Netgear Wndr4500 Owner S Manual N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router User

2014-07-06

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N900 Wireless Dual Band
Gigabit Router WNDR4500
User M anua l

350 East Plumeria Drive
San Jose, CA 95134
USA
July 2012
202-10875-05
v1.0

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

© 2012 NETGEAR, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated
into any language in any form or by any means without the written permission of NETGEAR, Inc.

Technical Support
Thank you for choosing NETGEAR. To register your product, get the latest product updates, or get support online,
visit us at http://support.netgear.com.
Phone (US & Canada only): 1-888-NETGEAR
Phone (Other Countries): See Support information card.

Trademarks
NETGEAR, the NETGEAR logo, and Connect with Innovation are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of
NETGEAR, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Information is subject to change
without notice. Other brand and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective
holders. © 2012 NETGEAR, Inc. All rights reserved.

Statement of Conditions
To improve internal design, operational function, and/or reliability, NETGEAR reserves the right to make changes
to the products described in this document without notice. NETGEAR does not assume any liability that may occur
due to the use, or application of, the product(s) or circuit layout(s) described herein.

Contents
Chapter 1 Hardware Setup
Unpack Your Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Position Your Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Hardware Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Back Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Label. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 2 Getting Started with NETGEAR genie
Router Setup Preparation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Use Standard TCP/IP Properties for DHCP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Gather ISP Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Wireless Devices and Security Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Types of Logins and Access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
NETGEAR genie Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Use NETGEAR genie after Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Upgrade Router Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Router Dashboard (Basic Home Screen) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Add Wireless Devices or Computers to Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Manual Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 3 NETGEAR genie Basic Settings
Internet Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Internet Setup Screen Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Attached Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Parental Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
ReadySHARE USB Storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Basic Wireless Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Wireless Settings Screen Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Change WPA Security Option and Passphrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Guest Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Guest Network Wireless Security Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 4 NETGEAR genie Advanced Home
Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
WPS Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Setup Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

WAN Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Default DMZ Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Change the MTU Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
LAN Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
LAN Setup Screen Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Use the Router as a DHCP Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Address Reservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Quality of Service (QoS) Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Chapter 5 USB Storage
USB Drive Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
ReadySHARE Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
File-Sharing Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Basic Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Add or Edit a Network Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
USB Storage Advanced Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Safely Remove a USB Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Media Server Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Specify Approved USB Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Connect to the USB Drive from a Remote Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Access the Router’s USB Drive Remotely Using FTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapter 6 ReadySHARE Printer
ReadySHARE Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
USB Control Center Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Control Center Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
USB Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Scan with a Multi-Function Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
USB Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Desktop NETGEAR genie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Chapter 7 Security
Keyword Blocking of HTTP Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Block Services (Port Filtering) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Schedule Blocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Security Event Email Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Chapter 8 Administration
Upgrade the Router Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
View Router Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Router Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Internet Provider (WAN) Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Wireless Settings (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Guest Network (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
View Logs of Web Access or Attempted Web Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Manage the Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Back Up Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Restore Configuration Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Set Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Password Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Time Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Set Up Time Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Access the Connected USB Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Before You Back up a Large Amount of Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Change the Partition Scheme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Chapter 9 Advanced Settings
Advanced Wireless Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Wireless Repeating Function (WDS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Wireless Repeating Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Set Up the Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Set Up a Repeater Unit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Port Forwarding and Triggering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Remote Computer Access Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Port Triggering to Open Incoming Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Port Forwarding to Permit External Host Communications . . . . . . . . . . 94
How Port Forwarding Differs from Port Triggering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Set Up Port Forwarding to Local Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Add a Custom Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Editing or Deleting a Port Forwarding Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Set Up Port Triggering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Dynamic DNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Static Routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Remote Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
USB Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Universal Plug and Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
IPv6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Traffic Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Chapter 10 Troubleshooting
Quick Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Sequence to Restart Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Check Ethernet Cable Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Wireless Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Network Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Troubleshooting with the LEDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Power/Test LED Is Off or Blinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Power/Test LED Stays Amber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
LEDs Never Turn Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Internet or Ethernet Port LEDs Are Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Wireless LEDs Are Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

The Push 'N' Connect (WPS) Button Blinks Amber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Cannot Log In to the Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Cannot Access the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Troubleshooting PPPoE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Troubleshooting Internet Browsing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Changes Not Saved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Wireless Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Wireless Signal Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Restore the Factory Settings and Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Troubleshoot Your Network Using the Ping Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Test the LAN Path to Your Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Test the Path from Your Computer to a Remote Device . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Appendix A Supplemental Information
Factory Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Technical Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Appendix B Notification of Compliance
Index

Hardware Setup

G et t i n g to k now you r router

The N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500 provides you with an easy and secure
way to set up a wireless home network with fast access to the Internet over a high-speed digital
subscriber line (DSL). It is compatible with all major DSL Internet service providers, lets you
block unsafe Internet content and applications, and protects the devices (PCs, gaming consoles,
and so on) that you connect to your home network.
If you have not already set up your new router using the installation guide that comes in the box,
this chapter walks you through the hardware setup. Chapter 3, NETGEAR genie Basic Settings,
explains how to set up your Internet connection.
This chapter contains the following sections:
•

Unpack Your Router

•

Position Your Router

•

Hardware Features

For information about ReadySHARE features in your product, see Chapter 5, USB Storage, and
www.netgear.com/readyshare.
For more information about the topics covered in this manual, visit the Support website at
http://support.netgear.com.

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Unpack Your Router
Open the box and remove the router, cables, and installation guide.

Figure 1. Check the package contents

Your box should contain the following items:
•

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

•

AC power adapter (plug varies by region)

•

Category 5 (Cat 5) Ethernet cable

•

Installation guide with cabling and router setup instructions

If any parts are incorrect, missing, or damaged, contact your NETGEAR dealer. Keep the
carton and original packing materials, in case you need to return the product for repair.

Position Your Router
The router lets you access your network from virtually anywhere within the operating range of
your wireless network. However, the operating distance or range of your wireless connection
can vary significantly depending on the physical placement of your router. For example, the
thickness and number of walls the wireless signal passes through can limit the range. For
best results, place your router:
•

Near the center of the area where your computers and other devices operate, and
preferably within line of sight to your wireless devices.

