Hi. I am having problems with my wireless router.

SWAT 4 my PC game is not working online. I isoltaed the problem down to the routers built in firewall.

I typed in my routers IP address to go to its setup area.

Now this is where i need help. I tried to disable the firewall, and it didnt turn off, it just stays enabled, wtf? Its a Belkin 54g 125MB router by the way.

Eventually I got the firewall to turn off. Then my internet didn't friggin work. So i change my connection TYPE setting to PPPoA. That got my internet on, but the firewall and something called NAT turned back on.

Now I would usually say "How do I get my router to work but keep my firewall off?" but thats not evry usefull.


What the hell is PPPoE and PPPoA anyway. I have DSL 1Mb/sec, out of the E and A what should I choose?

And whats the difference between 125 High Speed Mode and Frame Burst mode? Which is best?

What does "Noise Margin" mean?

First and foremost: please don't change settings in the router unless you understand exactly what the settings mean. Diong so will only cause more problems.


1. Do not disble the router's firewall- you'll be leaving your system(s) vulnerable to attacks from the outside world.


2. Do not change your connection type (connection protocol); set it back to the type for which it was originally configured.

PPPoE= Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet
PPPoA= Point-to-Point Protocol over ATM

PPPoE and PPPoA are the two common network transmission protocols used by DSL providers. Your router must be set to the protocol that your particular ISP uses; check with the ISP if you are unsure.


3. "High Speed Mode" (A.K.A. SpeedBooster) and "Frame Burst" are technologies that boost the max transfer rate of 802.11g wireless devices above the standard speed of 54Mbps. HSM claims a slightly higher speed increase over Frame Burst, but your mileage with either will definitely vary.


4. The Noise Margin (or Signal-to-Noise Ratio) is basically a measurement of the actual ADSL data signal strength vs the strength of other unwanted, interfering signals along the transmission line between your service provider's location and your home. The larger the Noise Margin number (measured in dB), the better the DSL signal quality.


5. For your game, what you need to do on the router is called "Port Forwarding". Your game communicates on certain network channels called "ports", and you need to tell the router to allow traffic between your PC and the Internet to flow through these ports.

For Swat 4, see this link for more info on port configuration.

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