• Basic Setup
• DDNS
• MAC Address Clone
• Advanced Routing
• Networking

Basic Setup

The Setup screen is the first screen you will see when accessing the router. Most users will be able to configure the router and get it working properly using only the settings on this screen. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will require that you enter specific information, such as User Name, Password, IP Address, Default Gateway Address, or DNS IP Address. This information can be obtained from your ISP, if required.

Note

After you have configured these settings, you should set a new password for the router using the Management screen. This will increase security, protecting the router from unauthorized changes. All users who try to access the router web-based utility or Setup Wizard will be prompted for the router's password.

This entry is necessary for some ISPs and can be provided by them.

This entry is necessary for some ISPs and can be provided by them.

The router supports four connection types:

• Automatic Configuration DHCP
• Static IP
• PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet)
• PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol)

These types can be selected from the drop-down menu next to Internet Connection. The information required and available features will differ depending on what kind of connection type you select.

Note

Some cable providers require a specific MAC address for connection to the Internet. To learn more about this, click the System tab. Then click the Help button, and read about the MAC Address Cloning feature.

This is the router's IP Address and Subnet Mask as seen by external users on the Internet (including your ISP). If your Internet connection requires a static IP address, then your ISP will provide you with a Static IP Address and Subnet Mask.

Your ISP will provide you with the Gateway IP Address.

Your ISP will provide you with at least one DNS IP Address.

Enter the User Name and Password you use when logging onto your ISP through a PPPoE or PPTP connection.

The PPP Compression provides a method to negotiate and utilize compression protocols over PPP encapsulated links. It's based on the MPPC protocol (Microsoft Point-to-Point Compression). It is a protocol designed for transfering compressed datagrams over point-to-point links.

MPPE stands for Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption. It is a protocol designed for transfering encrypted datagrams over point-to-point links.

This option schedules the pppoe reconnection by killing the pppd daemon and restart it.

You can configure the router to disconnect your Internet connection after a specified period of inactivity (Max Idle Time). If your Internet connection has been terminated due to inactivity, Connect on Demand enables the router to automatically re-establish your connection as soon as you attempt to access the Internet again. If you wish to activate Connect on Demand, click the radio button. If you want your Internet connection to remain active at all times, enter 0 in the Max Idle Time field. Otherwise, enter the number of minutes you want to have elapsed before your Internet connection terminates.

This option keeps you connected to the Internet indefinitely, even when your connection sits idle. To use this option, click the radio button next to Keep Alive. The default Redial Period is 30 seconds (in other words, the router will check the Internet connection every 30 seconds).

MTU is the Maximum Transmission Unit. It specifies the largest packet size permitted for Internet transmission. Keep the default setting, Auto, to have the router select the best MTU for your Internet connection. To specify a MTU size, select Manual, and enter the value desired (default is 1400). You should leave this value in the 1200 to 1500 range.

This is the router IP Address and Subnet Mask as seen on the internal LAN. The default value is 192.168.1.1 for IP Address and 255.255.255.0 for Subnet Mask.

Keep the default, Enable, to enable the router's DHCP server option. If you already have a DHCP server on your network or you do not want a DHCP server, then select Disable.

Enter a numerical value for the DHCP server to start with when issuing IP addresses. Do not start with 192.168.1.1 (the router's own IP address).

Enter the maximum number of PCs that you want the DHCP server to assign IP addresses to. The absolute maximum is 253, possible if 192.168.1.2 is your starting IP address.

The Client Lease Time is the amount of time a network user will be allowed connection to the router with their current dynamic IP address. Enter the amount of time, in minutes, that the user will be "leased" this dynamic IP address.

The Domain Name System (DNS) is how the Internet translates domain or website names into Internet addresses or URLs. Your ISP will provide you with at least one DNS Server IP address. If you wish to utilize another, enter that IP address in one of these fields. You can enter up to three DNS Server IP addresses here. The router will utilize these for quicker access to functioning DNS servers.

The Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) manages each PC's interaction with the Internet. If you use a WINS server, enter that server's IP address here. Otherwise, leave this blank.

Select the time zone for your location. To use local time, leave the checkmark in the box next to Use local time.

Check all values and click Save Settings to save your settings. Click Cancel Changes to cancel your unsaved changes. You can test the settings by connecting to the Internet.

DDNS

The router offers a Dynamic Domain Name System (DDNS) feature. DDNS lets you assign a fixed host and domain name to a dynamic Internet IP address. It is useful when you are hosting your own website, FTP server, or other server behind the router. Before using this feature, you need to sign up for DDNS service at www.dyndns.org, a DDNS service provider.

The Static DNS service is similar to the Dynamic DNS service, in that it allows a hostname such as yourname.dyndns.org to point to your IP address. Unlike a Dynamic DNS host, a Static DNS host does not expire after 35 days without updates, but updates take longer to propagate though the DNS system.
DynDNS' Custom DNS service provides a managed primary DNS solution, giving you complete control over an entire domain name and providing a unified primary/secondary DNS service. A web-based interface provides two levels of control over your domain, catering to average or power users.

