NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR854T User Manual
3-16 Safeguarding Your Network
v1.1, January 2007
Understanding Your Firewall
Your RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router WNR854T contains a true firewall to protect your
network from attacks and intrusions. A firewall is a device that protects one network from another,
while allowing communication between the two. Using a process called stateful packet inspection,
the firewall analyzes all inbound and outbound traffic to determine whether or not it will be
allowed to pass through.
By default, the firewall allows any outbound traffic and prohibits any inbound traffic except for
responses to your outbound traffic. However, you can modify the firewall’s rules to achieve the
following behavior:
• Blocking sites
Block access from your network to certain Web locations based on Web addresses and Web
address keywords. This feature is described in “Blocking Access to Internet Sites” on
page 4-1.
• Blocking services
Block the use of certain Internet services by specific computers on your network. This feature
is described in “Blocking Access to Internet Services” on page 4-3.
• Scheduled blocking
Block sites and services according to a daily schedule. This feature is described in “Scheduling
Blocking” on page 4-5.
• Allow inbound access to your server
To allow inbound access to resources on your local network (for example, a Web server or
remote desktop program), you can open the needed services by configuring port forwarding as
described in “Allowing Inbound Connections To Your Network” on page 6-1.
• Allow certain games and applications to function properly
Some games and applications need to allow additional inbound traffic in order to function.
Port triggering can dynamically allow additional service connections, as described in
“Allowing Inbound Connections To Your Network” on page6-1. Another feature to solve
application conflicts with the firewall is Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), described in “Using
Universal Plug and Play” on page6-12.