Superhub : Modem Mode to Router Mode....No Internet Connection

[AndyCalling]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

BTW, it's not insecure if you have a firewall running in the attached PC.

Ask AndyCalling to explain his somewhat blanket view.

Theoretically no, if you know what you are doing and set your firewalls on every device accordingly, continiously aware of how it's set up and of every change you make. I would never recommend your approach though. If someone is going to conciously use that approach then they don't need me to tell them whether they should or not. They already know exactly what they're doing and feel very comfortable with their security. If you're comfortable with it then fine, you obviously know all your holes and have the locks all manually controlled.

For most, using a NAT is a no-brainer. It is the only responsible recommendation.

---------- Post added at 23:42 ---------- Previous post was at 23:31 ----------

Originally Posted by Superblade7

Andy, didn't realise it was insecure connecting the pc directly to the SH in modem mode so thanks for the advice. I've been in touch with VM and they've said it's a faulty SH so another on the way. Once I've got the new one, I'll stick with router mode and disable the SSID broadcast and set up an access list so this should be more secure.

Cheers Superblade7

Almost. But not quite.

1) Get new Shub.
2) Run in router mode.
3) In the Shub 'Advanced' wireless settings, uncheck the 'Enable Super Hub Wireless Radio' check box.
4) For good measure, under the 'Services' settings menu on the Shub, untick 'Firewall Features', 'Port Scan Detection' and 'IP Flood Detection'. These do no good and will only cause you grief.

Turning off SSID does nothing except make your life harder. Any hacker will have no trouble with that. Same goes for an access list. Don't bother with them. If you want to turn wireless back on in the future, just choose WPA2-PSK[AES] as your encryption method and follow this link to generate your key:

www.grc.com/passwords.htm

Anyone who can get through that will have no trouble with your other methods, and anyone phased by your other methods won't stand a chance against AES with a full length pass key.

[LenMackin]

I have had pretty much the same experience with one of my computers that is wired to the SH. I thought I would see how it runs in router mode as there are currently serveral users in my house at the moment. So far using the SH as a router has been fine. I connect with my pc via ethernet, my phone connects wifi, my daughters laptop = wifi and her iphone is wifi. Her boyfriend also connects his iphone via wifi. All working very well and signal strength in a large Edwardian house is acceptable. However tonight - 24hours into the test - my partner turns on her wired computer and although it is connected to our network there is no internet! A bit of playing with ipconfig and it eventually found the connection. the router appears to have issues a correct IP address as it is in the range of all the other connected appliances?

[AndyCalling]

Hmm, if ipconfig fixed it it sounds like an issue at your PC end. I'm having no such issues. Could there be a lan card driver update available for your partner's PC?

[LenMackin]

Tried to update driver but said that I was up to date. I agree however, I think it is an issue on the computer not the hub - everything else is working well. I'll test it for the rest of the week. I can always go back to modem mode if it proves a pain

[AndyCalling]

You could try giving that pc a fixed IP. That would dodge the whole DHCP problem it's having.

[Superblade7]

Hi Seph - yes my pc has a firewall and anti-virus so I always assumed that was ok. Obviously doubted that after Andy's initial message.

On another note, can you believe my current SH has only lasted a month before becoming faulty! Third SH lucky I hope!

Andy - cheers for the additional info, that is useful too. I know a little about setting up basic wireless networks but half the advance settings may as well be in a foreign language. That's why it's great on CF as there are plenty of knowledgeable people such as yourself and Seph.

Cheers Superblade7

[Sephiroth]

Hi Superblade7

Yeah - that's what happens when a blanket statement is made without justification. With a proper protection system such as Mcafee, (dare I say now) Symantec and Kaspersky - there are others obviously - the firewall defaults are more than sufficient.

And wireless is a doddle too (except the SH is rubbish with wireless so use Modem Mode and your own router). The sertup wizard will do the trick and WPA2 protection offered in the wizard makes the wireless safe.

Hope that helps.

[kwikbreaks]

Originally Posted by Superblade7

On another note, can you believe my current SH has only lasted a month before becoming faulty! Third SH lucky I hope!

Yes I'd believe that no trouble at all. On install day the first two the installers tried both had faults. The third one got replaced by TS because they said the faults I reported were hardware issues and the fourth one was swapped out for a VMNG300 by the CEO office when it wouldn't work properly either (the swapouts were down to the duff firmware imo).

After all that I downgraded from 50Mbps to 10Mbps anyway as they let the area get oversubscribed with a fix date in the distant future.

[AndyCalling]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Hi Superblade7

Yeah - that's what happens when a blanket statement is made without justification. With a proper protection system such as Mcafee, (dare I say now) Symantec and Kaspersky - there are others obviously - the firewall defaults are more than sufficient.

Except I did justify it when asked. I still maintain that recommending people keep track of everything they and any other members of the household let through their software firewall is asking for trouble. So many people just click OK and forget about it. There is no good reason for the average user to run without a NAT and every reason to think twice before recommending such.