Netgear orporated WGT624V3 User Manual

Reference Manual for the 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router WGR624v3

Setting the MTU Size

The normal MTU (Maximum Transmit Unit) value for most Ethernet networks is 1500 Bytes, 1492 Bytes for PPPoE connections, or 1436 for PP TP connections. For some ISPs you may need to reduce the MTU. But this is rarely required, and should not be done unless you are sure it is necessary for your ISP connection.

Any packets sent through the router that are larger than the configured MTU size will be repackaged into smaller packets to meet the MTU requirement. To change the MTU size:

1. Under MTU Size, enter a new size between 64 and 1500.

2. Click Apply to save the new configuration.

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Using the LAN IP Setup Options

The second feature category under the Advanced heading is LAN IP Setup. This menu allows configuration of LAN IP services such as DHCP and RIP. From the Main Menu of the browser interface, under Advanced, click on LAN IP Setup to view the LAN IP Setup menu, shown below.

Figure 7-6: LAN IP Setup Menu

Configuring LAN TCP/IP Setup Parameters

The router is shipped preconfigured to use private IP addresses on the LAN side, and to act.as a DHCP server. The router’s default LAN IP configuration is:

• LAN IP addresses—192.168.0.1

• Subnet mask—255.255.255.0

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These addresses are part of the IETF-designated private address range for use in private networks, and should be suitable in most applications. If your network has a requirement to use a different IP addressing scheme, you can make those changes in this menu.

The LAN IP parameters are:

• IP Address This is the LAN IP address of the router.

• IP Subnet Mask This is the LAN Subnet Mask of the router. Combined with the IP address, the IP Subnet Mask allows a device to know which other addresses are local to it, and which must be reached through a gateway or router.

• RIP Direction RIP (Router Information Protocol) allows a router to exchange routing information with other routers. The RIP Direction selection controls how the router sends and receives RIP packets. Both is the default.

— When set to Both or Out Only, the router will broadcast its routing table periodically. — When set to Both or In Only, it will incorporate the RIP information that it receives. — When set to None, it will not send any RIP packets and will ignore any RIP packets

received.

• RIP Version This controls the format and the broadcasting method of the RIP packets that the router sends. (It recognizes both formats when receiving.) By default, this is set for RIP-1.

— RIP-1 is universally supported. RIP-1 is probably adequate for most networks, unless you

have an unusual network setup.

— RIP-2 carries more information. RIP-2B uses subnet broadcasting.

Note: If you change the LAN IP address of the router while connected through the browser, you will be disconnected. You must then open a new connection to the new IP address and log in again.

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Using the Router as a DHCP server

By default, the router will function as a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, allowing it to assign IP, DNS server, and default gateway addresses to all computers connected to the router's LAN. The assigned default gateway address is the LAN address of the router. IP addresses will be assigned to the attached computers from a pool of addresses specified in this menu. Each pool address is tested before it is assigned to avoid duplicate addresses on the LAN.

For most applications, the default DHCP and TCP/IP settings of the router are satisfactory. See “IP

Configuration by DHCP” on page B-10 for an explanation of DHCP and information about how to

assign IP addresses for your network. If another device on your network will be the DHCP server, or if you will manually configure the

network settings of all of your computers, clear the ‘Use router as DHCP server’ check box. Otherwise, leave it checked.

Specify the pool of IP addresses to be assigned by setting the Starting IP Address and Ending IP Address. These addresses should be part of the same IP address subnet as the router’s LAN IP address. Using the default addressing scheme, you should define a range between 192.168.0.2 and

192.168.0.253, although you may wish to save part of the range for devices with fixed addresses.

The router will deliver the following parameters to any LAN device that requests DHCP:

• An IP Address from the range you have defined

• Subnet Mask

• Gateway IP Address (the router’s LAN IP address)

• Primary DNS Server (if you entered a Primary DNS address in the Basic Settings menu; otherwise, the router’s LAN IP address)

• Secondary DNS Server (if you entered a Secondary DNS address in the Basic Settings menu

Using Address Reservation

When you specify a reserved IP address for a computer on the LAN, that computer will always receive the same IP address each time it access the router ’s DHCP server. Reserved IP addresses should be assigned to servers that require permanent IP settings.

To reserve an IP address:

1. Click the Add button.

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In the IP Address box, type the IP address to assign to the computer or server.

