Linux Format forums

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Marrea — Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:40 pm

Author: Marrea

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:40 pm

Oh all right then. I give in.

How Stuff Works says:

A home network is simply a method of allowing computers to communicate with one another. If you have two or more computers in your home, a network can let them share:

Files and documents
An Internet connection
Printers, print servers and scanners
Stereos, TVs and game systems
CD burners

I should know better than to try and argue with you!

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

nelz — Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:58 am

Author: nelz

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:58 am

You DO have a network, two computers connected that can communicate with each other. You may choose not to use it, but it does exist. It's like saying "I have nothing to wear" when you have a wardrobe full of clothes you don't want to wear

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Marrea — Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:47 pm

Author: Marrea

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:47 pm

nelz wrote:

If you have two computers connected to the router, you have a network.

So who's the pedant?

I think you know perfectly well what I meant. I don't have a network in the generally accepted sense of the word. Our computers don't share files or printers or anything like that. They are self-contained units, but to maintain marital harmony I had to ensure that HimIndoors could look at his train sites whenever he wanted to instead of being forced to wait for me to finish typing gibberish on the LXF site.

And Rhakios - strangely I couldn't find any information about enabling 1337 in my Linksys Guide!

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Rhakios — Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:08 pm

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:08 pm

nelz wrote:

If you have two computers connected to the router, you have a network. Technically, if you have one computer connected to the router, you still have a network, but I leave that sort of pedantry to Rhakios

Odd, I clearly remember leaving it to you.

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

nelz — Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:00 pm

Author: nelz

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:00 pm

Marrea wrote:

I don't have a network and my router is used purely for sharing an internet connection.

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Rhakios — Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:05 pm

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:05 pm

Marrea wrote:

The only other thing I may possibly have done with this particular router is enable the 113 filter.

Much better to enable the 1337 filter.

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Marrea — Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:53 pm

Author: Marrea

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:53 pm

Thanks for that clarification, nelz.

As you have probably realised, I'm not very experienced in altering router settings. I don't have a network and my router is used purely for sharing an internet connection. So basically when I get a new router (this is only my second) I just plug it in, change the password and go with the default settings.

The only other thing I may possibly have done with this particular router is enable the 113 filter. I can't now remember whether the default was enabled or disabled.

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

nelz — Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:05 pm

Author: nelz

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:05 pm

You have to unblock WAN requests, then forward the ports you want open to your computer. Without setting up port forwarding, the ports are still effectively closed.

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Marrea — Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:58 pm

Author: Marrea

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:58 pm

Well, maybe if I knew how to open individual ports I could waste some time on this.

I have a Linksys BEFSR41 and from a quick look at the user guide the only relevant bits I can find are in the "Block WAN Requests" section:

Block Anonymous Internet Requests. This keeps your network from being “pinged” or detected and reinforces your network security by hiding your network ports, so it is more difficult for intruders to work their way into your network. Select Enabled to block anonymous Internet requests, or Disabled to allow anonymous Internet requests.

and

Filter IDENT (Port 113). This feature keeps port 113 from being scanned by devices outside of your local network. Select Enabled to filter port 113, or select Disabled to allow port 113 to be scanned by devices on the Internet.

So it looks as if I can open and close 113, but otherwise it's either open or close the whole lot.

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Rhakios — Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:27 pm

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:27 pm

To test your computer's firewall, of course.

And by test, I mean waste some time.

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Marrea — Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:10 pm

Author: Marrea

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:10 pm

Rhakios wrote:

Try opening a couple (or perhaps all) ports on your router and see what happens then.

Now why on earth would I want to do that?

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Marrea — Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:09 pm

Author: Marrea

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:09 pm

corners wrote:

OS wars having been going on since the dawn of computing and it's dull.

Couldn't agree more. <yawn>

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

corners — Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:50 pm

Author: corners

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:50 pm

Quote:

It’s simply more fun having a go at the Beast of Redmond

OS wars having been going on since the dawn of computing and it's dull. Spreading ignorance isn't going to help.

And I would have thought ZoneAlarm would have taken better care of their paying customers especially when the change was announced well in advance.

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Rhakios — Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:35 am

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:35 am

That's the thing about ShieldsUp, for most people it is merely a way of testing their router's firewall. Try opening a couple (or perhaps all) ports on your router and see what happens then.

Re: Another Microsoft own-goal

Marrea — Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:09 pm

Author: Marrea

Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:09 pm

I used to have ZoneAlarm but for ages now have relied on the Windows XP Firewall instead. Therefore I haven't had any problems since installing KB951748. Interestingly, if I turn the XP Firewall off I still get a ShieldsUp "Passed" for Common Ports (ie all stealthed), so obviously my router's firewall is protecting me.