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mmainprize
join:2001-12-06
Houghton Lake, MI

mmainprize to rescue85

Member

to rescue85

Re: linksys router question

Yah, that is clear as mud.

I have had Linksys router for many years now and this sections Help info posted above has ticked me off many times. It could be read two different ways.

I do not check those, if you do you will block the items and will have issues with some sites.

rescue85
In Memory of Guinness 03-30-07
Premium Member
join:2002-06-12
Eatontown, NJ

rescue85

Premium Member

said by Kyawa:

Below is from the help screen. I personally have none of them checked. Why do you want to?

Kyawa See Profile, Check out mmainprize See Profile's response. It's not a question of "wanting to", but rather a question of which understanding what it's going to do if you check them... I was just confused as to the way the help is written exactly as he said, the wording could be taken either way. Thanks thought for replying and helping out.
said by mmainprize:

Yah, that is clear as mud.

I have had Linksys router for many years now and this sections Help info posted above has ticked me off many times. It could be read two different ways.

I do not check those, if you do you will block the items and will have issues with some sites.

mmainprize See Profile Mud may actually be a little clearer lol! I feel better now that I know I am not the only one who wasn't quite sure which way those were meant to go. The help really leaves a lot to be desired! Thank you though for clearing it up for me. Your explanation was exactly what I needed to know as this is the first time I have ever used a Linksys Router. Granted this is a much older router but a BBR member was kind enough to send it to me as I am unable to work and awaiting my disability and my old Netgear router has been on the fritz lately dropping connections ect. and can't afford a new one right now. So this was my first experience with Linksys so I was really at a loss how to take the help file.

Thanks again guys! I appreciate the help!

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

said by rescue85:

Granted this is a much older router but a BBR member was kind enough to send it to me as I am unable to work and awaiting my disability and my old Netgear router has been on the fritz lately dropping connections ect. and can't afford a new one right now. So this was my first experience with Linksys so I was really at a loss how to take the help file.

I'm familiar with those topics and see the basic problem. I also know that everyone isn't familiar but they couldn't write a book in the space allocated to "help", either. Plus, such information would be timely with the way security issues evolve these days.

Just one topic, Java, is currently going through exploit hell and the current simplistic answer from security experts is turn it off (or uninstall it, or turn off the browser plugin, etc.) unless you KNOW you need it. Which, of course, raises other questions... what's it used for?... well, lots of things... want a list of 10,000 most popular?... lists don't grow on trees... something you rely on may need it... and on and on...

Many may argue Linksys has no business putting such settings for an average user. This may be true. Yet others demand it (the minority I'd guess).

My point is, while I blame marketing for trashing Cisco/Linksys in recent years, I'll back their being in Catch-22 for user interfaces vs capabilities.

On the other side, having those particular "filters" may be just another marketing bullet for their ads. This is very likely, IMHO.

No one wants to write a book on each topic but a lively discussion, perhaps, one at a time, may be in order.

Hope this makes sense.

rescue85
In Memory of Guinness 03-30-07
Premium Member
join:2002-06-12
Eatontown, NJ

rescue85

Premium Member

said by Kyawa:

Seems pretty clear to me. If you block certain things, you won't be able to access certain things on the internet.

What may seem clear to you may not be as clear to others and it's not like I am some computing novice. I have over 2 decades in the industry. So it was just a bit of an understanding of the wording. I'm not knocking your reply, I was just stating that it wasn't as clear to me as it was to you.
said by Bill_MI:

I'm familiar with those topics and see the basic problem. I also know that everyone isn't familiar but they couldn't write a book in the space allocated to "help", either. Plus, such information would be timely with the way security issues evolve these days.

Just one topic, Java, is currently going through exploit hell and the current simplistic answer from security experts is turn it off (or uninstall it, or turn off the browser plugin, etc.) unless you KNOW you need it. Which, of course, raises other questions... what's it used for?... well, lots of things... want a list of 10,000 most popular?... lists don't grow on trees... something you rely on may need it... and on and on...

Many may argue Linksys has no business putting such settings for an average user. This may be true. Yet others demand it (the minority I'd guess).

My point is, while I blame marketing for trashing Cisco/Linksys in recent years, I'll back their being in Catch-22 for user interfaces vs capabilities.

On the other side, having those particular "filters" may be just another marketing bullet for their ads. This is very likely, IMHO.

No one wants to write a book on each topic but a lively discussion, perhaps, one at a time, may be in order.

Hope this makes sense.

Hey Bill_MI See Profile yeah makes plenty of sense. I'm not knocking their interface or it's capabilities. It was just the wording that through me off. Infact one single word as they used it in the interface is what though me for a loop. When it says "To enable xxxx filtering, click the checkbox." The word "filtering" to me here is where I got a little confused. I wasn't entirely sure whether this meant you were filtering in or out. It may sound silly to some that this would confuse me, but apparently I am not alone in my confusion.

For example, "To enable Java filtering, click the checkbox." I wasn't sure if this meant checking the box meant to halt Java from passing through the router or if this was indicating that you are specifically allowing Java to pass through it. That was the only thing that confused me a little. Like I said it may be perfectly clear to others, but as you and mmainprize See Profile indicated, the wording can be a little misleading with out understanding the story behind why those options are available. It all is clear now thanks to you guys explaining.

Sadly, so much of what I do does infact use Java, as well, with there being so many problems with Flash and Firefox and Flash and Chrome, I am noticing a lot of sites using Java applets instead.

Anyway, I would like to thank you guys for posting and clearing everything up for me. I have no issues with Linksys having these settings in the interface for the "average" user, as I like having some finite control of things like this, it was just their choice of wording that left me a little confused, but thanks to some simple explanations from you guys, I fully understand now.

Again, thanks guys!

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

said by rescue85:

...When it says "To enable xxxx filtering, click the checkbox." The word "filtering" to me here is where I got a little confused. I wasn't entirely sure whether this meant you were filtering in or out. It may sound silly to some that this would confuse me, but apparently I am not alone in my confusion...

And thanks for clarifying. Duh... I see it now in your initial post. Call it a geek blind spot.

I think of filter as something removing what would otherwise go through. A coffee filter (grounds), furnace filter (dirt), cigarette filter (tar), oil filter (dirt and metal particles), etc. So a router filter enabled/checked would restrict the passage of something labeled Active-X, Java or Cookies. I see what you mean if it's uncertain what "normal" is.

It does seem gramatically clumsy when it comes to a proxy - I'm still wondering what they do with that one.

Ya know... checking all those would be great for paranoia. Many web pages won't work but you'd be safer! Now back to your regularly scheduled forum.