Setting Up

The Linksys admin interface has evolved somewhat over the years, and the present version has some nice improvements from the last time I looked. I found navigating among the screens to be pretty quick, and I especially liked not having to wait for the router to reboot after each configuration change.

Opening the router's default address of 192.168.1.1 brings you to the main screen shown below.

A key improvement is the organization of the WAN Connection Type into separate screens for DHCP, Static IP, PPPoE, SingTel RAS (special for SingTel), and PPTP (for some European BSPs). When you select the WAN Connection Type via a drop-down selector, the Setup screen changes, presenting only the options you need for that particular type of connection. The full range of popular authentication methods is supported, including Host and Domain Name and ability to set the WAN MAC address.

Tip: The VP41 comes with its LAN DHCP server enabled and its WAN side set to be a DHCP client.

Like other current generation routers, the VP41 automatically checks a NNTP server (you can't select which one, however) for the correct time once it gets connected to the Internet. So all you have to do is select your Time Zone on the Setup screen and all your log entries will be properly date/time stamped.

That's about it for the basics. Let's go check out the firewall's features...

Tags: Linksys, Router reviews, VPN,

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