said by stevech0 :

100 simultaneous TCP sessions is a bit much for a consumer home router.

But if most of those are from/to local PCs and servers then the packets go through the switch and not the router so the routing performance doesn't matter. That is, local packets are done by the chips in the switch built into the w-router; the w-router's CPU and firmware aren't involved.

I can't imagine a 100 TCP connection use case for a home router. I can, for a small business purpose, or serving an RV park or some such. I suppose 100 connections can happen if you are a fanatic in peer to peer file sharing - risky biz.

said by ispgeek :

LOL!!

At any given moment you may have multiple tcp sessions on a single pc depending on what applications you are running. It's not uncommon for an average user connected to the internet to have 5 to 12 active sessions without even working at it too hard (remember: each browser window you have open will count as 1 tcp session and depending on what you're doing in that window it might count as more "like video within web page). In my case I operate several dynamic websites which require information to be updated every couple of minutes. To reduce load on the web server I have several boxes at home obtaining the content and then sending it up to the servers as needed which ends up being pretty much a constant stream of data from many applications. Additionally they provide streamed audio and video. Hell my home pc has between 20 and 30 active tcp sessions by itself at any given moment.

As far as peer to peer...nope not my game thank you. It's purely hobby/business related and all legit. Not into the darker side of things, havin too much fun doing it the right way thanks

Bottom line is the DGL4500 handles a ton of tcp sessions without crapping out and also passes data wan to lan at a phenomonal rate of speed unlike all the others I tested and I tested a ton of em (at one point I was afraid they wouldnt take em back but I explained what I was doing and they backed down). Forget the fancy bells and whistles and displays...I just need it to perform as advertised and it does...

said by fonzbear2000 :

So far, speeds are still just as great and no lost connections.

Now, here's something interesting. The router has a feature my Dlink didn't called WAN ping blocking:
"Block ICMP Ping
Computer hackers use what is known as "Pinging" to find potential victims on the Internet. By pinging a specific IP address and receiving a response from the IP address, a hacker can determine that something of interest might be there. The Router can be set up so it will not respond to an ICMP Ping from the outside. This heightens the level of security of your Router. To turn off the ping response, select "Block ICMP Ping" and click "Apply Changes". The router will not respond to an ICMP ping. "

I wonder if the Dlink would disconnect due to ICMP pings.

said by Its a Secret :

Belkin suxs butt. Sorry, but I recommend a D-Link or LinkSys.

said by Its a Secret :

Belkin suxs butt. Sorry, but I recommend a D-Link or LinkSys.

said by tipstir :

DOs and POd also..

ECO to shutdown the wireless when your sleeping..

My N was 120/240 under DSS 5.8Ghz cordless phones I was using. Now with the DECT 6.0 (1.9GHz) 150/300 under Belkin N+.

said by fonzbear2000 :

What the heck are you talking about?????

said by tipstir :

--------------------------Belkin N+
ECO power saver for wireless turns off the ANT
DOS/POD features are part of the firewall
120/240 wireless N before
150/300 wireless N now
----------------------------------

DECT 6.0 cordless phone system to work friendly with wireless network

said by fonzbear2000 :

What is DOS and POD? Are they things that the firewall in the router blocks that would cause connection drops?

said by tipstir :

Firewall >


Your Router is equipped with a firewall that will protect your network from a wide array of common hacker attacks including Ping of Death (PoD) and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. You can turn the firewall function off if needed. Turning off the firewall protection will not leave your network completely vulnerable to hacker attacks, but it is recommended that you turn the firewall on whenever possible.

Firewall Enable / Disable > Disable ENABLED

said by fonzbear2000 :

Thanks for that explanation, but here's what I'm wondering and if you have an opinion IN YOUR OWN WORDS, I would like to hear it. So far, I've gone 8 days with NO connection drops and am wondering if my Belkin N+ router's firewall might be blocking things that my old D-link DI-524 did not block because I got connection drops on that router all the time. Just basically, I wonder if some routers have better firewalls that block more stuff.

said by fonzbear2000 :

I've gone 8 days with NO connection drops and am wondering if my Belkin N+ router's firewall might be blocking things that my old D-link DI-524 did not block because I got connection drops on that router all the time.

said by fonzbear2000 :

Just basically, I wonder if some routers have better firewalls that block more stuff.

said by tipstir :

Well in other words the hardware firewall is still better, but you still need software firewall protection if you don't want software you installed on your PC/MAC to phone home as they say. Comodo Internet Security 3.9 is very good now and it's 100% free for PC! I use that on all my systems. I know you have a MAC so you on your own there.

If you're not doing anything silly in your system then you just surf with the router only. Very quick I must say for Belkin N+ Ralink Chips in there for PU and WPU are very good. The range on this router is 1,200 feet.

said by No_Strings :

The O/S firewalls in OS X and Windows XP and later are only for incoming connections. Similarly, router firewalls (typically) act only to block incoming attempts based on a limited set of criteria.

Real firewalls, whether in a hardware appliance or add-on to the operating system, allow for much finer control over both incoming and outgoing. If you happen to get a gremlin on your PC (highly unlikely with a MAC), the firewall should a. alert you and b. block any outgoing connections from the malware.

The bad news about s/w firewalls is that they're "noisy," complaining every time a new application tries to get to the outside. Eventually, many users become conditioned to clicking "Allow" or "OK" and don't think about why h4kz0rz.exe wants to access the network or simply turn the firewall off.