Microsoft Vista Home Networking Setup and Options
The most daunting part of upgrading to Windows Vista may be trying to figure out where in the layers of menus the networking and file-sharing options are hidden.
Tips for Securing Your Home Router
Seemingly minor and easily overlooked settings can still have profound security implications. Here are some steps you can take to make sure your wired or wireless home router — and by extension, your network — is as secure as possible.
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You have a Linksys Etherfast Cable / DSL
router and are having problems with:
You can also try the Linksys
Support page and Tech
Helper for the router, or contact Linksys support via one of
the following methods:
Customer Support Phone:
800-326-7114
949-261-1288
Fax:
949-261-8868
Email:
support@linksys.com
Open
ports on WAN side (security issues)
Security
warning! Please follow the User Guide's instructions and change
the admin pages' password during your intitial setup. The
admin HTTP server is accessible via the WAN side of the router by default.
If you don't change the admin password to a strong
password, you may find uninvited "guests" in your LAN's
computers.
To fix the above security problem, download and install the firmware
update, if your router has firmware earlier than V1.22. Upgrade
instructions are in a ReadME doc that comes with the update.
Updated 9/3/01 Problems using PPPoE AND VPN
If you are trying to use either PPTP or IPsec tunnels over a PPPoE connection,
you may have problems establishing a connection. In some firmware
versions there is a problem with the router's ability to properly adjust
the packet size for a connection that uses BOTH PPPoE and one of the
VPN protocols.
Upgrading to version 1.39 or higher firmware will fix the packet
size problem. You then may need to forward ports to your VPN client,
based on the type of VPN connection you are using.
Updated 9/23/00 Using PPPoE
If you are having problems maintaining a PPPoE
connection, try V1.35 or higher firmware. See more firmware info
on this page.
There's also a Windows application you can try. Go
here for more info.
NOTE:
If you are using a PPPoE client like WinPOET or other similar programs
supplied by your ISP, do the following:
Upgrade to the V1.22 or higher firmware.
Enable PPPoE on the router Setup page and enter your
Username and Login information into the boxes provided on the router
Setup page.
Disable or remove any PPPoE client applications (WinPOET,
Enternet, Access Manager) from your Client computers.
You now should be able to connect to the Internet and the router will
take care of managing the PPPoE login.
Updated
2/24/01
Using PPTP (MS VPN)
NOTE:
If you are using V1.30.5 or higher firmware, make sure you enable PPTP
pass-through on the Filters Admin page.
PPTP is Microsoft's protocol for Virtual Private Networks (VPN).
If you have PPTP Clients on your LAN, you just need to enable PPTP pass-thru
as noted above. You also need to properly configure a VPN connection
profile in each of your PPTP clients.
NOTE:
Although multiple PPTP clients can be passed thru, only
one PPTP client can connect per PPTP server. (This
is a common limitation for inexpensive NAT routers.)
Many users have reported problems accessing a PPTP server
on the LAN side of the router from the Internet. This problem was
fixed as of the V1.23 firmware update, so just upgrade to the latest firmware
if your firmware revision is lower than 1.23.
NOTE:
No matter which version firmware you use, you will need to set the PPTP
server computer as the DMZ computer and remove any Port 1723 forwarding.
You can find more general PPTP information on this
page, and general VPN help on this page.
9/8/01 Using
IPsec
NOTE:
If you are using V1.30.5 or higher firmware, make sure you enable IPsec
pass-through on the Filters Admin page.
IPSec support was added in 1.30. We've received successful reports
of the following IPSec clients working with the new firmware:
Checkpoint VPN-1 (see this
link if you have problems)
Bay Networks Extranet
Redcreek Ravilin (with 1.23.4 firmware)
Cisco Altiga
[no port forwarding. Set "allow NAT passthru" in
Altiga client]
Cisco 3000 (use 1.39 firmware)
Netscreen-5e VPN/Firewall appliance (Thnx
Mike Johnson!)
[Netscreen-Remote 5.02 client was able to use both manual keys (IPSEC)
and preshared keying (IPSEC and IKE) to successfully negotiate a connection
to a Netscreen-5e VPN appliance]
SymantecRaptorMobile VPN client 6.5.2
NOTE:
We've also received a negative report for Redcreek RavlinSoft
3.40 NT and firmware versions 1.30 and 1.33 BETA. The symptom is
that RavlinSoft fails to establish a SA; it looks like it does not receive
the Radius response after the UserID and Password are entered.
Compatible
Systems(now a part of Cisco) IntraPort VPN client, which
is IPSec based, will work, even without IPsec forwarding turned on.
NOTE:
The IntraPort client must be used with an IntraPort server. You can download
at the IntraPort Client Reference Guide here
(in PDF format), or find out more about the IntraPort product line here.
5/22/00 Try
this if you're having problems getting the IntraPort VPN working:
At first I couldn't get VPN to work. I
tried all sorts of things and no luck. I was able to watch packets go
out through the router to the VPN server at our site, but no packets
made it back through the router.
I actually started up a tech support call
with Linksys when I decided to check the VPN client code to see if there
was some sort of configuration switch that was obvious. Lucky me, there
was exactly such a switch. It was labled "Use NAT Transparency Mode".
Since the router does NAT, it seemed like the thing to try. Turned it
on, VPN circuit came up and runs fine.
The Linksys responds to a port probe by replying with an "open"
or "closed" status. This reply (vs. not replying at all)
keeps you from getting a "stealth" result from the ShieldsUp
port probe test.
Although "stealth" isn't a important as you might think (especially
if you then are opening ports or using the DMZ mode for special
applications... read this
for more info), you can get a "stealth" report by using the
DMZ feature and entering an IP address for a computer that doesn't exist.
If you are using the built-in DHCP server, then use an address between
192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.99 so that you don't accidently
collide with a DHCP served address.
Updated 4/6/00 The
V1.22 firmware update adds a "Block WAN Request" Enable/Disable
option. This is found on the bottom of the Filters page of the
Router Admin pages (access it via the "Advanced" tab).
Here's what the Help button description says:
This feature is designed to prevent users
from attacking through the Internet. While enabled, the router will
drop both the unaccepted TCP request and ICMP packets from the WAN side.
The hacker will not find the router by pinging the WAN IP address.
Here's one reader's report on using SSH with the router:
Flashed the latest firmware (1.22). It
was shipped with 1.21.1. SSH connected through the router first time,
no sweat. Using the F-Secure SSH 1 implementation. 3 key DES encryption.
Password
visible in admin page source code security vulnerability
Earlier versions (1.36 for example) of Linksys router firmware embed
the router admin password and PPPoE account information in plain text
in the HTML code for the admin and password pages. Access to the
router's LAN and a network "sniffer" are required for the vulnerability
to be seen. The vulnerability can be fixed by upgrading to the latest
firmware. See this
SecurityFocus article for details.