•

So it is accessible to an AC power outlet and near Ethernet cables for wired computers.

Hardware Setup
8

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

•

In an elevated location such as a high shelf, keeping the number of walls and ceilings
between the router and your other devices to a minimum.

•

Away from electrical devices that are potential sources of interference, such as ceiling
fans, home security systems, microwaves, PCs, or the base of a cordless phone or 2.4
GHz cordless phone.

•

Away from any large metal surfaces, such as a solid metal door or aluminum studs. Large
expanses of other materials such as glass, insulated walls, fish tanks, mirrors, brick, and
concrete can also affect your wireless signal.

When you use multiple access points, it is better if adjacent access points use different radio
frequency channels to reduce interference. The recommended channel spacing between
adjacent access points is 5 channels (for example, use Channels 1 and 6, or 6 and 11).

Hardware Features
Before you cable your router, take a moment to become familiar with the label and the front
and back panels. Pay particular attention to the LEDs on the front panel.

Front Panel
The router front panel has the status LEDs and icons shown in the following figure.

WPS button and LED
Wireless On/Off button

Power
Internet
2.4 wireless network
5 GHz wireless network
Etherent LAN ports 1–4
USB port 1
USB port 2

Router stand (attached)
Figure 2. Router, front view

Hardware Setup
9

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Table 1. Front panel LED descriptions
LED

Description

Power/Test

•
•
•
•
•

Solid amber. The unit is starting up after being powered on.
Solid green. The power is on, and the router is ready.
Blinking amber. A firmware update is in progress.
Blinking green. The firmware is corrupt.
Off. Power is not supplied to the router.

Internet

•
•
•

Solid amber. The IP address has not been acquired.
Solid green. An IP address has been received; ready to transmit data.
Off. No Ethernet cable is connected between the router and the modem.

2.4 GHz

•
•

Solid blue. The wireless radio is operating.
Off. The wireless radio is off.

5 GHz

•
•

Solid blue. The wireless radio is operating.
Off. The wireless radio is off.

LAN ports
1–4

•
•
•

Solid green. The LAN port has detected a 1,000 Mpbs link with an attached device.
Solid amber. The LAN port has detected a 10/100 Mbps link with an attached device.
Off. No link is detected on this port.

USB
(2 LEDs)

•
•
•

Solid. The USB device had been accepted by the router and is ready to be used.
Blinking. The USB device is in use.
Off. No USB device is connected, or the Safely Remove Hardware button has been clicked
and it is now safe to remove the attached USB device.

The WLAN and WPS buttons toggle the WLAN and WPS functions on and off.
•

WLAN On/Off button. Pressing and holding the wireless LAN button for 2 seconds
turns the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless radios on and off. If the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz LEDs
are lit, then the wireless radio is on. If these LEDs are off, then the wireless radios are
turned off and you cannot connect wirelessly to the router.

•

WPS button. You can use this button to use WPS to add a wireless device or
computer to your wireless network. The LED below the WPS button blinks green when
the router is trying to add the wireless device or computer. The LED stays solid green
when wireless security is enabled in the router.

Hardware Setup
10

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Back Panel
The back panel has the connections shown in the following figure.

USB ports

LAN Ethernet ports 1–4

Internet port
Reset button
Power
Power On/Off button

Figure 3. Router, rear view

See Factory Settings on page 120 for information about restoring factory settings.

Label
The label on the bottom of the router shows the WPS PIN, login information, MAC address,
and serial number.
Default Access Information

Serial number
MAC address

Preset WiFi Password

Preset SSID

Figure 4. The label shows unique information about your router

Hardware Setup
11

Getting Started with NETGEAR genie
Con n e ct i n g to the router

This chapter explains how to use NETGEAR genie to set up your router after you complete
cabling as described in the installation guide and in the previous chapter in this book.
This chapter contains the following sections:
•

Router Setup Preparation

•

Types of Logins and Access

•

NETGEAR genie Setup

•

Use NETGEAR genie after Installation

•

Upgrade Router Firmware

•

Router Dashboard (Basic Home Screen)

•

Add Wireless Devices or Computers to Your Network

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Router Setup Preparation
You can set up your router with the NETGEAR genie automatically, or you can use the
NETGEAR genie menus and screens to set up your router manually. However, before you
start the setup process, you need to have your ISP information on hand and make sure the
laptops, PCs, and other devices in the network have the settings described here.

Use Standard TCP/IP Properties for DHCP
If you set up your computer to use a static IP address, you need to change the settings so
that it uses Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).

Gather ISP Information
If you have DSL broadband service, you might need the following information to set up your
router and to check that your Internet configuration is correct. Your Internet service provider
(ISP) should have provided you with all of the information needed to connect to the Internet.
If you cannot locate this information, ask your ISP to provide it. When your Internet
connection is working, you no longer need to launch the ISP’s login program on your
computer to access the Internet. When you start an Internet application, your router
automatically logs you in.
•

The ISP configuration information for your DSL account

•

ISP login name and password

•

Fixed or static IP address settings (special deployment by ISP; this is rare)

Wireless Devices and Security Settings
Make sure that the wireless device or computer that you are using supports WPA or WPA2
wireless security, which is the wireless security supported by the router.

Types of Logins and Access
There are separate types of logins that have different purposes. It is important that you
understand the difference so that you know which login to use when.
•

Router login logs you in to the router interface from NETGEAR genie. See Use
NETGEAR genie after Installation on page 15 for details about this login.

•

ISP login logs you in to your Internet service. Your service provider has provided you with
this login information in a letter or some other way. If you cannot find this login
information, contact your service provider.

•

Wireless network key or password. Your router is preset with a unique wireless
network name (SSID) and password for wireless access. This information is on the label
located on the bottom of your router.

