 2.4 GHz (2.4-2.4835 GHz) on ISM Band and 5 GHz (5.15-5.25 GHz, G.25-5.35 GHz, 5.725-5.825 GHz) of the U-NII band. 802.11b and 802.11g operates on 2.4 GHz while 802.11a is operating on the 5 GHz band.

802.11 assigned frequency range has different characteristics. Lower Frequencies (2.4 GHz ) exhibit better range but with limited bandwidth and lower data rates. Higher Frequencies (5 GHz) have less range but higher data rates but is prone to blocking by solid objects.

These are attributable to attenuation and interference. Attenuation or the loss of signal strength during transmission is higher when the receiver is farther from the transmitter. Obstacles such as mountains and buildings also contribute to attenuation by blocking or weakening radio signals, causing signal loss or dead spots. Depending of what they are made of, floors, walls, and ceilings can either strengthen or weaken WLAN signals. Interference can be caused by nearby stations operating in the same frequency on the same channel. 2.4 GHz cordless phones for instance can cause great interference on 802.11b wireless networks.

Wireless broadband and WLAN devices are called transceiver devices since it both transmit and receive at the same time. Each component both transmits and receives IP traffic. Antennas direct RF power into the air over a coverage area. An Antenna provides wireless LAN devices gain, direction and polarization. Gain is the measure of increase in power while direction is the shape of the transmission pattern. Polarization is dependent on antenna alignment and can be typically described as vertical or horizontal. Most Access Point antennas are designed to operate in vertical pattern for maximum horizontal coverage plane or polarization. Putting the antenna in a horizontal position will result in a vertical plane limiting coverage.

The factor to consider in increasing the range of Wireless LAN devices is the Antenna and EIRP. EIRP or Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power is being governed or limited by FCC regulations to a maximum of Four (4) watts with additional restrictions/limitations depending on type of antenna (directional or omni-directional) and antenna placement (indoor or outdoors). Some countries limit EIRP to as much as 100mw, above this will require a license to operate. This applies mostly for outdoor WLAN equipments.

To deploy long-range outdoor wireless broadband and WLAN devices, please consult your country’s telecommunication commission guidelines on use of outdoor wireless broadband (WLAN) devices.

The goal is to reach people yearning to start their own home-based business even in remote regions thru cost-effective internet business and long-range wireless communication solutions.

The Answer To The Media Access Control Question

Over the past few weeks I have received quite a few e-mails about Ethernet cards, both wired and wireless, and more specifically, about Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. I think the main reason I’ve received so many questions about Ethernet cards and MAC addresses is people trying to secure their home wireless networks and their desire to use MAC address filtering. This type of filtering in wireless networks can be configured to allow or deny specific computers to use or attach to the wireless network, based on the MAC address.

My first thought was to write an article just about MAC addresses and wireless Ethernet. After thinking about it I decided to expand on this and go over some specific information about Ethernet cards and communication.

Different Ways Of Finding Your MAC Address And More

There are several ways of finding your Ethernet and communications protocol information. Many Ethernet card manufacturer’s have proprietary software that can reveal this information but they work differently depending on the manufacturer. So we will use the Windows 2000 and XP “ipconfig” utility since this is available in the majority of Windows Operating Systems.

First, go to “start” -> “run” and type “cmd” without the quotes. Then hit the enter key. At the command line type “ipconfig /all”, again without the quotes. Actually, just typing ipconfig without the /all will work but will only provide you with abbreviated information regarding your network cards. An example of what you might see by typing the “ipconfig /all” command is below with each item commented in green lettering:

Fault Tolerant And Highly Availability Computer Systems

There are several ways of finding your Ethernet and communications protocol information. Many Ethernet card manufacturer’s have proprietary software that can reveal this information but they work differently depending on the manufacturer. So we will use the Windows 2000 and XP “ipconfig” utility since this is available in the majority of Windows Operating Systems.

