Aol & Netgear Router Problems

Hi i do apologies in advance if this is written elsewhere Oh and for being 'Thick' when it comes to Internet & networking so can you ps bear with us! :lol:
Right here i go! I am on AOL 2mb (Plat) and have 1 pc Network iI have brought a dg834 router to replace my old green speedtouch usb Modem as i was told its more secure and will be faster in games etc! Oh i'm also running a software FW (kerio) But whats worrying me is this: The router is currently on its default settings with all the aol mtu/password thing set up, and its all working ok...well apart from emule and a few Mailer daemon emails. What i need to know is are the routers default settings more secure than the old usb modems were? I have done a test via pcflank and its all ok but have been told on AOLs 'mssg board' that its not a true reading because pcflank is scanning the Aol gateway and not my ip and also something about upnp being turned on making it unsafe ! If this is true how can i get it secured? And do i need the SW FW (Kerio) :( This is confusing me as its beyond my BB knowledge! Please HELP!!:bowdown: Can you ps explain as if you were talking to a 10 yr old:undecided .....No a 5yr old!:heckle:

PS I have just purchased a Logitech Webcam (pro 4000) how would i go about setting that up

Just to confirm....have you setup the port forwards on the router for apps such as Emule?

Hi thanks for replying! No i have it set as default!

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Originally Posted by wannabgeek

Hi thanks for replying! No i have it set as default!

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Ah ok...you need need to open up the ports to your ip address of your pc.

Have a crack at that and let me know if you still need help?

Ta

D

ok!thanx

Do i have to get a static ip address as i'm on AOL remember!:confused:

Ur AOL ip is different to ur network IP. One IP for the internet side aka WAN and a different one for the network/ethernet side aka LAN. Even if u dont have a network i.e. only 1 pc, that 1 pc still needs an IP address. My router on default hands out up to 50 ip address' to the network. I change that number to 2. The LAN ip address' usually start at 192.168.1.100, or 127.xxx.x.x. U need to find out what ip your LAN side PC is being given. Then feed the number into the port forwarding setup page.

Any program which requires u to have ports available will mention which port u need to forward to the LAN IP, and will give a little info on how to do this.

The LAN address (handed out by a NAT device running DHCP can be anything, but convention is that it is 192.168.xxx.xxx That address range is specifically NOT used on the wider internet so that it is available for private networks without problems. Most routers allow you to configure it, common defaulkts are 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.0. The subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.

The bottom line is that being behind NAT does mean you are safer - in default mode o packet will get past the NAT translator inbound unless there is a corresponding packet out that triggered the response. So you will get a reply to an HTTP packet to port 80, but an unsolicited packet on port 80 won't get through. As soon as you start opening ports up inbound (for example to operate a webserver) you are decreasing security, and you have to ensure that appropriate Sy measures are in place on the server. Using Kerio (or similar) is a good idea, not so much for the firewall function, but because it monitors outgoing packets generated by the PC, which, as they are on the LAN side, would get through the router, as would the replying traffic. So malware introduced onto your PC through e mail or similar could leak data out of your system.

Thanks for your easy to understand explainations guys i'm definately getting there!:rockon:

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U need to find out what ip your LAN side PC is being given

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Would i find that via my Local Area connection status/support/details? And what does the physical address mean?:confused: :thumbsup:
And where would the Hrdware Firewall come into this? ...As i've been told that its better than a software FW!

if everything is default, then i would recommend changing the default password to access the webpage, if you havn't already. Obvious, but so many people leave it as is.