We are going to go through a basic home router setup. A home router connects your home network to your broadband connection, such as DSL or cable. However, most home routers are much more than just routing from the internet to a computer. Home routers typically include a four-port switch for computers that use Ethernet cables and wireless connectivity. This video shows basic router setup along with wireless setup and security and you’ll also see how you can allow outside connections to a web server at your house through port forwarding.
Just about all routers use the same basic setup. You’ll be shown how it is done on a Linksys WRT54G router. For the basic setup the most important configuration is DHCP. This allows computers in your home network to automatically get an IP address. For the basic wireless setup you can name your network to distinguish it from other routers that may be within range.
Wireless security is very important. You should never leave it disabled, because then anyone within range will have access to your network and its computers. There are a number of choices. WAP was the original method, but it is easily hacked. You should pick WPA2, which is the most secure. If you find that you have some old computers that don’t support it, then WPA is okay.
Under normal circumstances computers outside your home network cannot connect to any computer in your home network. All connection must be initiated from within your home network. But what if you wanted to login to your home computer from work or if you had a web server that you wanted others to see? Your home connection only has a single IP address. Each network application is associated with a port. For example, web servers typically use Port 80, although they can use other ports as we will see.
Remove desktop is a Windows application that allows you to logon from another Windows computer. It uses Port 3389. If you have a Linux server at home you would typically use secure shell, which uses Port 22. When the router detects one of the ports you have listed to forward, it will send it to the IP address that you specify.
First, we will look at basic setup for the router. You will notice that we have set up DHCP, which is the default. There is some other more complex settings, but just about everyone uses DHCP. The router name is not important. You can leave it at the default. We need an address for the local router and the default is 192.168.1.1 and so we can keep it that way. Starting IP address – not too important. Obviously it cannot conflict with the existing router IP address, but I started it at 101 and I’m allowing a maximum number of 50 users, which is more than enough.
Let’s go to wireless settings. In Linksys routers often the default network name is Linksys and since it is the default you would definitely want to change it. So, we’re going to change it to Experimental. Now, this is ID broadcast enable. This is not a real security issue. It does make it easier to see your own network when you connect wirelessly. So, typically you allow broadcasts. Wireless channel is not typically important. It becomes more important when there are multiple wireless routers or there are other conflicts.
There are a number of choices. You should never leave it disabled. There is something called radius that relies on a separate server to handle the connections and encryptions. WPA2 is a good option that you should try, but maybe you have some very, very old computers that can’t support it, in which case you can pick WPA. You should never leave it disabled and ____ is not secure. So, I’m going to pick WPA2 – personal. There is an option for TKEP+AES which is a little bit more secure, but not all computers can use it. So, AES is definitely a secure choice and you create a much more secured key than what I’ve typed in here. This is what you’re going to type in on the wireless computers in your home so the keys match.
Next, we are going to look at port forwarding and here is what’s going on. Let’s look at the second one first. It says Port 3389 from and to the same port, so it’s a single port and remote desktop uses TCP. So, it’s saying when I try to connect to remote desktop from somewhere on the internet, send that request to a computer at 192.168.1.210. But I’ve got three servers set up – three web servers and so if there is a web connection to Port 8080, I’m trying to get to that web server. Then send it to the server that ends in IP address 210. If it requests a web server at Port 8,000 I also send it to that computer. I have two separate web servers running on that single server.
I have yet another server at Port 8088 and if that is detected, then send it to the computer ending in 14. If I want to administer my Linux server I use Secure Shell from out on the internet and again, if it detects Port 22, which is the Secure Shell port, then send it to my Linux computer at the address ending in 14.
So, it can be very useful in managing and allowing access to computers within your network. Thank you.
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