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Routers and switches provide connectivity and control traffic on the network. In a SOHO network, there is typically one router provided by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) that connects the local area network to the Internet. SOH routers often have other integrated features, such as a cable modem or DSL modem, switch ports, and/or a wireless access point.
Router/Switch Functionality
For wireless NICs, it is the same as wired, plus you need to configure it to connect to the wireless access point. The settings for that include the SSID, encryption method, and pre-shared key or WiFi password.
Wireless
Port forwarding is another way to allow access to your network from the Internet. It is similar to a DMZ but allows traffic to a single host. You specify the host and the port allowed to access it.
Port Forwarding
Quality of Service allows you to prioritize different types of traffic on your network. This is helpful for applications that need real-time communications, such as voice, video, and gaming. You can give these services priority over others that are less sensitive to delays, like email.
Quality Of Service (QoS)
The wireless access point built into the router requires some configuration. At a minimum, you should configure the Service Set Identifier (SSID), encryption method, and pre-shared key (also called WiFi password).
Other types of end-user devices, such as smartphones and tablets, typically use WiFi to connect to the network. So, the configuration is the same as you would do for a wireless NIC. You need to configure it to connect to the wireless access point by setting the SSID, encryption method, and pre-shared key or WiFi password. Then you will get an IP address from DHCP or you need to manually configure the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
End-User Device Configuration
Network Address Translation (NAT) is used to translate all of your network’s internal IP addresses to a single external IP address that will be used on the Internet. The ISP assigns this address, and it is configured on the router by the ISP.
Network Address Translation (NAT)
Most wireless settings on a router run well at their default settings, but there are a few that you may want to configure, including Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), WiFi Protected Access (WPA), and WPA2.
Wireless Settings
The router is configured with default IP address settings that get you up and running quickly. In most cases, you can leave the settings at the default values. The router’s DHCP feature assigns IP addresses to devices when they connect to the network. Again, the default settings will work in most cases, but you can change DHCP settings or turn it off altogether.
IP Addressing
Internet of Things (IoT) devices are essentially anything that connects to the Internet. They connect via WiFi, so the configuration settings are the same as an end-user device. However, the way you access those settings will be different. Depending on the device, it may be a control panel on the device or it may be done using a mobile app.
Internet Of Things (IoT) Device Configuration
Universal Plug and Play is an alternative to manually configuring port forwarding. If enabled, UPnP allows devices inside your network to automatically allow access from the Internet by opening access through the router to that device on a specified port.
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)
Encryption is configured to control communications between the end-user device and the wireless access point. If not encrypted, all of your traffic can be read by a simple network monitoring tool. There are three types of encryption available: Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), WiFi Protected Access (WPA), and WPA2. WEP and WPA both have vulnerabilities that make it easy to break the encryption, so you should set this to WPA2. It uses the AES encryption algorithm.
Encryption
Computer connect to the network through a network interface card (NIC). It is here that you configure the IP address of the computer. If you enable DHCP, the NIC will get assigned an IP address by the DHCP server that is typically integrated into the router. Otherwise, you can manually configure the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
NIC Configuration
A firewall protects your network by blocking traffic that may be used for malicious purposes. Most SOHO networks do not run servers that need to be accessed from the Internet, so any traffic would be initiated from inside the network. That means the firewall can be configured to simply deny any traffic initiated from the Internet. That is the default configuration for many firewalls, especially those integrated into a router.
Firewall Settings
Content filtering is a feature of routers and firewalls that control what URLs can be accessed from your network. There are two methods to use, whitelist or blacklist. Most routers use blacklist by default. That allows access to any URL except those specified on a blacklist that you configure. Conversely, whitelisting blocks all URLs by default. Only URLs that you configure in the whitelist can be accessed.
Whitelist/Blacklist
Channels are different frequencies that are used for communications between the end-user device and the wireless access point. This will be selected automatically, but you can manually set it as well. It may be helpful if there are other nearby access points and you can set it to a less crowded channel.
Channels
For NICs that connect via an Ethernet cable to the router, they will get the configuration from DHCP, unless you disable DHCP. Then you need to manually configure the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
Wired
A demilitarized zone is a separate network behind your firewall where you place hosts that may be accessed from the Internet, such as a web server. First, you configure the network by assigning the IP address range for the network. Then, you specify which IP addresses are allowed to access which hosts on the DMZ. Lastly, you can specify which services or ports may be used.
A Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
Every device that connects to the network has a Media Access Control (MAC) address. MAC filtering allows you to specify which MAC addresses are allowed to connect to your router. Anyone trying to connect with a MAC address not listed in your MAC filtering table will be denied access.
MAC Filtering