First, go to “start” -> “run” and type “cmd” without the quotes. Then hit the enter key. At the command line type “ipconfig /all”, again without the quotes. Actually, just typing ipconfig without the /all will work but will only provide you with abbreviated information regarding your network cards. An example of what you might see by typing the “ipconfig /all” command is below:

OutPut Of The “Ipconfig /All” Command

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Home Computer
This is the name of your computer, typically defined during the windows installation. However, it can be changed after installation.

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : domain.com
If your computer participates in a network such as a Microsoft Windows domain this item may contain the name of the domain.

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
The Node Type may say Unknown, or peer-to-peer, or in some cases “hybrid”. It is a setting that has to do with the Windows Internet Naming Services used in certain types of Windows domain networks.

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
This setting determines if Windows XP or 2000 will function as an IP router. If you have two or more network cards you can setup your system to act as a router, forwarding communications requests from one network to another. Windows 2000 can be configured to do this in a pretty straight forward fashion; Windows XP will need a registry modification.

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy is another setting that is related to the “Node Type” we discussed earlier. It is normally not a required setting in a home or small office network, or newer types of Microsoft Windows domains.

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:
If you have multiple Ethernet (network) cards in your systems, as I do in this laptop, you will have multiple listings. This one happens to be the second Ethernet card, an internal wireless Ethernet card.

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN
This is the description of the Ethernet card, usually the Name / Manufacturer and type of Ethernet card. In this case, it is a Broadcom wireless Ethernet card built into my laptop.

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-F1-6E-4A
And here we have the MAC address. The MAC address is a 48 bit hexadecimal code and is suppose to be a totally unique address. It is 48 bits because each number or letter in hexadecimal represents 8 bits. Hexadecimal numbers range from 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E, F. There are 6 alpha-numeric codes hence 6*8=48(bits). The first 3 codes identify the manufacturer of the card and the remaining codes are used to create a unique number. Theoretically there should never be a card with same MAC address on a local network. However, there are a few exceptions. There are software tools that allow you to change this code. In fact, this is a step some hackers take to attack other systems on a local network. I say local network because MAC addresses are not routable between network segments. By spoofing this address, you can impersonate another machine on the local network. Traffic that was bound for the intended target can be redirected to the hacker’s machine. This is the address you would also use to populate a MAC address, or physical address table when setting up your wireless access point to support MAC address filtering.

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
DHCP, or the Dynamic Host Control Protocol, if enabled means your computers IP address is being provided by a DHCP server on you network. The DHCP server could be your wireless access point, cable/dsl router, cable modem, or a server on your network. Also, if a DHCP server is not enabled on your network, your computers Operating System will auto generate a random IP address within a certain predefined range. This means you could network a group of systems together without having to manually assign the IP settings.

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.117
This parameter provides you with your current IP address. The address listed above is what is called a “private” address. There are certain classes of IP addresses that have been set aside for private use. This means for your internal, local, or private network at home or office. These addresses are not, or should not, be routable on the Internet. The Internet routes what are called “valid” IP addresses. Your cable/dsl router or cable modem has a valid IP address assigned to its “external” network interface. The external interface may be your phone line or cable TV cable.

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
The Subnet Mask is a special number, or in some sense, filter, that breaks down your IP address, in this case private IP address, into certain groups. IP addresses and Subnet Masks can be a complicated matter and would take an entire article to go over.

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.254
The default gateway, the IP addresses listed above, is the IP address of the device that will route your request, such as when you try to browse a website, to the Internet. It is a bit more complicated than that though as gateways or routers can route traffic to various different networks, even other private networks. At your home or small office, this gateway most likely is your cable/dsl modem or router.

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.49
The DHCP server, remember we talked a little about this above, is the device that assigns your computer an IP address and other information. DHCP servers can assign all kinds of information such as; Default Gateway, Domain Name Servers (DNS), IP address, Subnet Mask, Time Server, and much more.