Getting Started with NETGEAR genie
13

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

NETGEAR genie Setup
NETGEAR genie runs on any device with a web browser. It is the easiest way to set up the
router because it automates many of the steps and verifies that those steps have been
successfully completed. It takes about 15 minutes to complete.


To use NETGEAR genie to set up your router:
1. Turn the router on by pressing the On/Off button, if not done yet.
2. Make sure that your device is connected with an Ethernet cable (wired) or wirelessly (with
the preset security settings listed on the bottom label) to your router.
3. Launch your Internet browser.
• If this is the first time you are setting up the Internet connection for your router, the
browser automatically goes to http://www.routerlogin.net, and the NETGEAR genie
screen displays.
•

If you already used the NETGEAR genie, type http://www.routerlogin.net in the
address field for your browser to display the NETGEAR genie screen. See Use
NETGEAR genie after Installation on page 15.

4. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete NETGEAR genie setup. NETGEAR genie
guides you through connecting the router to the Internet.
If the browser cannot display the web page:
•

Make sure that the computer is connected to one of the four LAN Ethernet ports, or
wirelessly to the router.

•

Make sure that the router is fully up and running. Its wireless LED should turn on.

•

Close and re-open the browser to make sure the browser does not cache the previous
page.

•

Browse to http://routerlogin.net.

•

If the computer is set to a static or fixed IP address (this is uncommon), change it to
obtain an IP address automatically from the router.

If the router does not connect to the Internet:
1. Review your settings to be sure that you have selected the correct options and typed
everything correctly.
2. Contact your ISP to verify that you have the correct configuration information.
3. Read Chapter 10, Troubleshooting. If problems persist, register your NETGEAR product and
contact NETGEAR technical support.

Getting Started with NETGEAR genie
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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Use NETGEAR genie after Installation
When you first set up your router, NETGEAR genie automatically starts when you launch an
Internet browser on a computer that is connected to the router. You can use NETGEAR genie
again if you want to view or change settings for the router.
1. Launch your browser from a computer or wireless device that is connected to the router.
2. Type http://www.routerlogin.net or http://www.routerlogin.com.
The login window displays:
admin
********

3. Enter admin for the router user name and password for the router password, both in
lowercase letters.
Note: The router user name and password are different from the user name
and password for logging in to your Internet connection. See Types of Logins
and Access on page 13 for more information.

Upgrade Router Firmware
When you set up your router and are connected to the Internet, the router automatically
checks for you to see if newer firmware is available. If it is, a message is displayed on the top
of the screen. See Upgrade the Router Firmware on page 70 for more information about
upgrading firmware.
Click the message when it shows up, and click Yes to upgrade the router with the latest
firmware. After the upgrade, the router restarts.
CAUTION:
Do not try to go online, turn off the router, shut down the computer, or do
anything else to the router until the router finishes restarting and the
Power LED has stopped blinking for several seconds.

Getting Started with NETGEAR genie
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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Router Dashboard (Basic Home Screen)
The router Basic Home screen has a dashboard that lets you see the status of your Internet
connection and network at a glance. You can click any of the six sections of the dashboard to
view more detailed information. The left column has the menus, and at the top there is an
Advanced tab that is used to access additional menus and screens.
Language

Menus
(Click the
Advanced
tab to view
more)

Dashboard
(Click to
view
details)

Help
Figure 5. Router Basic Home screen with dashboard, language, and online help

•

Home. This dashboard screen displays when you log in to the router.

•

Internet. Set, update, and check the ISP settings of your router.

•

Wireless. View or change the wireless settings for your router.

•

Attached Devices. View the devices connected to your network.

•

Parental Controls. Download and set up parental controls to prevent objectionable
content from reaching your computers.

•

ReadySHARE. If you connected a USB storage device to the router, then it is displayed
here.

•

Guest Network. Set up a guest network to allow visitors to use your router’s Internet
connection.

•

Advanced tab. Set the router up for unique situations such as when remote access by IP
or by domain name from the Internet is needed. See Chapter 9, Advanced Settings.
Using this tab requires a solid understanding of networking concepts.

•

Help & Support. Go to the NETGEAR support site to get information, help, and product
documentation. These links work once you have an Internet connection.

Getting Started with NETGEAR genie
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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Add Wireless Devices or Computers to Your Network
Choose either the manual or the WPS method to add wireless devices and other equipment
to your wireless network. See Guest Networks on page 26 for instructions on how to set up a
guest network.

Manual Method


To connect manually:
1. Open the software that manages your wireless connections on the wireless device
(laptop computer, gaming device, iPhone) that you want to connect to your router. This
software scans for all wireless networks in your area.
2. Look for your network and select it. If you did not change the name of your network during
the setup process, look for the default Wi-Fi network name (SSID) and select it. The default
SSID is located on the product label on the bottom of the router.
3. Enter the router password and click Connect. The default router passphrase is located on
the product label on the bottom of the router.
4. Repeat steps 1–3 to add other wireless devices.

Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) Method
Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is a standard for easily adding computers and other devices to
a home network while maintaining security. To use WPS, make sure that all wireless devices
to be connected to the network are Wi-Fi certified and support WPS. During the connection
process, the client gets the security settings from the router so that every device in the
network has the same security settings.


To use WPS to join the wireless network:
If your wireless device supports WPS (Push 'N' Connect), follow these steps:
1. Press the WPS button on the router front panel

2. Within 2 minutes, press the WPS button on your wireless device, or follow the WPS
instructions that came with the device. The device is now connected to your router.
3. Repeat steps 1–2 to add other WPS wireless devices.

Getting Started with NETGEAR genie
17

NETGEAR genie Basic Settings
You r I nternet c on n e ct ion a nd n et work

This chapter explains the features available from the NETGEAR genie Basic Home screen,
shown in the following figure:

This chapter contains the following sections:
•

Internet Setup

•

Attached Devices

•

Parental Controls

•

ReadySHARE USB Storage

•

Basic Wireless Settings

•

Guest Networks

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Internet Setup
The Internet Setup screen is where you view or change ISP information.
1. From the Home screen, select Internet. The following screen displays:

Scroll to
view more
settings

The fields that display in the Internet Setup screen depend on whether or not your
Internet connection requires a login.
•

Yes. Select the encapsulation method and enter the login name. If you want to
change the login time-out, enter a new value in minutes.