(choose an IP address from the router’s LAN subnet, such as 192.168.0.X)

3. Type the MAC Address of the computer or server.

(Tip: If the computer is already present on your network, you can copy its MAC address from the Attached Devices menu and paste it here.)

4. Click Apply to enter the reserved address into the table.

Note: The reserved address will not be assigned until the next time the computer contacts the router's DHCP server. Reboot the computer or access its IP configuration and force a DHCP release and renew.

To edit or delete a reserved address entry:

1. Click the button next to the reserved address you want to edit or delete.

2. Click Edit or Delete.

Using a Dynamic DNS Service

If your network has a permanently assigned IP address, you can register a domain name and ha ve that name linked with your IP address by public Domain Name Servers (DNS). However, if your Internet account uses a dynamically assigned IP address, you will not know in advance what your IP address will be, and the address can change frequently. In this case, you can use a commercial dynamic DNS service, who will allow you to register your domain to their IP address, and will forward traffic directed at your domain to your frequently-changing IP address.

Note: If your ISP assigns a private WAN IP address (such as 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x),

the dynamic DNS service will not work because private addresses will not be routed on the Internet.

The router contains a client that can connect to many popular dynamic DNS services. You can select one of these services and obtain an account with them. Then, whenever your ISP-assigned IP address changes, your router will automatically contact your dynamic DNS service provider, log in to your account, and register your new IP address.

From the Main Menu of the browser interface, under Advanced, click on Dynamic DNS. To configure Dynamic DNS:

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in the ‘Select Service Provider’ box. For example, for dyndns.org, go to www.dyndns.org.

2. Select the Use a dynamic DNS service check box.

3. Select the name of your dynamic DNS Service Provider.

4. Type the Host Name (or domain name) that your dynamic DNS service provider gave you.

5. Type the User Name for your dynamic DNS account.

6. Type the Password (or key) for your dynamic DNS account.

7. If your dynamic DNS provider allows the use of wildcards in resolving your URL, you may

select the Use wildcards check box to activate this feature. For example, the wildcard feature will cause *.yourhost.dyndns.org to be aliased to the same IP address as yourhost.dyndns.org

8. Click Apply to save your configuration.

Configuring Static Routes

Static Routes provide additional routing information to your router. Under normal circumstances, the router has adequate routing information after it has been configured for Internet access, and you do not need to configure additional static routes. You must configure static routes only for unusual cases such as multiple routers or multiple IP subnets located on your network.

From the Main Menu of the browser interface, under Advanced, click on Static Routes to view the Static Route menu, shown below.

Figure 7-7. Static Route Summary Table

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To add or edit a Static Route:

1. Click the Add button to open the Add/Edit Menu, shown below.

Figure 7-8. Static Route Entry and Edit Menu

Type a route name for this static route in the Route Name box under the table. (This is for identification purposes only.)

3. Select Private if you want to limit access to the LAN only. The static route will not be reported

in RIP.

4. Select Active to make this route effective.

5. Type the Destination IP Address of the final destination.

6. Type the IP Subnet Mask for this destination.

If the destination is a single host, type 255.255.255.255.

7. T ype the Gateway IP Address, which must be a router on the same LAN segment as the router.

8. Type a number between 1 and 15 as the Metric value.

This represents the number of routers between your network and the destination. Usu ally, a setting of 2 or 3 works, but if this is a direct connection, set it to 1.

9. Click Apply to have the static route entered into the table.

As an example of when a static route is needed, consider the following case:

• Your primary Internet access is through a cable modem to an ISP.

• You have an ISDN rou t er on your home network for connecting to the company where

you are employed. This router’s address on your LAN is 192.168.0.100.

• Your company ’s network is 134.177.0.0.

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When you first configured your router, two implicit static routes were created. A default route was created with your ISP as the gateway, and a second static route was created to your local network for all 192.168.0.x addresses. With this configuration, if you attempt to access a device on the

134.177.0.0 network, your router will forward your request to the ISP. The ISP forwards your

request to the company where you are employed, and the request will likely be denied by the company’s firewall.

In this case you must define a static route, telling your router that 134.177.0.0 should be accessed through the ISDN router at 192.168.0.100. The static route would look like Figure 7-8.

In this example:

• The Destination IP Address and IP Subnet Mask fields specify that this static route applies to all 134.177.x.x addresses.

• The Gateway IP Address fields specifies that all traffic for these addresses should be forwarded to the ISDN router at 192.168.0.100.

• A Metric value of 1 will work since the ISDN router is on the LAN.