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.49, 64.105.197.58
DNS Servers are internal or external servers that resolve Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN), such as www.defendingthenet.com , to IP addresses. This is done because computers don’t actually transmit your requests using the domain name, they use the IP address assigned to the FQDN. For most home or small office users, the primary DNS server is the IP address of your cable/dsl router. Your cable/dsl router than queries an external DNS server on the Internet to perform the actual resolution of the FQDN to IP address. The address 192.168.0.49 is an internal private device on my network whereas the 64.105.197.58 is an external public Internet DNS server and is present just in case my router has trouble performing the DNS resolution tasks.

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 19, 2006 6:38:16 PM
This information tells you when your computer received its IP address and other information from a DHCP server. You will notice it says “Lease Obtained”, that is because most DHCP servers only lease the IP address to you from a pool of available address. For instance, your pool may be 192.168.1.1 through 192.168.1.50. So your DHCP server has 50 IP addresses to choose from when assigning your computer its IP address.

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, March 29, 2006 9:38:16 PM
When the IP address, assigned by the DHCP server, lease expires it will attempt to lease you the same or another IP address. This function can typically be changed on the DHCP server. For instance, on some fully functional DHCP servers, you can configure the Lease to never expire, or to expire within 1 day and so on.

Why Are MAC Addresses So Important And How Do They Work

To jump back to MAC address for just a bit. You may think that IP addresses are the most important thing when it comes to network communication. The reality is, MAC addresses are very important because without them computers would not be able to communicate over Ethernet networks. When a computer wants to speak with another computer on a local network, it will make a broadcast request, or ask a question, of who owns a particular IP address. For instance, your computer may say “Who is 192.168.0.254”. Using the information above, my default gateway is 192.168.0.254 and will answer “I am “00-90-4B-F1-6E-4A” 192.168.0.254”. It sends back its MAC address. That MAC address then goes into what is called a Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table on your computer. You can see this information by going to the command prompt like you did above and typing “arp –a”. You will get information like the following:

Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.0.49 00-12-17-5c-a2-27 dynamic
192.168.0.109 00-12-17-5c-a2-27 dynamic
192.168.0.112 00-0c-76-93-94-b2 dynamic
192.168.0.254 00-0e-2e-2e-15-61 dynamic

How A Hacker Can Use MAC Addresses In An Attack

You will notice the IP addresses and to the right of them the MAC addresses. Without this information, without the MAC address, you would not be reading this article right now. MAC addresses are not routable like IP addresses. They work on your local or private network. However, devices on the Internet perform the same tasks. Routers and switches maintain a list of their peer devices MAC address just like your computers and devices on your home or office network. I mentioned above that MAC addresses can be changed in order to redirect requests. For instance, if I were on your office network and you had an internal web server that took personal information as input, I could tell your computer to go to my laptop for the web site by broadcasting my MAC address tied to the real web servers IP address. I would do this when you computer asked “Who is the “Real Web Server””. I could setup a fake web server that looks just like the real thing, and start collecting information the real web server would normally collect. You can see how dangerous this can be.

Conclusion

There are several other easy ways you can find your MAC address but they can be a little confusing if you have more than one internal network card. Most external USB, or PCMCIA wired and wireless Ethernet cards have their MAC address printed on them. In cases where the wired or wireless network card are inside your computer, such as in laptops, the MAC address is sometimes printed on the bottom of the laptop. Even Desktop systems cards that are inserted in PCI slots have the MAC address printed on the Ethernet card.

If you are thinking about buying a Netgear wireless network adapter, then you have to know which products to stick with and which to get away from. After all, you do need to make sure that you get the best possible value from your money. Here are a few of the Netgear wireless network adapters available in the market today and some advice regarding each.

WPN311 – Netgear actually designed a new model out of this, and for good reason. This Netgear wireless network adapter is just flat-out horrible. The best performance you can get out of it is 10 feet –if you are lucky. Unfortunately, not every one of us is, right? When you consider the distance, you might just prefer using wires instead of going wireless.

Another issue with the Netgear wireless network adapter is the fact that the installation can be very difficult. In fact, the process is so tedious and complicated that a lot of people end up thinking if the product is even worth it. Of course, the signal strength can be quite excellent –but that’s about it. Since you can get the signal quality from other Netgear wireless network adapters, you should just seek them out and forget this one.