•

No. Enter the account and domain names, only if needed.

2. Enter the settings for the IP address and DNS server. The default settings usually work fine.
If you have problems with your connection, check the ISP settings.
3. Click Apply to save your settings.
4. Click Test to test your Internet connection. If the NETGEAR website does not display within
1 minute, see Chapter 10, Troubleshooting.

Internet Setup Screen Fields
The following descriptions explain all of the possible fields in the Internet Setup screen. Note
that which fields display in this screen depends on whether or not an ISP login is required.
Does Your ISP Require a Login? Answer either yes or no.
These fields display when no login is required:
•

Account Name (If required). Enter the account name provided by your ISP. This might
also be called the host name.

•

Domain Name (If required). Enter the domain name provided by your ISP.

These fields display when your ISP requires a login:
•

Internet Service Provider Encapsulation. ISP types. The choices are PPPoE, PPTP, or
L2TP.

NETGEAR genie Basic Settings
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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

•

Password. The password that you use to log in to your ISP.

•

Idle Timeout (In minutes). If you want to change the login timeout, enter a new value in
minutes. This determines how long the router keeps the Internet connection active after
there is no Internet activity from the LAN. Entering a value of 0 (zero) means never log
out.

Internet IP Address.
•

Get Dynamically from ISP. Your ISP uses DHCP to assign your IP address. Your ISP
automatically assigns these addresses.

•

Use Static IP Address. Enter the IP address, IP subnet mask, and the gateway IP
address that your ISP assigned. The gateway is the ISP’s router to which your router will
connect.

Domain Name Server (DNS) Address. The DNS server is used to look up site addresses
based on their names.
•

Get Automatically from ISP. Your ISP uses DHCP to assign your DNS servers. Your ISP
automatically assigns this address.

•

Use These DNS Servers. If you know that your ISP does not automatically transmit DNS
addresses to the router during login, select this option, and enter the IP address of your
ISP’s primary DNS server. If a secondary DNS server address is available, enter it also.

Router MAC Address. The Ethernet MAC address used by the router on the Internet port.
Some ISPs register the MAC address of the network interface card in your computer when
your account is first opened. They will then accept traffic only from the MAC address of that
computer. This feature allows your router to use your computer’s MAC address (this is also
called cloning).
•

Use Default Address. Use the default MAC address.

•

Use Computer MAC Address. The router will capture and use the MAC address of the
computer that you are now using. You have to use the one computer that is allowed by
the ISP.

•

Use This MAC Address. Enter the MAC address that you want to use.

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Attached Devices
You can view all computers or devices that are currently connected to your network here.
From the Basic Home screen, select Attached Devices to display the following screen:

Wired devices are connected to the router with Ethernet cables. Wireless devices have
joined the wireless network.
•

# (number). The order in which the device joined the network.

•

IP Address. The IP address that the router assigned to this device when it joined the
network. Note that this number can change if a device is disconnected and rejoins the
network.

•

MAC Address. The unique MAC address for each device does not change. The MAC
address is typically shown on the product label.

•

Device Name. If the device name is known, it is shown here.

You can click Refresh to update this screen.

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Parental Controls
The first time you select Parental Controls from the Basic Home screen, you are
automatically directed to the Internet, where you can learn more about Live Parental Controls
or download the application. The following screen displays:

ReadySHARE USB Storage
You can view information about a USB storage device that is connected to the router’s USB
port here. From the Basic Home screen, select ReadySHARE to display the USB Storage
(Basic Settings) screen:

NETGEAR genie Basic Settings
22

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

This screen displays the following:
•

Network/Device Name. The default is \\readyshare. This is the name used to access the
USB device connected to the router.

•

Available Network Folders. The folders on the USB device.
Share Name. If only one device is connected, the default share name is USB_Storage.
You can click the name shown, or you can type it in the address field of your web browser.
If Not Shared is shown, the default share has been deleted, and no other share for the
root folder exists. Click the link to change this setting.
Read/Write Access. Shows the permissions and access controls on the network folder:
All – no password (the default) allows all users to access the network folder. The user
name (account name) for All – no password is guest. The password for admin is the
same one that you use to log in to the router. By default, it is password.
Folder Name. Full path used by the network folder.
Volume Name. Volume name from the storage device (either USB drive or HDD).
Total/Free Space. Shows the current utilization of the storage device.

•

Edit. Click the Edit button to edit the Available Network Folders settings.

•

Safely Remove a USB Device. Click to safely remove the USB device attached to your
router.

You can click Refresh to update this screen.
For more information about USB storage, see Chapter 5, USB Storage.

Basic Wireless Settings
The Wireless Settings screen lets you view or configure the wireless network setup.
The N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router comes with preset security. This means that
the Wi-Fi network name (SSID), network key (password), and security option (encryption
protocol) are preset in the factory. You can find the preset SSID and password on the bottom
of the unit.

Note: The preset SSID and password are uniquely generated for every
device to protect and maximize your wireless security.



To view or change basic wireless settings:
NETGEAR recommends that you do not change your preset security settings. If you do
decide to change your preset security settings, make a note of the new settings and store it in
a safe place where you can easily find it.

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

If you use a wireless computer to change the wireless network name (SSID) or other wireless
security settings, you are disconnected when you click Apply. To avoid this problem, use a
computer with a wired connection to access the router.
1. On the Basic Home screen, select Wireless to display the Wireless Settings screen.

You can scroll down to view the 5 GHz wireless network settings. The screen sections,
settings, and procedures are explained in the following sections.
2. Make any changes that are needed, and click Apply to save your settings.
3. Set up and test your wireless devices and computers to make sure that they can connect
wirelessly. If they do not, check the following:
• Is your wireless device or computer connected to your network or another wireless
network in your area? Some wireless devices automatically connect to the first open
network (without wireless security) that they discover.
•

Does your wireless device or computer show up on the Attached Devices screen? If it
does, then it is connected to the network.