• Private is selected only as a precautionary security measure in case RIP is activated.

Enabling Remote Management Access

Using the Remote Management page, you can allow a user or users on the Internet to configure, upgrade and check the status of your WGR624v3 router.

Note: Be sure to change the router's default configuration password to a very secure password. The ideal password should contain no dictionary words from any language, and should be a mixture of letters (both upper and lower case), numbers, and symbols. Your password can be up to 30 characters.

To configure your router for Remote Management:

1. Select the Turn Remote Management On check box.

2. Specify what external addresses will be allowed to access the router’s remote management.

Note: For enhanced security, restrict access to as few external IP addresses as practical.

a. To allow access from any IP address on the Internet, select Everyone.

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To allow access from a range of IP addresses on the Internet, select IP address range.

Enter a beginning and ending IP address to define the allowed range.

c. To allow access from a single IP address on the Internet, select Only this computer.

Enter the IP address that will be allowed access.

3. Specify the Port Number that will be used for accessing the management interface.

Web browser access normally uses the standard HTTP service port 80. For greater security, change the remote management Web interface to a custom port by entering that number in the box provided. Choose a number between 1024 and 65535, but do not use the number of any common service port. The default is 8080, which is a common alternate for HTTP.

4. Click Apply to have your changes take effect.

Note: When accessing your router from the Internet, you will type your router's WAN IP address into your browser's Address (in IE) or Location (in Netscape) bo x, follo wed by a colo n (:) and the custom port number. For example, if your external address is 134.177.0.123 and you use port number 8080, you must enter http://134.177.0.123:8080 in your browser.

Using Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) helps devices, such as Internet appliances and computers, access the network and connect to other devices as needed. UPnP devices can automatically discover the services from other registered UPnP devices on the network.

Figure 7-9. UPnP Menu

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From the Main Menu of the browser interface, under Advanced, click on UPnP. Set up UPnP according to the guidelines below.

Turn UPnP On: UPnP can be enabled or disabled for automatic device configuration. The default setting for UPnP is disabled. If disabled, the router will not allow any device to automatically control the resources, such as port forwarding (mapping), of the router.

Note: If you use applications such as multi-player gaming, peer-to-peer connections, real time communications such as instant messaging, or remote assistance (a feature in Windows XP), you should enable UPnP.

Advertisement Period: The Advertisement Period is how often the router will broadcast its UPnP information. This value can range from 1 to 1440 minutes. The default period is 30 minutes. Shorter durations will ensure that control points have current device status at the expense of additional network traffic. Longer durations may compromise the freshness of the device status but can significantly reduce network traffic.

Advertisement Time To Live: The time to live for the advertisement is measured in hops (steps) for each UPnP packet sent. The time to live hop count is the number of steps a broadcast packet is allowed to propagate for each UPnP advertisement before it disappears. The number of hops can range from 1 to 255. The default value for the advertisement time to live is 4 hops, which should be fine for most home networks. If you notice that some devices are not being updated or reached correctly, then it may be necessary to increase this value a little.

UPnP Portmap Table: The UPnP Portmap Table displays the IP address of each UPnP device that is currently accessing the router and which ports (Internal and External) that device has opened. The UPnP Portmap Table also displays what type of port is opened and if that port is still active for each IP address.

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Chapter 8

Troubleshooting

This chapter gives information about troubleshooting your 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router WGR624v3. After each problem description, instructions are provided to help you diagnose and solve the problem.

Basic Functioning

After you turn on power to the router, the following sequence of events should occur:

1. When power is first applied, verify that the Power light is on.

2. After approximately 10 seconds, verify that: a. The power light is solid green. b. The LAN port lights are lit for any local ports that are connected. c. The Internet port light is lit.

If a port’s light is lit, a link has been established to the connected device. If a LAN port is connected to a 100 Mbps device, verify that the port’ s light i s green. If the port is 10 Mbps, the light will be amber.

If any of these conditions does not occur, refer to the appropriate following section.

Power Light Not On

If the Power and other lights are off when your router is turned on:

• Make sure that the power cord is properly connected to your router and that the power supply adapter is properly connected to a functioning power outlet.

• Check that you are using the 12 V DC 1A power adapter supplied by NETGEAR for this product.

If the error persists, you have a hardware problem and should conta ct technical support.

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Lights Never Turn Off

When the router is turned on, the lights turns on for about 10 seconds and then turn off. If all the lights stay on, there is a fault within the router.