WG111 – This is the best that Netgear has come up with so far. This Netgear wireless network adapter actually connects to your computer via USB port. This means you will be able to easily attach and detach it quite easily. While a PCI adapter may be cheaper, this USB Netgear wireless network adapter gives back in terms of performance.

The WG111 actually allows quick data transfers. Another plus is the fact that it can actually be installed in under 2 minutes’ time. This, of course, is thanks to the clear installation guide provided with the product –something that other wireless adapters lack.

This Netgear wireless network adapter is also great because of its design. With the stick gum –size common to many USB devices, the WG111 can fit into your purse, your pocket and other carrying places. One disadvantage is that, unlike other USB devices, the WG111 does not have a slot to admit a key chain or ID tag –the common way of carrying USB devices around today.

This Netgear wireless network adapter also comes with a USB cable. If you want, you can attach the device directly to your computer. However, if you want to save yourself the trouble of having to reach into the back every time you have to connect or disconnect the adapter, then the cable is available for your use. Another advantage of this is that you won’t be pressed for space with the adapter sticking out.

WG511T – This Netgear wireless network adapter is actually pretty decent. It can be very fast if you use it with other Netgear products. If not, the speed kind of plummets. This means that the product will perform excellently for you if you are an avid supporter of the Netgear line.

The fact that it is easy to install and configure makes this Netgear wireless network adapter a winner with people. Add this to the fact that support can be easily reached and you have got quite an excellent device on your hand. Of course, the fact that it has a short warranty can turn people off.

When you have several locations within your house where you’d like to have a computer, you have probably noticed that not all locations are equal. You’d like for each to have access to the same files and internet services. However, you only have one internet connection for a modem or cable, and you can’t splice it or run an additional cable because you have computers all over the house and don’t want to run messy, aesthetically unpleasing wires all through the house. You can find many aids on the internet or in the library to assist you in building a wireless home network setup.

A wireless home network setup is probably the solution to your problems. You’ll only need one wired workstation to begin configuring your setup, and you’ll be able to access the same information at all locations within the home. You’ll need some hardware, including network interface cards in all the wireless computers and other devices you plan to have on your network. With the help of additional resources, as well as following directions on all devices that are being installed, you’ll be able to determine exactly what you need and where it should be installed. Be sure that you also have information on the operating systems for all computers to be added to the network, as setup may be different for each one.

You’ll first need to find a location to mount the network access point. Look for tips, tricks, and other suggestions regarding locations that minimize obstructions and distance, as well as those that maximize reception capability. Note that the access point should be in the same place as the router, modem, or other internet capability connection for ease of setup. This will allow you to access the World Wide Web from all satellite locations once the system is configured. Both antennas of the access point should be perpendicular to the ground, though even with proper installation some obstacles may still interfere with reception. However, if installed in an area where distance to other devices within the network is minimized, your access point should be able to locate all wireless home network setup devices within your own home. Try to have the access point in a centralized area of the house for best results. Once you have the device set up, you can begin configuration. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for connecting to the hub and setting all options.

To test the wireless home network setup, turn on all the other devices you have put on the network for purpose of configuration. Instructions are available for all operating systems, and resources like http://netsupportcenter.com can assist you in the start up process. Make sure the wireless cards in these devices are set for Infrastructure or Access Point, rather than Ad Hoc mode. All channel, SSID, and WEP settings should also match the access point.

As far as I’m concerned, wireless networks are one of the best inventions in history — they really are the best thing since sliced bread. I mean, really, bread is easy enough to cut yourself, but have you ever tried to wire up a network? So, in the spirit of spreading the word, I’m going to give you five reasons why you need a wireless network.

Share Internet Access.

Wireless networking gives you a cheap and easy way to share one Internet connection between multiple computers, eliminating the need for more than one modem. You can even add new computers to your network simply by plugging in a wireless card and switching them on — they get an Internet connection straightaway! There aren’t many wired networks that can say that.

