User's Manual

Reference Manual for the 54 Mbps Wall-Plugged Router WGX102
7-8 Advanced Configuration of the Router
July 2004 202-10036-01
Disabling the SPI Firewall
The SPI (Stateful Inspection) Firewall protects your LAN against Denial of Service attacks. This
should only be disabled in special circumstances.
Setting Up a Default DMZ Server
The default DMZ server feature is helpful when using some online games and videoconferencing
applications that are incompatible with NAT. The router is programmed to recognize some of these
applications and to work properly with them, but there are other applications that may not function
well. In some cases, one local computer can run the application properly if that computer’s IP
address is entered as the default DMZ server.
Incoming traffic from the Internet is normally discarded by the router unless the traffic is a
response to one of your local computers or a service that you have configured in the Ports menu.
Instead of discarding this traffic, you can have it forwarded to one computer on your network. This
computer is called the Default DMZ Server.
The WAN Setup menu, shown below lets you configure a Default DMZ Server.
To assign a computer or server to be a Default DMZ server, follow these steps:
1. Click WAN Setup link on the Advanced section of the main menu.
2. Type the IP address for that server. To remove the default DMZ server, replace the IP address
numbers with all zeros.
3. Click Apply.
Responding to Ping on Internet WAN Port
If you want the router to respond to a 'ping' from the Internet, click the ‘Respond to Ping on
Internet WAN Port’ check box. This should only be used as a diagnostic tool, since it allows your
router to be discovered. Don't check this box unless you have a specific reason to do so.
Note: DMZ servers pose a security risk. A computer designated as the default DMZ
server loses much of the protection of the firewall, and is exposed to exploits from the
Internet. If compromised, the DMZ server can be used to attack your network.