If all lights are still on one minute after power up:

• Cycle the power to see if the router recovers.

• Clear the router’s configuration to factory defaults. This will set the router’s IP address to

192.168.0.1. This procedure is explained in “Restoring the Default Configuration and

Password” on page 8-7.

If the error persists, you might have a hardware problem and should contact technical support.

LAN or WAN Port Lights Not On

If either the LAN lights or Internet light do not light when the Ethernet connection is made, check the following:

• Make sure that the Ethernet cable connections are secure at the router and at the hub or workstation.

• Make sure that power is turned on to the connected hub or workstation.

• Be sure you are using the correct cable: — When connecting the router’s Internet port to a cable or DSL modem, use the cable that

was supplied with the cable or DSL modem. This cable could be a standard straight-through Ethernet cable or an Ethernet crossover cable.

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Troubleshooting the Web Configuration Interface

If you are unable to access the router’s Web Configuration interface from a computer on your local network, check the following:

• Check the Ethernet connection between the computer and the router as described in the previous section.

• Make sure your computer’s IP address is on the same subnet as the router. If you are using the recommended addressing scheme, your computer’s address should be in the range of

192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254. Refer to “Verifying TCP/IP Properties” on page C-8 or

“Verifying TCP/IP Properties for Macintosh Computers” on page C-19 to find your

computer’s IP address. Follow the instructions in Appendix C to configure your computer.

Note: If your computer’s IP address is shown as 169.254.x.x: Recent versions of Windows

and MacOS will generate and assign an IP address if the computer cannot reach a DHCP server. These auto-generated addresses are in the range of 169.254.x.x. If your IP address is in this range, check the connection from the computer to the router and reboot your computer.

• If your router’s IP address has been changed and you don’t know the current IP address, clear the router’s configuration to factory defaults. This will set the router’s IP address to

192.168.0.1. This procedure is explained in “Restoring the Default Configuration and

Password” on page 8-7.

• Make sure your browser has Java, JavaScript, or ActiveX enabled. If you are using Internet Explorer, click Refresh to be sure the Java applet is loaded.

• Try quitting the browser and launching it again.

• Make sure you are using the correct login information. The factory default login name is admin and the password is password. Make sure that CAPS LOCK is off when entering this information.

If the router does not save changes you have made in the Web Configuration Interface, check the following:

• When entering configuration settings, be sure to click the APPLY button before moving to another menu or tab, or your changes are lost.

• Click the Refresh or Reload button in the Web browser. The changes may have occurred, but the Web browser may be caching the old configuration.

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Troubleshooting the ISP Connection

If your router is unable to access the Internet, you should first determine whether the router is able to obtain a WAN IP address from the ISP. Unless you have been assigned a static IP address, your router must request an IP address from the ISP. You can determine whether the request was successful using the Web Configuration Manager.

To check the WAN IP address:

1. Launch your browser and select an external site such as www.netgear.com

2. Access the Main Menu of the router’s configuration at http://www.routerlogin.net.

3. Under the Maintenance heading, select Router Status

4. Check that an IP address is shown for the WAN Port

If 0.0.0.0 is shown, your router has not obtained an IP address from your ISP.

If your router is unable to obtain an IP address from the ISP, you may need to force your cable or DSL modem to recognize your new router by performing the following procedure:

1. Turn off power to the cable or DSL modem.

2. Turn off power to your router.

3. Wait five minutes and reapply power to the cable or DSL modem.

4. When the modem’s lights indicate that it has reacquired sync with the ISP, reapply power to

your router.

5. Then restart your computer.

If your router is still unable to obtain an IP address from the ISP, the problem may be one of the following:

• Your ISP may require a login pro gram. Ask your ISP whether they require PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) or some other type of login.

• If your ISP requires a login, you may have incorrectly set the login name and password.

• Your ISP may check for your computer's host name. Assign the computer Host Name of your ISP account as the Account Name in the Basic Settings menu.

• Your ISP only allows one Ethernet MAC address to connect to Internet, and may check for your computer’s MAC address. In this case:

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Inform your ISP that you have bought a new network device, and ask them to use the router’s MAC address.

OR Configure your router to spoof your computer’s MAC address. This can be done in the Basic

Settings menu. Refer to “How to Bypass the Configuration Assistant” on page 3-12.