Share Files and Printers.

A wireless network gives you access to your files wherever you are in your home, and makes it easy to synchronise the data on a laptop with a home computer. It is much easier to send files between computers with a wireless network than it is to send them by email, or even by burning them to a CD.

Plus, with the printer connected, you can also write things wherever you want, press print, and go and collect them from a printer connected to another computer — printers that are plugged into one of the computers on the network are shared between all the computers automatically.

Play Games.

You might have seen an option in your favourite game to play over a LAN. Well, wireless networks are LANs, which means that your whole family can play that game together — without needing the computers to be anywhere near each other. It’s far more fun to play against real people you know than to play against random people over the Internet, not to mention that the game will work much faster. You could even invite your friends to bring their computers and join in — a ‘LAN party’!

An added benefit is that wireless equipment lets you easily connect any games consoles you or your kids might have to the Internet, and start playing online. It’s far easier to play online with a wirelessly connected Xbox or PlayStation 2 than to have to connect it to your modem every time.

Always On.

A big factor in the spread of broadband was that it let Internet connections be always-on, without needing to dial in. Well, wireless networking lets network connections be always-on, meaning that any of your computers can connect to the Internet whenever you want! You can take laptops from room to room, and it doesn’t matter — they’ll always have access. Plus, there’s not even any need to set up a username and password system, as wireless networks work without logging in. It’s just so convenient!

No More Wires.

This, of course, is the biggest reason why you should switch your network over to wireless. Wires are inconvenient, expensive, ugly and dangerous — you’ll be delighted to see the back of them.

The average Ethernet wire doesn’t cost that much per metre, but once you’ve bought enough metres to do whatever you need to do, well, it tends to add up quickly. Not only that, but if you want to run your wire between rooms or floors, you have to knock holes in the walls — which might not even be allowed if you’re renting. I know plenty of people in rented apartments who had to keep their network confined to one room until they went wireless. With wireless networking, well, you can even take your computer outside, if you want to!

No more wires also means no more spaghetti all over the floor and in the corners. Not only does this improve the safety of your home, as it’s all too easy to trip over exposed wires, but it also means that you don’t have to go to all the trouble of packing all the wires up and re-connecting them at the other end when you move. It also means that you don’t have to examine every wire for damage if your Internet connection breaks down.

Convinced?

If you’re excited, then that’s great — keep reading these articles for advice on how to set everything up. If you don’t think it’s for you yet, well, don’t give up on it — I’m sure you’ll come round when you realise just how easy and cheap wireless really is.

Setting up a wireless router is easy. Essentially you turn your cable or DSL modem off and your wireless router on. Then, you connect the router to the modem with a cable, and turn the modem back on. You are more or less done. The wireless network wizard on your computer will pick up the router and, if your ISP does not have any special requirements, away-you-go, you are on the Internet.

For ease of setup and configuration, manufacturers ship wireless routers with all security disabled. Therein lies the problem. If you do not take any further steps to secure your router, and a surprising number of people don’t, your network will be wide open to all passersby and strangers. It’s like you’ve hung out a sign, “The door is open. Please come in and help yourself.”

The problem is not that strangers will be able to use your router to access the Internet but that, without further protection, would-be intruders will be able monitor and sniff out information you send and receive on your network. Malicious intruders can even hop on to your internal network; access your hard drives; and, steal, edit, or delete files on your computer.

The good news is that it is relatively easy to secure your wireless router. Here are three basic steps you should take.

1. Password protect the access to your router’s internal configuration

To access your router’s internal setup, open a browser and enter the routers setup URL. The URL will be specified in the manual. The URLs for D-Link and Linksys routers, two major manufacturers of wireless routers, are http://192.168.0.1 and http://192.168.1.1, respectively.

For Linksys routers, leave the user name blank and type “admin” (without the quotes) in the password field and press enter. To change the password, simply click on the Password tab and enter your new password.