•

If you are not sure what the network name (SSID) or password is, look on the label on
the bottom of your router.

Wireless Settings Screen Fields
Region Selection
The location where the router is used. Select from the countries in the list. Note that in the
United States, the region is fixed to United States and is not changeable.

NETGEAR genie Basic Settings
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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Wireless Network
2.4 GHz b/g/n and 5.0 GHz a/n
The b/g/n and a/n notation references the 802.11 standards of conformance. For instance,
the 2.4 b/g/n conforms to 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n at 2.4 GHz radio frequency.
Enable Wireless Isolation. If this check box is selected, then wireless clients (computers or
wireless devices) that join the network can use the Internet, but cannot access each other or
access Ethernet devices on the network.
Enable SSID Broadcast. This setting allows the router to broadcast its SSID so wireless
stations can see this wireless name (SSID) in their scanned network lists. This check box is
selected by default. To turn off the SSID broadcast, clear the Allow Broadcast of Name
(SSID) check box, and click Apply.
Name (SSID). The SSID is also known as the wireless network name. Enter a 32-character
(maximum) name in this field. This field is case-sensitive. The default SSID is randomly
generated, and NETGEAR strongly recommends that you do not change this.
Channel. This setting is the wireless channel used by the gateway. Enter a value from 1
through 13. (For products in the North America market, only Channels 1 through 11 can be
operated.) Do not change the channel unless you experience interference (shown by lost
connections or slow data transfers). If this happens, experiment with different channels to
see which is the best.
Mode. Up to 217 Mbps is the default and allows 802.11n and 802.11g wireless devices to join
the network. g & b supports up to 54 Mbps. The 450 Mbps setting allows 802.11n devices to
connect at this speed.

Security Options Settings
The Security Options section of the Wireless Settings screen lets you change the security
option and passphrase. Please note that NETGEAR recommends that you not change the
security option or passphrase, but if you want to change these settings, this section
explains how. Do not disable security.

Change WPA Security Option and Passphrase
1. Under Security Options, select the WPA option you want.

2. In the Passphrase field that displays when you select a WPA security option, enter the
network key (passphrase) that you want to use. It is a text string from 8 to 63 characters.

NETGEAR genie Basic Settings
25

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Guest Networks
Adding a guest network allows visitors at your home to use the Internet without giving them
your wireless security key. You can add a guest network to each wireless network: 2.4 GHz
b/g/n and 5.0 GHz a/n.


To set up a guest network:
1. Select Basic > Guest Network to display the following screen:

2. For a 5 GHz network, scroll down to view that section of the Guest Network screen.
3. Select any of the following wireless settings:
Enable Guest Network. When this check box is selected, the guest network is enabled,
and guests can connect to your network using the SSID of this profile.
Enable Wireless Isolation. If this check box is selected, then wireless clients (computers
or wireless devices) that join the network can use the Internet, but cannot access each
other or access Ethernet devices on the network.
Enable SSID Broadcast. If this check box is selected, the wireless access point
broadcasts its name (SSID) to all wireless stations. Stations with no SSID can adopt the
correct SSID for connections to this access point.
Allow guest to access My Local Network. If this check box is selected, any user who
connects to this SSID has access to your local network, not just Internet access.
4. Give the guest network a name.
The guest network name is case-sensitive and can be up to 32 characters. You then
manually configure the wireless devices in your network to use the guest network name in
addition to the main nonguest SSID.
5. Select a security option from the list. The security options are described in Guest Network
Wireless Security Options on page 27.
6. Click Apply to save your selections.

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Guest Network Wireless Security Options
A security option is the type of security protocol applied to your wireless network. The
security protocol in force encrypts data transmissions and ensures that only trusted devices
receive authorization to connect to your network. Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) has several
options including pre-shared key (PSK) encryption.
This section presents an overview of the security options and provides guidance on when to
use which option. Note that it is also possible to set up a guest network without wireless
security. NETGEAR does not recommend this.

WPA Encryption
WPA encryption is built into all hardware that has the Wi-Fi-certified seal. This seal means
the product is authorized by the Wi-Fi Alliance (http://www.wi-fi.org/) because it complies with
the worldwide single standard for high-speed wireless local area networking.
WPA uses a passphrase to perform authentication and generate the initial data encryption
keys. Then it dynamically varies the encryption key. WPA-PSK uses Temporal Key Integrity
Protocol (TKIP) data encryption, implements most of the IEEE 802.11i standard, and is
designed to work with all wireless network interface cards, but not all wireless access points.
It is superseded by WPA2-PSK.
WPA2-PSK is stronger than WPA-PSK. It is advertised to be theoretically indecipherable due
to the greater degree of randomness in encryption keys that it generates. WPA2-PSK gets
higher speed because it is usually implemented through hardware, while WPA-PSK is usually
implemented through software. WPA2-PSK uses a passphrase to authenticate and generate
the initial data encryption keys. Then it dynamically varies the encryption key.
WPS-PSK + WPA2-PSK Mixed Mode can provide broader support for all wireless clients.
WPA2-PSK clients get higher speed and security, and WPA-PSK clients get decent speed
and security. The product documentation for your wireless adapter and WPA client software
should have instructions about configuring their WPA settings.

NETGEAR genie Basic Settings
27

NETGEAR genie Advanced Home

Sp ecif yi ng custom set ti ngs

This chapter explains the features available from the NETGEAR genie Advanced Home screen,
shown in the following figure:

This screen is also
displayed through the
Administration menu.

This chapter contains the following sections:
•

Setup Wizard

•

WPS Wizard

•

Setup Menu

•

WAN Setup

•

LAN Setup

•

Quality of Service (QoS) Setup

Some selections on the Advanced Home screen are described in separate chapters:
•

USB Storage. See Chapter 5, USB Storage.

•

Security. See Chapter 7, Security.

