splinter9x

I used to be on a router and it sucked...

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demon101

that is what i have to is cable.

i think my isp is rr.com but i am not sure on that.

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gumbyman31

Make sure your ISP is ok with this. I say this because my DSL(now FiOS) provider said in the contract no web servers, and therefore blocked port 80 from their end. If this happens, just switch the ports up(ex. have it broadcasst on port 8000 instead of 80)

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splinter9x

Yuppers changing the port number can get you around alot...

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lectricpharaoh

Because you didn't know how to use it, right? Routers don't cause problems that you cannot resolve, and they have many benefits, even those little 'gateway routers' for broadband use. First and foremost is protection. Unless you have port forwarding enabled, other computers on the internet can't arbitrarily connect to yours. It's a form of hardware firewall, though you could be an idiot and rely instead on a software firewall, like ZoneAlarm, NIS, or (God forbid) the 'personal firewall' in WinXP. The next major benefit is connection sharing, but of course this only matters if you have more than one machine on which you desire internet connectivity. A third benefit off the top of my head would be forming a LAN, and sharing resources such as disk space or printers. When I'm at my girlfriend's place, I can be sitting on the couch with my laptop, and print stuff on her printer across the room. I only need to get up to make sure there's paper in the printer, and pick up the job when it's done.

Now, maybe you can tell us why routers suck, and hopefully it's a better answer than "I'm clueless as to how to configure it", because that's like saying a bicycle sucks because you don't know how to ride one.

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Jimbo

What's wrong with using a software firewall? Adding additional security measures is hardly ever a bad thing. It might not work as well as a hardware firewall, but it's not necessarily gonna make things worse. That said, I believe that most household routers actually do use software (or firmware) firewalls, and actual hardware firewalls are distinguished from routers.

And as to anything LAN related, a router technically splits up networks into different broadcast domains. You're describing a switch (common misconception about most household "routers", don't feel bad about it). The common "router" is actually a 4-port switch with a routing unit between the various LAN ports and the single WAN port. The one tricky part of the common household wireless router is putting wireless and wired networks on the same broadcast domain. Typically different media types are on separate networks and require a router to go between them; however, in this case the router takes the two different media and shares a broadcast domain across both of them.

splinter9x

I guess I'm just not a fan of routers...

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lectricpharaoh

In and of itself, nothing is wrong with using a software firewall. It's certainly better than nothing. My comment was in reference to someone preferring such over a hardware firewall, should that person have access to the latter. It makes about as much sense as someone sticking the family jewelry in a box in their bedroom, locking the bedroom door, and then leaving the front door of their house unlocked.
I believe the distinction here is that one of these home routers has a) some kind of firmware to allow for configuring it, and b) support for NAT and port forwarding. A plain old switch is much simpler, but then you have smarter ones, like layer 3 switches. The way I tend to think of it is that a router is essentially a very specialized switch, with additional intelligence, and while not technically correct, it helps illustrate the blurring of definitions.

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Jimbo

All of these options are specifically for traffic between the WAN port and the LAN ports. You can just not use the WAN port and then all of that gets bypassed and the device functions as a switch, with the exception of wireless.

You're right, the definition is very blurry. I like to try and keep it clear.

lectricpharaoh

I'd argue that the home routers are true routers, as they connect different networks and use NAT to translate addresses between them. They're essentially a router with two 'interfaces', the LAN and the WAN. I see your point about them being glorified switches, though.

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