If your router can obtain an IP address, but your computer is unable to load any Web pages from the Internet:

• Your computer may not recognize any DNS server addresses. A DNS server is a host on the Internet that translates Internet names (such as www addresses)

to numeric IP addresses. Typically your ISP will provide the addresses of one or two DNS servers for your use. If you entered a DNS address during the router’s configuration, reboot your computer and verify the DNS address as described in “Install or Verify Windows

Networking Components” on page C-9. Alternatively, you may configure your computer

manually with DNS addresses, as explained in your operating system documentation.

• Your computer may not have the router configured as its TCP/IP gateway. If your computer obtains its information from the router by DHCP, reboot the computer and

verify the gateway address as described in “Install or Verify Windows Networking

Components” on page C-9.

Troubleshooting a TCP/IP Network Using a Ping Utility

Most TCP/IP terminal devices and routers contain a ping utility that sends an echo request packet to the designated device. The device then responds with an echo reply. Troubleshooting a TCP/IP network is made very easy by using the ping utility in your computer or workstation.

Testing the LAN Path to Your Router

You can ping the router from your computer to verify that the LAN path to your router is set up correctly.

To ping the router from a running Windows 95 or later:

1. From the Windows toolbar, click on the Start button and select Run.

2. In the field provided, type Ping followed by the IP address of the router, as in this example:

ping 192.168.0.1

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Click on OK.

You should see a message like this one:

Pinging <IP address> with 32 bytes of data

If the path is working, you see this message:

Reply from < IP address >: bytes=32 time=NN ms TTL=xxx

If the path is not working, you see this message:

Request timed out

If the path is not functioning correctly, you could have one of the following problems:

• Wrong physical connections

— Make sure the LAN port LED is on. If the LED is off, follow the instructions in “LAN

or WAN Port Lights Not On” on page 8-2.

— Check that the corresponding Link LEDs are on for your network interface card and

for the hub ports (if any) that are connected to your workstation and router.

• Wrong network configuration

— Verify that the Ethernet card driver software and TCP/IP software are both installed

and configured on your computer or workstation.

— Verify that the IP address for your router and your workstation are correct and that the

addresses are on the same subnet.

Testing th e Path from Your Computer to a Remote Device

After verifying that the LAN path works correctly, test the path from your computer to a remote device. From the Windows run menu, type:

PING -n 10 <IP address>

where <IP address> is the IP address of a remote device such as your ISP’s DNS server. If the path is functioning correctly, replies as in the previous section are displayed. If you do not

receive replies:

— Check that your computer has the IP address of your router listed as the default gateway. If

the IP configuration of your computer is assigned by DHCP, this information will not be visible in your computer’s Network Control Panel. Verify that the IP address of the router is listed as the default gateway as described in “Install or Verify Windows Networking

Components” on page C-9.

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— Check to see that the network address of your computer (the portion of the IP address

specified by the netmask) is different from the network address of the remote device. — Check that your cable or DSL modem is connected and functioning. — If your ISP assigned a host name to your computer, enter that host name as the Account

Name in the Basic Settings menu. — Your ISP could be rejecting the Ethernet MAC addresses of all but one of your computers.

Many broadband ISPs restrict access by only allowing traffic from the MAC address of

your broadband modem, but some ISPs additionally restrict access to the MAC address of

a single computer connected to that modem. If this is the case, you must configure your

router to “clone” or “spoof” the MAC address from the authorized computer. Refer to

“How to Bypass the Configuration Assistant” on page 3-12.

Restoring the Default Configuration and Password

This section explains how to restore the factory default configuration settings, changing the router’s administration password to password and the IP address to 192.168.0.1. You can erase the current configuration and restore factory defaults in two ways:

• Use the Erase function of the router (see “Erasing the Configuration” on page 6-7).

• Use the Default Reset button on the rear panel of the router. Use this method for cases when the administration password or IP address is not known.

To restore the factory default configuration settings without knowing the administration password or IP address, you must use the Default Reset button on the rear panel of the router.

1. Press and hold the Default Reset button until the power light blinks on (about 10 seconds).

2. Release the Default Reset button and wait for the router to reboot.

If the wireless router fails to restart or the power light continues to blink or turns solid amber, the unit may be defective. If the error persists, you might have a hardware problem and should contact technical support.