For other routers, please consult your manual. Alternately, you can search on the Internet with the term “default login for ”. Don’t be surprised to find quite a number of pages listing default login parameters for many different routers, even uncommon ones.

2. Change the default SSID (Service Set IDentifier)

The SSID is the name of a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). All wireless devices on a WLAN use SSIDs to communicate with each other.

Routers ship with standard default SSIDs. For example, the default SSID for Linksys routers is, not unsurprisingly, “Linksys”. As you can see, if you don’t change the default SSID of your router a would-be intruder armed with a few common SSIDs from major manufacturers will be able to find your wireless network quite easily.

To change the SSID, click on the Wireless tab. Look for an input item labeled SSID. It will be near the top. Enter a new name for network. Don’t use something like “My Network”. Use a name that is be hard to guess.

3. Disable SSID broadcast

Wireless enabled computers use network discovery software to automatically search for nearby SSIDs. Some of the more advanced software will query the SSIDs of nearby networks and even display their names. Therefore, changing the network name only helps partially to secure your network. To prevent your network name from being discovered, you must disable SSID broadcast.

In the same screen that you changed the name of your network, you will see options for SSID broadcast. Choose “Disable SSID” to make your network invisible. Now save all your settings and log out.

Since your wireless network is now invisible, you will have to configure your computers to connect to your wireless network using the new name. On Windows XP, start by clicking on the wireless icon in the Notification Area and proceed from there.

With these three steps, your network now has basic security. However, if you keep sensitive information on your computers, you may want to secure your wireless network even further. For example, you can

- Change the channel your router uses to transmit and receive data on a regularly basis.
- Restrict devices that can connect to the router by filtering out MAC (Media Access Control) addresses.
- Use encryption such as WEP and WPA.

As with most things in life, security is a trade off between cost (time, money, inconvenience) and benefit (ease of use). It is a personal decision you make. However for the majority of home uses, the three basic steps plus WEP/WPA encryption provides reasonably strong security.

Turning on encryption is a two-step process. First you configure your router to use encryption using an encryption key of your choice. And then, you configure your computer to use the encryption key. The actual process of configuring your router for encryption varies from router to router. Please consult the router’s manual.

There are even stronger methods for ensuring security. A strong and robust security method is RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service). Using RADIUS requires additional hardware and software. However, there are companies that offer RADIUS security as a subscription based service. The fees are reasonable and dropping.

Therefore for example, if you run a business on your wireless network, have sensitive data on your computers such as credit card information, and have a number of users who access your network, you should consider using RADIUS. Since the service sector for RADIUS is dynamic and growing, a search on the Internet with terms like “RADIUS subscription” or “RADIUS service” is probably the best way to locate one.

Configuring an ASDL router with a local area network is no longer the exclusive domain of computer savvy network administrators and technicians. Routers are becoming increasingly easier to set up according to anyone’s specific needs. Many of these network devices offer an online feature that allows the user to do the configuring in a graphical interface setting after logging in.

The various brands of ADSL routers differ in software design and in the options they offer. The procedures I’ve sketched here are based on the Netgear routers with which I have been long familiar, and whose configuration interfaces I consider to be among the user friendliest.

Actually the settings to configure in all ASDL routers are alike. They just differ in the way they are explained or defined. It is best to consult your router’s manual or Web site to ascertain exactly how you are to go about working out the configuration for your particular model.

Port forwarding, local area network (LAN) set up, and Web site restriction are among the common requirements of router configuration. I am limiting the scope of the discussion in this article to port forwarding. We won’t be talking about setting up the other features of your ADSL router until later.

Forwarding your port is the same as saying you are opening them up to use specific programs. There are programs that require an open port in order to function. Oftentimes, an ADSL router will close some ports. These need to be manuall opened. An example of a program requiring a specific port to be forwarded is one that makes file sharing possible.

You’ll need to know which ports ought to be opened. Type the program name followed by “port forward” into a Google search box to get information as to which port numbers to open, and then note each port number down. Next, log into your ADSL router’s configuration section with the username and password that was provided by the vendor. A port forwarding configuration page will appear after you click the Port Forwarding link.

