# US Robotics 8004 firewall/router



## jiml8 (Jul 3, 2005)

In this thread
http://forums.techguy.org/reviews/425132-networkeverywhere-nc041-firewall-router.html
I slammed a real POS router/firewall put out with the brand name "network anywhere" but made by linksys.

Now in this message I tell you about the device I purchased to replace it. Now keep in mind that my requirements are not demanding and does require a custom range of UDP ports to be opened - and my server will be originating some connections to my clients.

I placed this USR router into service and set it up without any trouble. It worked immediately, displayed no peculiar behavior at all, and the setup was very straightforward. The number of features that can be controlled are limited but would be adequate for most home users.

From the NOC where this installation is set up, this router could be pinged and would respond within 0.5 milliseconds, while the linksys POS that it replaced never would respond in less than 1.5 ms.

So after installing this router, I was up and running immediately. I went home and spent some time working on my ASP software, making sure everything was working properly. I encountered some anomalous behavior in my application and, of course, I immediately looked at the router.

Turns out the router's built-in firewall was incorrectly identifying some of my application's encrypted UDP traffic as a UDP "short header" attack, and was therefore blocking and dropping some of my packets. My system tolerates dropped packets; after a timeout period it just resends them (with UDP you have to do this). The firewall always blocked, so my app would effectively hang - it wouldn't time out overall because it knew it was in touch with the server, but every packet resend was blocked so the required information was never coming back.

I solved this by turning off the router's firewall. This is a one-checkbox operation; there is no capability to adjust the rules that the firewall uses - and this is this product's biggest limitation. I did email tech support but it has been 1 1/2 days and I have not heard back from them.

Once the firewall was turned off, the performance of my ASP system became - in a word - spectacular. It works extremely well; I am very pleased.

Now, I don't need the firewall anyway; the way my system is set up blocking ports that are not needed and having NAT is all I need to do. However being able to adjust the firewall rules would be desirable for most users - including me in just about any other application but the one for which I purchased it. For example, users of my application will not be able to use this firewall since we know that it will block my application and it cannot be configured to let my app function.

So, I have to say that I am very satisfied with the performance of this router. It is fast, reliable, and has an easy to understand setup procedure. I am not pleased with the firewall; on/off is just not good enough most of the time.

I suspect that going up the line with a USR product will get you the firewall control that is needed, and if that is available I would give the thing an unqualified recommendation. I have a dlink wireless router at home and this one outperforms the dlink, except of course that the dlink lets me control the firewall.

If you are a home user with modest requirements, this device is a decent choice. Just don't buy it if you are going to become a client of my ASP. Buying up the line with a USR product would probably be an excellent choice.


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## joe broon (Feb 16, 2006)

I purchased the same router recently and installed it last night with success.
However I'm not sure how to configure the firewall setting.

I would welcome your advice.


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