•

Administration. See Chapter 8, Administration.

•

Advanced Setup. See Chapter 9, Advanced Settings.

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Setup Wizard
The NETGEAR genie installation process is launched the first time you set up the router.
After setting up the router the first time, if you want to perform this task again, you can run
Setup Wizard from the Advanced tab of the NETGEAR genie.
1. Select Setup Wizard to display the following screen:

2. Select either Yes or No, I want to configure the router myself. If you select No, you are
taken to the Internet Setup screen (see Internet Setup on page 19).
3. If you selected Yes, click Next. The following screen displays:

The Setup Wizard searches your Internet connection for servers and protocols to
determine your ISP configuration. The following screen displays:

NETGEAR genie Advanced Home
29

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

WPS Wizard
The WPS Wizard helps you add a WPS-capable client device (a wireless device or computer)
to your network. On the client device you need to either press its WPS button or locate its
WPS PIN.
To use the WPS Wizard:
1. Select Advanced > WPS Wizard.
2. Click Next. The following screen lets you select the method for adding the WPS client (a
wireless device or computer).

You can use either the push button or PIN method.
3. Select either Push Button or PIN Number.
•

To use the push button method, either click the WPS button on this screen, or press
the WPS button located on the side of the router. Within 2 minutes, go to the wireless
client and press its WPS button to join the network without entering a password.

•

To use the PIN method, select the PIN Number radio button, enter the client security
PIN, and click Next.

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30

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Within 2 minutes, go to the client device and use its WPS software to join the network
without entering a password.
The router attempts to add the WPS-capable device. The WPS LED
on the front of
the router blinks green. When the router establishes a WPS connection, the LED is solid
green, and the router WPS screen displays a confirmation message.
4. Repeat Step 2 and Step 3 to add another WPS client to your network.

Setup Menu
Select Advanced > Setup to display the Setup menu. The following selections are available:
•

Internet Setup. This is a shortcut to the same Internet Setup screen that you can access
from the dashboard on the Basic Home screen. See Internet Setup on page 19.

•

Wireless Setup. This is a shortcut to the same Wireless Settings screen that you can
access from the dashboard on the Basic Home screen. See Basic Wireless Settings on
page 23.

•

Guest Network. This is a shortcut to the same Guest Network screen that you can
access from the dashboard on the Basic Home screen. See Guest Networks on page 26.

•

WAN Setup. Internet (WAN) setup. See WAN Setup on page 32.

•

LAN Setup. Local area network (LAN) setup. See LAN Setup on page 35.

•

QoS Setup.Quality of Service (QoS) setup. See Quality of Service (QoS) Setup on
page 38.

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

WAN Setup
The WAN Setup screen lets you configure a DMZ (demilitarized zone) server, change the
Maximum Transmit Unit (MTU) size, and enable the router to respond to a ping on the WAN
(Internet) port. Select Advanced > Setup > WAN Setup to view the following screen:

•

Disable Port Scan and DoS Protection. DoS protection protects your LAN against
denial of service attacks such as Syn flood, Smurf Attack, Ping of Death, Teardrop Attack,
UDP Flood, ARP Attack, Spoofing ICMP, Null Scan, and many others. This should be
disabled only in special circumstances.

•

Default DMZ Server. This feature is sometimes helpful when you are playing online
games or videoconferencing. Be careful when using this feature because it makes the
firewall security less effective. See the following section, Default DMZ Server, for more
details.

•

Respond to Ping on Internet Port. If you want the router to respond to a ping from the
Internet, select this check box. Use this only as a diagnostic tool because it allows your
router to be discovered. Do not select this check box unless you have a specific reason.

•

Disable IGMP Proxying. IGMP proxying allows a computer on the local area network
(LAN) to receive the multicast traffic it is interested in from the Internet. You can select
this check box to disable the feature if you do not need it.

•

MTU Size (in bytes). The normal MTU (Maximum Transmit Unit) value for most Ethernet
networks is 1500 bytes, or 1492 bytes for PPPoE connections. For some ISPs you might
need to reduce the MTU. This is rarely required, and should not be done unless you are
sure it is necessary for your ISP connection. See Change the MTU Size on page 33.

•

NAT Filtering. Network Address Translation (NAT) determines how the router processes
inbound traffic. Secured NAT provides a secured firewall to protect the computers on the
LAN from attacks from the Internet, but might prevent some Internet games, point-to-point
applications, or multimedia applications from functioning. Open NAT provides a much
less secured firewall, but allows almost all Internet applications to function.

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Default DMZ Server
The default DMZ server feature is helpful when you are using some online games and
videoconferencing applications that are incompatible with Network Address Translation
(NAT). The router is programmed to recognize some of these applications and to work
correctly with them, but there are other applications that might not function well. In some
cases, one local computer can run the application correctly if that computer’s IP address is
entered as the default DMZ server.
WARNING:
DMZ servers pose a security risk. A computer designated as the
default DMZ server loses much of the protection of the firewall
and is exposed to exploits from the Internet. If compromised, the
DMZ server computer can be used to attack other computers on
your network.
Incoming traffic from the Internet is usually discarded by the router unless the traffic is a
response to one of your local computers or a service that you have configured in the Port
Forwarding/Port Triggering screen. Instead of discarding this traffic, you can have it
forwarded to one computer on your network. This computer is called the default DMZ server.


To set up a default DMZ server:
1. On the WAN Setup screen, select the Default DMZ Server check box.
2. Type the IP address.
3. Click Apply.

Change the MTU Size
The Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) is the largest data packet a network device
transmits. When one network device communicates across the Internet with another, the data
packets travel through many devices along the way. If any device in the data path has a lower
MTU setting than the other devices, the data packets have to be split or “fragmented” to
accommodate the device with the smallest MTU.
The best MTU setting for NETGEAR equipment is often just the default value, and changing
the value might fix one problem but cause another. Leave MTU unchanged unless one of
these situations occurs:
•

You have problems connecting to your ISP or other Internet service, and the technical
support of either the ISP or NETGEAR recommends changing the MTU setting. These
web-based applications might require an MTU change:
-

A secure website that will not open, or displays only part of a web page

Yahoo email

MSN portal

America Online’s DSL service

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•

You use VPN and have severe performance problems.