Netgear router users will have to click Add Custom Service, and then key in the Service Name (which is the program name), followed by the starting and ending port numbers that had been jotted down earlier.

Some programs call for the opening of a set of ports, some only need one. If you have only one number written down, type in the number into both number fields.

Your server’s IP (Internet protocol) address should be the same as your Internet IP address, not your local network IP address. The WhatIsMyIp.com Web site makes it easy to know just what that set of numbers is. It will display the numbers on your computer screen. Type the numbers into the IP address field.

By clicking Add and then Apply, you complete the process of configuring the router to open the ports necessary for your favorite programs to operate.

So there you have it. You’re done with configuring your ADSL router in no time at all.

Router is a computer device that receives or forwards data packets to and from the Internet towards a destination in the process called routing. Router is the essential component of the computer networking that enables any sent data to arrive at the right destination.

As an illustration, imagine that the Internet is the world and one computer is one household. Other computers connected through the Internet are households around the world. Say one household will send a letter to another household in any part of the world. The letter has an address right? And that address would determine the destination of the letter. But without one reading the address, the letter would not arrive to the right receiver. The letter also would not be able to reach the intended receiver if there is not medium. This medium would be the courier. And the courier of the computer data is the router.

A router (broadband router) is also a device that enables two or more computer to receive data packets from the Internet under one IP address at the same time.

Remember that to be able to connect to the Internet, a computer must have an IP address unique from the rest of the computers. Therefore, every computer connected to the Internet has it own IP address. It is like having a fingerprint or ID as an access pass to be able to enter the web. With the presence of the router, this “fingerprint” or “ID” could be shared by two or more computer at the same time.

In simplest form, a router makes two or more computer use the Internet at the same with one access pass.

One more thing: a computer with cable modem could also be considered as a router. In this, the computer would do the process of routing like normal routers do. Other computers are then connected to the computer with Internet connection that would give it with the Internet connection. The computer with cable modem has the direct contact with the Internet and the ones connected to it are sharing the connection.

Why would anyone need a router?

For households with two or more computers who would want to have Internet connection to every computers they have, taking subscription for each would be too much. The solution is to buy a router that would enable every computer in the house to have an Internet connection. In the definition above, the broadband router would act as a hub to the existing Internet connection.

If the router is comparable to a hub, would it affect the Internet speed?

It should be taken into consideration that once a single Internet connection is divided, the connection speed is affected. But there are some broadband routers that would bring minimal slowdown to the Internet speed and the effect might not even be big.

Internet speed would also depend on the type of application used in a router. While some would inflict little effect on the speed like online games, others would terribly slowdown your connection and even hinder you to use the Internet at all.

Usually, offices use a more sophisticated router to redirect Internet connections to the large number of computers. These routers would give better data packeting compared to a typical router used at home that results to faster Internet speed.

In computer networking and telecommunications, route flapping occurs when a router alternately advertises a destination network via one route then another (or as unavailable, and then available again) in quick sequence.

Route flapping is caused by pathological conditions (hardware errors, software errors, configuration errors, unreliable connections, etc.) within the network which cause certain reachability information to be repeatedly advertised and withdrawn. The most common causes of route flapping are configuration errors and intermittent errors in communications links. Route flapping often forces a router to recalculate a new or preferred route to a particular network, while traffic destined for that network is in transit through the router.

This option determines the level of control you can have over your network, including the degree of security that your business wants for its networked data and communications. Managed switches offer more control; they also usually require more technical expertise. If you have multiple LANs and switches, you may decide to manage some of them and not others.

Unmanaged switches are preconfigured to satisfy most small business needs and can be quickly set up, making them appropriate for simple LAN connections.

Managed switches provide control capabilities that can increase LAN security and performance, and let you segment traffic. For example, you could allow only certain employees access to your finance applications. You could also give certain applications more bandwidth, or ensure that video and voice communications take priority over other types of traffic.