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Problems with Date and Time

The E-Mail menu in the Content Filtering section displays the current date and time of day. The WGR624v3 router uses the Network Time Protocol (NTP) to obtain the current time from one of several Network Time Servers on the Internet. Each entry in the log is stamped with the date and time of day. Problems with the date and time function can include:

• Date shown is January 1, 2000. Cause: The router has not yet successfully reached a Network Time Server. Check that your Internet access settings are configured correctly. If you have just completed configuring the router , wait at least five minutes and check the date and time again.

• Time is off by one hour. Cause: The router does not automatically sense Daylight Savings Time. In the E-Mail menu, check or uncheck the box marked “Adjust for Daylight Savings Time”.

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Appendix A

Technical Specifications

This appendix provides technical specifications for the 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router WGR624v3.

Network Protocol and Standards Compatibility

Data and Routing Protocols: TCP/IP, RIP-1, RIP-2, DHCP

PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE)

Power Adapter

North America: 120V, 60 Hz, input United Kingdom, Australia: 240V, 50 Hz, input Europe: 230V, 50 Hz, input Japan: 100V, 50/60 Hz, input All regions (output): 12 V DC @ 1A output, 22W maximum

Physical Specifications

Dimensions: 28 x 175 x 119 mm (1.1 x 6.89 x 4.68 in.) Weight: 0.3 kg (0.66 lb)

Environmental Specifications

Operating temperature: 0° to 40° C (32º to 104º F) Operating humidity: 90% maximum relative humidity, noncondensing

Electromagnetic Emissions

Meets requirements of: FCC Part 15 Class B

VCCI Class B EN 55 022 (CISPR 22), Class B

C-Tick N10947

Interface Specifications

LAN: 10BASE-T or 100BASE-Tx, RJ-45 WAN: 10BASE-T or 100BASE-Tx, RJ-45

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Wireless

Radio Data Rates 1, 2, 5.5, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 54 Mbps

Auto Rate Sensing Frequency 2.4-2.5Ghz Data Encoding: 802.11b: Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

802.11g: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

Maximum Computers Per Wireless Network:

Operating Frequency Ranges: 2.412~2.462 GHz (US) 2.457~2.462 GHz (Spain)

802.11 Security: 40-bits (also called 64-bits) and 128-bits WEP and WPA

Limited by the amount of wireless network traffic generated by each

node. Typically 30-70 nodes.

2.412~2.484 GHz (Japan)2.457~2.472 GHz (France)

2.412~2.472 GHz (Europe ETSI)

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Appendix B

Network, Routing, Firewall, and Basics

This chapter provides an overview of IP networks, routing, and networking.

Related Publications

As you read this document, you may be directed to various RFC documents for further information. An RFC is a Request For Comment (RFC) published by the Internet Engineering T ask Force (IETF), an open organization that defines the architecture and operation of the Internet. The RFC documents outline and define the standard protocols and procedures for the Internet. The documents are listed on the World Wide Web at www.ietf.org and are mirrored and indexed at many other sites worldwide.

Basic Router Concepts

Large amounts of bandwidth can be provided easily and relatively inexpensively in a local area network (LAN). However, providing high bandwidth between a local network and the Internet can be very expensive. Because of this expense, Internet access is usually provided by a slower-speed wide-area network (WAN) link such as a cable or DSL modem. In order to make the best use of the slower WAN link, a mechanism must be in place for selecting and transmitting only the data traffic meant for the Internet. The function of selecting and forwarding this data is performed by a router.

What is a Router?

A router is a device that forwards traffic between networks based on network layer information in the data and on routing tables maintained by the router. In these routing tables, a router builds up a logical picture of the overall network by gathering and exchanging information with other routers in the network. Using this information, the router chooses the best path for forwarding network traffic.

Routers vary in performance and scale, number of routing protocols su pported, and types of physical WAN connection they support. The 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router WGR624v3 is a small office router that routes the IP protocol over a single-user broadband connection.

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Routing Information Protocol

One of the protocols used by a router to build and maintain a picture of the network is the Routing Information Protocol (RIP). Using RIP, routers periodically update one another and check for changes to add to the routing table.

The WGR624v3 router supports both the older RIP-1 and the newer RIP-2 protocols. Among other improvements, RIP-2 supports subnet and multicast protocols. RIP is not required for most home applications.

IP Addresses and the Internet

Because TCP/IP networks are interconnected across the world, every machine on the Internet must have a unique address to make sure that transmitted data reaches the correct destination. Blocks of addresses are assigned to organizations by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Individual users and small organizations may obtain their addresses either from the IANA or from an Internet service provider (ISP). You can contact IANA at www.iana.org.