Enabling the wildcard feature for your host causes *.yourhost.dyndns.org to be aliased to the same IP address as yourhost.dyndns.org. This feature is useful if you want to be able to use, for example, www.yourhost.dyndns.org and still reach your hostname.

Type an integer number in the box to set the force update interval (in days). Force update is an update which will be done although your IP address is still the same. Force update is required, especially for non donator of dyndns.org users, in order to avoid the host name of being deleted.

MAC Address Clone

The router's MAC address is a 12-digit code assigned to a unique piece of hardware for identification. Some ISPs require that you register the MAC address of your network card/adapter, which was connected to your cable or DSL modem during installation.

To clone your network adapter's MAC address onto the router, select Enable and enter your adapter's MAC address in the Clone WAN MAC field or click Get Current PC MAC Address to fill in the MAC address of your PC you are using. Then save your changes by clicking on the Save Settings button. 

To disable MAC address cloning, keep the default setting, Disable.

Find your adapter's MAC address by following the instructions for your PC's operating system. 

Windows 98 and Millennium:

1. Click the Start button, and select Run.
2. Type winipcfg in the field provided, and press the OK key.
3. Select the Ethernet adapter you are using.
4. Click More Info.5.Write down your adapter's MAC address.

Windows 2000 and XP:

1. Click the Start button, and select Run.
2. Type cmd in the field provided, and press the OK key.
3. At the command prompt, run ipconfig /all, and look at your adapter's physical address.
4. Write down your adapter's MAC address.

Check all values and click Save Settings to save your settings. Click Cancel Changes to cancel your unsaved changes.

Advanced Routing

On the Routing screen, you can set the routing mode and settings of the router. Gateway mode is recommended for most users.

Choose the correct working mode. Keep the default setting, Gateway, if the router is hosting your network's connection to the Internet. Select router if the router exists on a network with other routers. In Gateway mode the router performs NAT, while in other modes it doesn't.

Dynamic Routing enables the router to automatically adjust to physical changes in the network's layout and exchange routing tables with other routers. The router determines the network packets’ route based on the fewest number of hops between the source and destination.

To enable the Dynamic Routing feature for the WAN side, select WAN. To enable this feature for the LAN and wireless side, select LAN & WLAN. To enable the feature for both the WAN and LAN, selectBoth. To disable the Dynamic Routing feature for all data transmissions, keep the default setting, Disable.

Note:
Dynamic Routing is not available in Gateway mode.

A static route is a pre-determined pathway that network information must travel to reach a specific host or network.

To set up a static route between the router and another network:

• Select a number from the Static Routing drop-down list.
• Enter the following data:            
  •  Destination IP Address – The Destination IP Address is the address of the network or                host to which you want to assign a static route.
  •  Subnet Mask – The Subnet Mask determines which portion of an IP address is the network portion, and which portion is the host portion.
  •  Gateway – This is the IP address of the gateway device that allows for contact between the router and the network or host.
• Depending on where the Destination IP Address is located, select LAN & WLAN or WAN from the Interface drop-down menu.
• Click the Apply button to save your changes. To cancel your unsaved changes, click the Cancel button. For additional static routes, repeat steps 1-4.

To delete a static route entry:

1. From the Static Routing drop-down list, select the entry number of the static route.
2. Click the Delete This Entry button.
3. To save a deletion, click the Apply button. To cancel a deletion, click the Cancel button.

Click the Show Routing Table button to view all of the valid route entries in use. The following data will be displayed for each entry.

• Destination IP Address – The Destination IP Address is the address of the network or host to which the static route is assigned.
• Subnet Mask – The Subnet Mask determines which portion of an IP address is the network portion, and which portion is the host portion.
• Gateway – This is the IP address of the gateway device that allows for contact between the router and the network or host.
• Interface – This interface tells you whether the Destination IP Address is on the LAN & WLAN (internal wired and wireless networks), the WAN (Internet), or Loopback (a dummy network in which one PC acts like a network, necessary for certain software programs).

Click the Refresh button to refresh the data displayed. Click the Close button to return to the Routing screen.

Generic Networking and VLAN

VLAN Tagging allows you to transfer different independent network streams by using just one interface. This is done by inserting a small TAG within the ethernet header. By identifying this tag these ethernet packets can be split up again on the other side to create new interface out of it. Using this option together with the bridging option allows you to create different transfer networks which can be bridged to a Wireless Interface to separate the Router Management network from the network accessible by the User. This is useful for large ISP networks.

Allows you to create a new VLAN interface out of a standard interface by filtering the interface using a defined TAG number.

Creates a new empty network bridge for later use. STP means Spanning Tree Protocol and with PRIO you're able to set the bridge priority order. The lowest number has the highest priority.

Allows you to assign any valid interface to a network bridge. Consider setting the Wireless Interface options to Bridged if you want to assign any Wireless Interface here. Any system specific bridge setting can be overridden here in this field.

Click Save Settings to save your settings. Click Cancel Changes to cancel your unsaved changes.