•

You used a program to optimize MTU for performance reasons, and now you have
connectivity or performance problems.

Note: An incorrect MTU setting can cause Internet communication
problems such as the inability to access certain websites, frames
within websites, secure login pages, or FTP or POP servers.

If you suspect an MTU problem, a common solution is to change the MTU to 1400. If you are
willing to experiment, you can gradually reduce the MTU from the maximum value of 1500
until the problem goes away. The following table describes common MTU sizes and
applications.
Table 2. Common MTU Sizes



MTU

Application

1500

The largest Ethernet packet size and the default value. This is the typical setting for
non-PPPoE, non-VPN connections, and is the default value for NETGEAR routers,
adapters, and switches.

1492

Used in PPPoE environments.

1472

Maximum size to use for pinging. (Larger packets are fragmented.)

1468

Used in some DHCP environments.

1460

Usable by AOL if you do not have large email attachments, for example.

1436

Used in PPTP environments or with VPN.

1400

Maximum size for AOL DSL.

576

Typical value to connect to dial-up ISPs.

To change the MTU size:
1. Select Advanced > Setup > WAN Setup.
2. In the MTU Size field, enter a new size between 64 and 1500.
3. Click Apply to save the settings.

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LAN Setup
The LAN Setup screen allows configuration of LAN IP services such as Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Routing Information Protocol (RIP).
The router is shipped preconfigured to use private IP addresses on the LAN side and to act
as a DHCP server. The router’s default LAN IP configuration is:
•

LAN IP address. 192.168.1.1

•

Subnet mask. 255.255.255.0

These addresses are part of the designated private address range for use in private networks
and should be suitable for most applications. If your network has a requirement to use a
different IP addressing scheme, you can make those changes in the LAN Setup screen.


To change the LAN settings:

Note: If you change the LAN IP address of the router while connected
through the browser, you will be disconnected. You will have to open
a new connection to the new IP address and log in again.

1. Select Advanced > Setup > LAN Setup to display the following screen:

2. Enter the settings that you want to customize. These settings are described in the following
section, LAN Setup Screen Settings.
3. Click Apply to save your changes.

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LAN Setup Screen Settings
LAN TCP/IP Setup
•

IP Address. The LAN IP address of the router.

•

IP Subnet Mask. The LAN subnet mask of the router. Combined with the IP address, the
IP subnet mask allows a device to know which other addresses are local to it, and which
have to be reached through a gateway or router.

•

RIP Direction. Router Information Protocol (RIP) allows a router to exchange routing
information with other routers. This setting controls how the router sends and receives
RIP packets. Both is the default setting. With the Both or Out Only setting, the router
broadcasts its routing table periodically. With the Both or In Only setting, the router
incorporates the RIP information that it receives.

•

RIP Version. This controls the format and the broadcasting method of the RIP packets
that the router sends. It recognizes both formats when receiving. By default, the RIP
function is disabled.
RIP-1 is universally supported. It is adequate for most networks, unless you have an
unusual network setup.
RIP-2 carries more information. Both RIP-2B and RIP-2M send the routing data in RIP-2
format. RIP-2B uses subnet broadcasting. RIP-2M uses multicasting.

Use Router as a DHCP Server
This check box is usually selected so that the router functions as a Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server.
•

Starting IP Address. Specify the start of the range for the pool of IP addresses in the
same subnet as the router.

•

Ending IP Address. Specify the end of the range for the pool of IP addresses in the
same subnet as the router.

Address Reservation
When you specify a reserved IP address for a computer on the LAN, that computer receives
the same IP address each time it accesses the router’s DHCP server. Assign reserved IP
addresses to servers that require permanent IP settings.

Use the Router as a DHCP Server
By default, the router functions as a DHCP server, allowing it to assign IP, DNS server, and
default gateway addresses to all computers connected to the router’s LAN. The assigned
default gateway address is the LAN address of the router. The router assigns IP addresses to
the attached computers from a pool of addresses specified in this screen. Each pool address
is tested before it is assigned to avoid duplicate addresses on the LAN. For most
applications, the default DHCP and TCP/IP settings of the router are satisfactory.

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You can specify the pool of IP addresses to be assigned by setting the starting IP address
and ending IP address. These addresses should be part of the same IP address subnet as
the router’s LAN IP address. Using the default addressing scheme, you should define a
range between 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.254, although you might want to save part of the
range for devices with fixed addresses.
The router delivers the following parameters to any LAN device that requests DHCP:
•

An IP address from the range you have defined

•

Subnet mask

•

Gateway IP address (the router’s LAN IP address)

•

Primary DNS server (if you entered a primary DNS address in the Internet Setup screen;
otherwise, the router’s LAN IP address)

•

Secondary DNS server (if you entered a secondary DNS address in the Internet Setup
screen)

To use another device on your network as the DHCP server, or to manually configure the
network settings of all of your computers, clear the Use Router as DHCP Server check box
and click Apply. Otherwise, leave this check box selected. If this service is not enabled and
no other DHCP server is available on your network, you need to set your computers’ IP
addresses manually or they will not be able to access the router.

Address Reservation
When you specify a reserved IP address for a computer on the LAN, that computer always
receives the same IP address each time it accesses the router’s DHCP server. Reserved IP
addresses should be assigned to computers or servers that require permanent IP settings.


To reserve an IP address:
1. In the Address Reservation section of the screen, click the Add button.
2. In the IP Address field, type the IP address to assign to the computer or server. (Choose an
IP address from the router’s LAN subnet, such as 192.168.1.x.)
3. Type the MAC address of the computer or server.
Tip: If the computer is already on your network, you can copy its MAC
address from the Attached Devices screen and paste it here.
4. Click Apply to enter the reserved address into the table.
The reserved address is not assigned until the next time the computer contacts the
router’s DHCP server. Reboot the computer, or access its IP configuration and force a
DHCP release and renew.
To edit or delete a reserved address entry, select the radio button next to the reserved
address you want to edit or delete. Then click Edit or Delete.