The Internet Protocol (IP) uses a 32-bit address structure. The address is usually written in dot notation (also called dotted-decimal notation), in which each group of eight bits is written in decimal form, separated by decimal points.

For example, the following binary address:

11000011 00100010 00001100 00000111

is normally written as:

195.34.12.7

The latter version is easier to remember and easier to enter into your computer. In addition, the 32 bits of the address are subdivided into two parts. The first part of the address

identifies the network, and the second part identifies the host node or station on the network. The dividing point may vary depending on the address range and the application.

There are five standard classes of IP addresses. These address classes have different ways of determining the network and host sections of the address, allowing for different numbers of hosts on a network. Each address type begins with a unique bit pattern, which is used by the TCP/IP software to identify the address class. After the address class has been determined, the software can correctly identify the host section of the address. The follow figure shows the three main address classes, including network and host sections of the address for each address type.

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lass A

etwork Node

lass B

Network Node

lass C

Network Node

Figure B-1: Three Main Address Classes

The five address classes are:

• Class A Class A addresses can have up to 16,777,214 hosts on a single network. They use an eight-bit network number and a 24-bit node number. Class A addresses are in this range:

1.x.x.x to 126.x.x.x.

• Class B Class B addresses can have up to 65,354 hosts on a network. A Class B address uses a 16-bit network number and a 16-bit node number. Class B addresses are in this range:

128.1.x.x to 191.254.x.x.

• Class C Class C addresses can have 254 hosts on a network. Class C addresses use 24 bits for the network address and eight bits for the node. They are in this range:

192.0.1.x to 223.255.254.x.

• Class D Class D addresses are used for multicasts (messages sent to many hosts). Class D addresses are in this range:

224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255.

• Class E Class E addresses are for experimental use.

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This addressing structure allows IP addresses to uniquely identify each physical network and each node on each physical network.

For each unique value of the network portion of the address, the base address of the range (host address of all zeros) is known as the network address and is not usually assigned to a host. Also, the top address of the range (host address of all ones) is not assigned, but is used as the broadcast address for simultaneously sending a packet to all hosts with the same network address.

Netmask

In each of the address classes previously described, the size of the two parts (network address and host address) is implied by the class. This partitioning scheme can also be expressed by a netmask associated with the IP address. A netmask is a 32-bit quantity that, when logically combined (using an AND operator) with an IP address, yields the network address. For instance, the netmasks for Class A, B, and C addresses are 255.0.0.0, 255.255.0.0, and 255.255.255.0, respectively.

For example, the address 192.168.170.237 is a Class C IP address whose network portion is the upper 24 bits. When combined (using an AND operator) with the Class C netmask, as shown here, only the network portion of the address remains:

11000000 10101000 10101010 11101101 (192.168.170.237)

combined with:

11111111 11111111 11111111 00000000 (255.255.255.0)

Equals:

11000000 10101000 10101010 00000000 (192.168.170.0)

As a shorter alternative to dotted-decimal notation, the netmask may also be expressed in terms of the number of ones from the left. This number is appended to the IP address, following a backward slash (/), as “/n.” In the example, the address could be written as 192.168.170.237/24, indicating that the netmask is 24 ones followed by 8 zeros.

Subnet Addressing

By looking at the addressing structures, you can see that even with a Class C address, there are a large number of hosts per network. Such a structure is an inefficient use of addresses if each end of a routed link requires a different network number . It is unlikely that the smaller office LANs would have that many devices. You can resolve this problem by using a technique known as subnet addressing.

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Subnet addressing allows us to split one IP network address into smaller multiple physical networks known as subnetworks. Some of the node numbers are used as a subnet number instead. A Class B address gives us 16 bits of node numbers translating to 64,000 nodes. Most organizations do not use 64,000 nodes, so there are free bits that can be reassigned. Subnet addressing makes use of those bits that are free, as shown below.

lass B

Network Subnet Node

Figure B-2: Example of Subnetting a Class B Address

A Class B address can be effectively translated into multiple Class C addresses. For example, the IP address of 172.16.0.0 is assigned, but node addresses are limited to 255 maximum, allowing eight extra bits to use as a subnet address. The IP address of 172.16.97.235 would be interpreted as IP network address 172.16, subnet number 97, and node number 235. In addition to extending the number of addresses available, subnet addressing provides other benefits. Subnet addressing allows a network manager to construct an address scheme for the network by using different subnets for other geographical locations in the network or for other departments in the organization.

