Digital Home Thoughts: MaximumPC Offers a Primer on Routers

"Forming an invisible barrier between you and the net, routers drop incoming packets that you weren’t expecting, and is much less vulnerable to exploits that would seek to poke holes in your defenses. A good router not only drops incoming packets, but it also refuses to acknowledge that an active connection even exists. This simple, but powerful difference between routers, and many software firewalls, provides that extra bit of security that can mean the difference between a virus poking around on your machine, or moving on."

Routers are pretty commonplace these days to the point where I cannot think of a single person I know that does not use a router. Even most broadband providers (at least in Canada) are bundling routers with their Internet service. While many people think of routers are plug and play, there is a great deal one can do with a router to make it more effective. MaximumPC takes the time to explain several critical functions of routers and offers several tips to make your router more effective. Most of the suggestions are common sense, and to the technogeek in us, are pretty simple, but the guide does offer a lot of good suggestions to those who are less technically inclined including what I consider the most important aspect, wireless security. The only part I do not see them talking about, which I think should be a consideration as broadband speeds have been increasing, is that older routers, especially those 5 years and older, may not be capable of taking full advantage of the speeds provided by your ISP. Still, if you know someone who wants to learn how to manage their home network, this is a good place to start.