advise on basic router

cepheus

RussJK wrote: »

Well considering the Belkin adsl modem router deal I found you was less expensive with free delivery, had a lifetime warranty, and can be setup securely, and is actually a modem - then no, not really. You do realise what you linked to is just a network router, and not an adsl modem? i.e. it won't connect you to the internet, it just routes the traffic from an existing adsl modem.

Yes sorry about that I have removed it to avoid confusion. Thanks for the link, I do appreciate it. It was a great deal for people with the sense to realise it defaults to an insecure setting and needs either encrypting or placing in wired mode, something which is probably second nature to you. I only realised this a few years ago due to my friends antics who managed to pick up their neighbours network, and used pubs on holiday for his own internet browsing etc.

Unfortunately, this is the problem with the entire IT industry, they seem to live on a different planet and talk a different language with both hardware and software. I am sure most newbies setting this up would just beam their data all over the place make it about the least secure method imaginable. There should be regulations preventing the sale of these without altering their default condition. What Belkin were thinking of God knows.

victor2

cepheus wrote: »

Unfortunately, this is the problem with the entire IT industry, they seem to live on a different planet and talk a different language with both hardware and software. I am sure most newbies setting this up would just beam their data all over the place make it about the least secure method imaginable. There should be regulations preventing the sale of these without altering their default condition. What Belkin were thinking of God knows.

The problem is good old supply and demand.... If a manufacturer makes all the security switch on by default, then the kit wouldn't work "out of the box." Your average punter wants to pick one up in Currys etc., take it home, plug it in and use it. If he had to read the manual or get someone with a bit more experience to set it up, how would he rate the kit against one that just worked?
I can see three neighbour's routers, all with security enabled, but two of them using what is known to be a weaker one. I'm sure with a bit of effort and small investment (mostly in time!), I could break into one of them. I have no inclination to do that, but the opportunity is there. Equally, like many people, I have seen a friend connect through a neighbour's unsecured WiFi when his own router failed.

cepheus

Something strange I have found about this Belkin router is that after the computer has booted up abd everything has loaded, the router seems to remain in a sort of hibernation mode. That is the ADSL light flashes and the Internet light isn't active. If you attempt to access the web page, it fails to connect first time, but this promps the Router to become fully active and the Internet light and ADSL to come on. After that then everything works fine. That is unless you leave don't use the Internet for 5 minutes without use, then it defaults back into this 'hibernation' mode. Not sure if this is what it is supposed to do or not.

macman

Possiblu some sort of default power-saving mode? Have a look in the router settings or manual.

victor2

According to Belkin, it could be a faulty DSL filter. See http://www.belkin.com/support/setup_guides/PDFs/ADSL_Router.pdf.
Failing that, could it be an "idle time" set somewhere? It is mentioned in the manual.
I'm on cable and don't have any experience with Belkin routers, but it might help. Or maybe someone with more knowledge about them will come along....

GunJack

check in the router's interface for Idle Timeout, make sure it's set to 0

RussJK

GunJack wrote: »

check in the router's interface for Idle Timeout, make sure it's set to 0

Yes it'll just be that - I think it's call "sleep" on this one.

cepheus

These seem to be two seperate issues. First I have found under 'system settings' a Login timeout box. So I have changed this from default setting of 6 minutes to the maximum of 99.

The second problem is that the router doesn't automatically connect when I switch on the computer. There is a 'connect' box in the router setup screen which if clicked activates the Internet connection on the router after about 10-15 seconds. Perhaps that's the way it is supposed to be done.

Neither are serious problems, just irritating.

However, malwarebytes found a virus called pum.bad.proxy today (class registry value), the first since installing the router.