Company Acorp, as a manufacturer of networking equipment, today known to many. For the home user, first of all, cheap switches and wireless ADSL-routers. With its attractive price, this equipment well in work and has a wide range of options.
In this article we consider a wireless ADSL-router Acorp W400G. The device combines ADSL2 / 2 Router with built-in firewall, 4-port switch with auto-sensing polarity (MDI / MDI-X), and access point 802.11g. Just note that all of these components can be configured with built-in Web-based interface.
Company Acorp offers to use this model for the organization of a small network with wired and wireless segments, and ADSL-Internet connection. In addition to collaboration and access to the Internet, users will receive a number of additional features, such as protection against attacks from the Internet, encryption and other wireless traffic, but first things first.
Completion
The router comes in bright orange and white packaging, which contains almost everything you need to get started: the router itself Acorp Sprinter @ ADSL W400G, installation guide, CD with documentation, cable Ethernet, phone cable and power adapter. Unfortunately, we did not find complete splitter, we recall that the connection without splitter is fraught with breaks ADSL-connection in a telephone conversation. Of course, it's not so bad for the home user, but still being able to deliver some trouble. So to fix this problem, a splitter will have to purchase separately.
The appearance of the router is modest – a black plastic housing with LEDs on the front side and the connectors and the antenna on the back.
Indicators of the router can judge the work of all device interfaces: PWR / nutrition; WLAN / wireless network, and four indicator LAN, showing the connection and the activity of each port, LED ADSL, pointing to the connection / activity of the external interface.
On the back side of the router connectors are (from left to right): ADSL, four Ethernet ports, LAN, sunken deep into the body reset button, power supply and antenna. Reset button is recessed deep into the body in order to avoid accidental presses. In W400G used removable swivel antenna, on the one hand, makes it impossible to use other, more powerful antenna, on the other side – cheaper construction.
Traditionally, we have decided to look at the card unit, which dismantled the router. To open the case had to unscrew the four screw fastening the upper and lower panel, after which we were able to open the case of the router. The router is based on the processor Texas Instruments TNETD7300 (32-bit RISC), is used for switching the chip Realtek RTL8305SC. The wireless part is implemented as a separate board miniPCI, installed in a special slot on the main board. The wireless module is executed based on the chipset Texas Instruments TNETW1130.
Setup and Administration
For the initial setup is convenient to use the built-in Web-based interface. Recall that to access the Web-based need to get IP-address of your computer is in the same network with the address of the router. This can be achieved in two ways: automatically adjust the probe to DHCP (the built-in DHCP-server, router) or set the address manually. In the latter case you should select an address from the range 192.168.1.2 – 192.168.1.254 subnet mask 255.255.255.0. We also recommend you just specify the address 192.168.1.1 as the default gateway, so that later there were no problems with access to the Internet.
If the addresses are correct, then you can connect to the administrative Web-based, what you need to open a browser window and navigate to the address 192.168.1.1. For a successful login as a user name and password, you must specify Admin / Admin (with capital letters), then you will have access to the administration interface and see the home page interface.
Home page contains information about the router's firmware version, as well as the menu sections and brief information about each of them.
The first section, from which you can start working, is the section Setup Wizard (Wizard). In short, there can be consistently set all the settings for your connection and set up a wireless network. Note that all settings can be changed without using the wizard, so details on each of them discuss later.
Section basic settings (Setup) contains several subsections, each of which are set their own parameters. Thus, the first sub-LAN Configuration, designed for distribution interfaces, and thus nodes into groups. For each group, you can configure its operating parameters. Groups here are nothing more than a port-based VLAN.
This is followed by a subsection setup DNS (DNS Configuration), which actually makes it possible to include a proxy for DNS, and specify up to three addresses the parent servers DNS. This approach allows you to use the router as a DNS-server network.
Subdivision Ethernet Switch. It shows the parameters of ports Ethernet (duplex and speed). For the connected ports indicates their status.
In this section, you configure the external connection. To create a per se should select New Connection. In the window that appears will need to complete your new connection (using NAT, firewall, connection type, shared access to the PPP – the credentials, the authentication protocol parameters VPI / VCI, type of QoS, and several others, depending on the connection), after What is the connection appears in the list (on the same screen, below). Note that the W400G supports up to 8 virtual connections – PVC.
The next section Advanced settings used to set the router's advanced settings, such as filter, QoS, port forwarding, access control and many others. On the home page of this section indicates that the responsibility for each of its subsections.
In subsection UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) support, you can activate it, we recall that UPnP is used for simple connection of devices in the network.
Then follows a section setting SNTP, the protocol used to synchronize the time CO time on a dedicated server on the Internet. In total, you can specify up to three different servers. In addition, it specifies the frequency synchronization, time zone and the transition to winter / summer time.
The following section DDNS, which are given by setting the protocol. When it is used to select the connection that will be used for DDNS, and service (default DynDNS), and identification data to connect to the service (user name, password, and domain name).
The router supports the SNMP, which allows the administrator to manage the device using a special application on a remote computer. All the necessary parameters for this method of control specified in the relevant section.
The router supports traffic prioritization – QoS. The user of the right to set priorities for traffic on their own. It is designed to do this subsection IP QoS. Here you can specify the data type and set its priority in the use of a connection.
Subdivision port forwarding allows the user to specify how they will be handled or other requests on the external interface of the router. It is this section is responsible for the publication of the internal service network to the Internet. Here you select the external connection, here is permitted or forbidden to send answers to the echo request ping, set up forwarding of individual ports, and all traffic (the function of the demilitarized zone – DMZ) to the external interface to the IP-address of the internal node. Just note that the developers cared about the users and provide a list of presets for various applications. And conveniently enough applications are divided into categories: games, VPN, audio / video applications, servers, and so on. The group so you can add any other service that you intend to use and is not in the list of predefined.
Section IP Filter, despite the fact that superficially resembles the previous section, does absolutely opposite function – blocking access to users on the LAN to the Internet, as well as the limits of any other outgoing traffic.
LAN Clients allows you to specify the clients that connect to the router from a particular port (the group). In the future, these lists can be used, for example, to block traffic between the two groups (LAN Isolation – the next section). For example, three groups can be created to allow traffic between the first and the second, and deny between the second and third.
Section Bridge Filters allows you to configure rules that will filter traffic based on MAC addresses and source and destination port. For example, you can prevent traffic from a node with a specific MAC address on all nodes, or, conversely, to prevent a node only traffic on port 80 (http).
Restrictions can also be specified in the following subsection – Web Filters. Here you can create a ban on the various content, including the traffic to the proxy, cookies, applets, Java, Active-X components and pop-ups.
In that case, if the provider offers services that use multicast, such as IPTV (Stream and other providers), that is, broadcast video, for his successful work should check the box in the section Multicast and select the connection, the stream from which to broadcast.
Static routing section allows you to specify an additional static route for a particular traffic. All you need to specify the – connection used, the destination address, gateway and metric – the default settings to set routes. However, support and dynamic routing, for which the RIP protocol can be used 1 or 2. Adjustment is made in subsection dynamic routing.
Access Control allows you to grant access to the administration interface, not only from the internal network, but also from the outside. To do this, you must install the appropriate boxes. Note that you can restrict access to the interface for one or more (up to 16) addresses.