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Configuring dd-wrt appropriately
TetraNitroCubane
The DjinneratorAt the bottom of a bottleRegistered User regular
The DjinneratorAt the bottom of a bottleRegistered User regular
Forgive me if this comes off as ignorant and basic, but I've got a rather rudimentary networking question I was hoping to get help with.
I just recently needed to move my wired network to a wireless one, and as such have purchased a WRT54GL router to serve my fairly basic needs. The router in question will be supporting one desktop PC (wired), one laptop (wired and occasionally wireless), an XBox, Wii, and PS3 (all wired, though not connected simultaneously), a few handhelds (wireless), and an android phone (wireless).
Because I was rather concerned about security, the first thing I did was flash the router to carry the latest dd-wrt firmware (Standard package, dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin). So far I've done my best to configure what I see as the essential options, including:
What I'm completely clueless about, though, is what other options to set in terms of security and usability. While dd-wrt seems extremely powerful, as someone not terribly familiar with the intricate details of networking I rather feel in over my head. Before I pull all my machines off of the wired router that's currently perfectly functional, I was wondering if there are any other settings I should set or be aware of? Will Steam or Skype work without specific port forwarding? Do I need to set up port forwarding in advance, and for each game I want to play? What about the PSN and XBLA? Do they need any special attention at the router level? I've also read that in certain games, browsing the Steam server list can hardlock the router due to flooding it with traffic, and so inbound traffic should be throttled. Is that something to do at the router level, and if so, how can I accomplish this?
I'm worried that once I migrate over to the new router, that things will break in a way I'm unable to diagnose - so I'm trying to cover all the options before I pull the plug, so to speak.
Essentially, I humbly request any and all suggestions you might have for getting a new router configured as safely and smoothly as possible. Sorry if this is a rather stupid question. I can build my own machines without issue, but for some reason I'm a damned nincompoop when it comes to networking. Thanks very much in advance!
I just recently needed to move my wired network to a wireless one, and as such have purchased a WRT54GL router to serve my fairly basic needs. The router in question will be supporting one desktop PC (wired), one laptop (wired and occasionally wireless), an XBox, Wii, and PS3 (all wired, though not connected simultaneously), a few handhelds (wireless), and an android phone (wireless).
Because I was rather concerned about security, the first thing I did was flash the router to carry the latest dd-wrt firmware (Standard package, dd-wrt.v24_std_generic.bin). So far I've done my best to configure what I see as the essential options, including:
- Setting a new admin login and password.
- Setting the wireless network to WPA2 (I set it to AES+PSK, as my phone only seems to support PSK), also setting a long passphrase.
- Changing the frequency of the router off of the standard channel.
- Disabling access to the router configuration via WiFi.
- Enabling MAC address filtering to allow on a per-machine basis.
- Setting the SSID to NOT broadcast publicly.
What I'm completely clueless about, though, is what other options to set in terms of security and usability. While dd-wrt seems extremely powerful, as someone not terribly familiar with the intricate details of networking I rather feel in over my head. Before I pull all my machines off of the wired router that's currently perfectly functional, I was wondering if there are any other settings I should set or be aware of? Will Steam or Skype work without specific port forwarding? Do I need to set up port forwarding in advance, and for each game I want to play? What about the PSN and XBLA? Do they need any special attention at the router level? I've also read that in certain games, browsing the Steam server list can hardlock the router due to flooding it with traffic, and so inbound traffic should be throttled. Is that something to do at the router level, and if so, how can I accomplish this?
I'm worried that once I migrate over to the new router, that things will break in a way I'm unable to diagnose - so I'm trying to cover all the options before I pull the plug, so to speak.
Essentially, I humbly request any and all suggestions you might have for getting a new router configured as safely and smoothly as possible. Sorry if this is a rather stupid question. I can build my own machines without issue, but for some reason I'm a damned nincompoop when it comes to networking. Thanks very much in advance!
TetraNitroCubane on
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