Although the preceding example uses the entire third octet for a subnet address, note that you are not restricted to octet boundaries in subnetting. To create more network numbers, you need only shift some bits from the host address to the network address. For instance, to partition a Class C network number (192.68.135.0) into two, you shift one bit from the host address to the network address. The new netmask (or subnet mask) is 255.255.255.128. The first subnet has network number 192.68.135.0 with hosts 192.68.135.1 to 129.68.135.126, and the second subnet has network number 192.68.135.128 with hosts 192.68.135.129 to 192.68.135.254.

Note: The number 192.68.135.127 is not assigned because it is the broadcast address of the first subnet. The number 192.68.135.128 is not assigned because it is the network address of the second subnet.

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The following table lists the additional subnet mask bits in dotted-decimal notation. To use the table, write down the original class netmask and replace the 0 value octets with the dotted-decimal value of the additional subnet bits. For example, to partition your Class C network with subnet mask 255.255.255.0 into 16 subnets (4 bits), the new subnet mask becomes 255.255.255.240.

Table 8-1. Netmask Notation Translation Table for One Octet

Number of Bits Dotted-Decimal Value

1 128 2 192 3 224 4 240 5 248 6 252 7 254 8 255

The following table displays several common netmask values in both the dotted-decimal and the masklength formats.

Table 8-2. Netmask Formats

Dotted-Decimal Masklength

255.0.0.0 /8

255.255.0.0 /16

255.255.255.0 /24

255.255.255.128 /25

255.255.255.192 /26

255.255.255.224 /27

255.255.255.240 /28

255.255.255.248 /29

255.255.255.252 /30

255.255.255.254 /31

255.255.255.255 /32

Configure all hosts on a LAN segment to use the same netmask for the following reasons:

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• So that hosts recognize local IP broadcast packets When a device broadcasts to its segment neighbors, it uses a destination address of the local

network address with all ones for the host address. In order for this scheme to work, all devices on the segment must agree on which bits comprise the host address.

• So that a local router or bridge recognizes which addresses are local and which are remote

Private IP Addresses

If your local network is isolated from the Internet (for example, when using NAT), you can assign any IP addresses to the hosts without problems. However, the IANA has reserved the following three blocks of IP addresses specifically for private networks:

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

Choose your private network number from this range. The DHCP server of the WGR624v3 router is preconfigured to automatically assign private addresses.

Regardless of your particular situation, do not create an arbitrary IP address; always follow the guidelines explained here. For more information about address assignment, refer to RFC 1597,

Address Allocation for Private Internets, and RFC 1466, Guidelines for Management of IP Address Space. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) publishes RFCs on its Web site at

www.ietf.org.

Single IP Address Operation Using NAT

In the past, if multiple computers on a LAN needed to access the Internet simultaneously , you had to obtain a range of IP addresses from the ISP. This type of Internet account is more costly than a single-address account typically used by a single user with a modem, rather than a router. The WGR624v3 router employs an address-sharing method called Network Address Translation (NAT). This method allows several networked computers to share an Internet account using only a single IP address, which may be statically or dynamically assigned by your ISP.

The router accomplishes this address sharing by translating the internal LAN IP addresses to a single address that is globally unique on the Internet. The internal LAN IP addresses can be either private addresses or registered addresses. For more information about IP address translation, refer to RFC 1631, The IP Network Address Translator (NAT).

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The following figure illustrates a single IP address operation.

Private IP addresses assigned by user

IP addresses

92.168.0.2

assigned by ISP

92.168.0.3

92.168.0.4

92.168.0.5

192.168.0.1 172.21.15.105 Internet

Figure B-3: Single IP Address Operation Using NAT

This scheme offers the additional benefit of firewall-like protection because the internal LAN addresses are not available to the Internet through the translated connection. All incoming inquiries are filtered out by the router. This filtering can prevent intruders from probing your system. However, using port forwarding, you can allow one computer (for example, a Web server) on your local network to be accessible to outside users.

MAC Addresses and Address Resolution Protocol

An IP address alone cannot be used to deliver data from one LAN device to another. To send data between LAN devices, you must convert the IP address of the destination device to its media access control (MAC) address. Each device on an Ethernet network has a unique MAC address, which is a 48-bit number assigned to each device by the manufacturer. The technique that associates the IP address with a MAC address is known as address resolution. Internet Protocol uses the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) to resolve MAC addresses.

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