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Quality of Service (QoS) Setup
QoS is an advanced feature that can be used to prioritize some types of traffic ahead of
others. The N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router can provide QoS prioritization over the
wireless link and on the Internet connection. To configure QoS, use the QoS Setup screen.
Select Advanced > Setup > QoS Setup to display the following screen:

Enable WMM QoS for Wireless Multimedia Applications
The N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router supports Wi-Fi Multimedia Quality of Service
(WMM QoS) to prioritize wireless voice and video traffic over the wireless link. WMM QoS
provides prioritization of wireless data packets from different applications based on four
access categories: voice, video, best effort, and background. For an application to receive
the benefits of WMM QoS, both it and the client running that application have to have WMM
enabled. Legacy applications that do not support WMM and applications that do not require
QoS, are assigned to the best effort category, which receives a lower priority than voice and
video.
WMM QoS is enabled by default. You can disable it in the QoS Setup screen by clearing the
Enable WMM check box and clicking Apply.

Set Up QoS for Internet Access
You can give prioritized Internet access to the following types of traffic:
•

Specific applications

•

Specific online games

•

Individual Ethernet LAN ports of the router

•

A specific device by MAC address

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To specify prioritization of traffic, you have to create a policy for the type of traffic and add the
policy to the QoS Policy table in the QoS Setup screen. For convenience, the QoS Policy
table lists many common applications and online games that can benefit from QoS handling.

QoS for Applications and Online Gaming


To create a QoS policy for applications and online games:
1. In the QoS Setup screen, select the Turn Internet Access QoS On check box.
2. Click the Setup QoS Rule button to see the existing priority rules. On this screen you can
edit or delete a rule by selecting its radio button and clicking either the Edit or Delete button.
You can also delete all of the rules by simply clicking the Delete All button.

3. To add a priority rule, scroll down to the bottom of the QoS Setup screen and click Add
Priority Rule to display the following screen:

4. In the QoS Policy for field, type the name of the application or game.

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5. In the Priority Category list, select either Applications or Online Gaming. In either case, a
list of applications or games displays in the list.
6. You can select an existing item from the list, or you can scroll and select Add a New
Application or Add a New Game, as applicable.
a. If you add a new entry, the Priority Rules screen expands as shown:

b. In the QoS Policy for field, enter a descriptive name for the new application or game.
c. In the Connection Type list, select either TCP, UDP, or both (TCP/UDP), and specify
the port number or range of port numbers used by the application or game.
7. From the Priority list, select the priority that this traffic should receive relative to other
applications and traffic when accessing the Internet. The options are Low, Normal, High, and
Highest.
8. Click Apply to save this rule to the QoS Policy list and return to the QoS Setup screen.

QoS for a Router LAN Port


To create a QoS policy for a device connected to one of the router’s LAN ports:
1. Select Advanced > Setup > QoS Setup to display the QoS Setup screen. Select the
Turn Internet Access QoS On check box.
2. Click the Setup QoS Rule button.
3. Click the Add Priority Rule button.

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4. From the Priority Category list, select Ethernet LAN Port, as shown in the following figure:

5. From the LAN port list, select the LAN port that will have a QoS policy.
6. From the Priority list, select the priority that this port’s traffic should receive relative to other
applications and traffic when accessing the Internet. The options are Low, Normal, High, and
Highest.
7. Click Apply to save this rule to the QoS Policy list and return to the QoS Setup screen.
8. In the QoS Setup screen, click Apply.

QoS for a MAC Address


To create a QoS policy for traffic from a specific MAC address:
1. Select Advanced > Setup > QoS Setup, and click the Setup QoS Rule button. The
QoS Setup screen displays.
2. Click Add Priority Rule.

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3. From the Priority Category list, select MAC Address to display the following screen:

4. If the device to be prioritized appears in the MAC Device List, select its radio button. The
information from the MAC Device List populates the policy name, MAC Address, and Device
Name fields. If the device does not appear in the MAC Device List, click Refresh. If it still
does not appear, you have to complete these fields manually.
5. From the Priority list, select the priority that this device’s traffic should receive relative to
other applications and traffic when accessing the Internet. The options are Low, Normal,
High, and Highest.
6. Click Apply to save this rule to the QoS Policy list and return to the QoS Setup screen.
7. In the QoS Setup screen, select the Turn Internet Access QoS On check box.
8. Click Apply.

Editing or Deleting an Existing QoS Policy


To edit or delete a QoS policy:
1. Select Advanced > QoS Setup to display the QoS Setup screen.
2. Select the radio button next to the QoS policy to be edited or deleted, and do one of the
following:
• Click Delete to remove the QoS policy.
•

Click Edit to edit the QoS policy. Follow the instructions in the preceding sections to
change the policy settings.

3. Click Apply in the QoS Setup screen to save your changes.

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USB Storage
Accessi ng and config uring a US B storage drive

This chapter describes how to access and configure a USB storage drive attached to your router.
Be aware that the USB port on the router can be used only to connect USB storage devices like
flash drives or hard drives, or a printer. Do not connect computers, USB modems, CD drives, or
DVD drives to the router USB port.
This chapter contains the following sections:
•

USB Drive Requirements

•

ReadySHARE Access

•

File-Sharing Scenarios

•

Basic Settings

•

USB Storage Advanced Settings

•

Safely Remove a USB Drive

•

Media Server Settings

•

Specify Approved USB Devices

For information about using the ReadySHARE Printer feature, see Chapter 6, ReadySHARE
Printer.
For additional about ReadySHARE features, see www.netgear.com/readyshare.

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

USB Drive Requirements
The router works with 1.0 and 1.1 (USB Full Speed) and 2.0 (USB High Speed) standards.
The approximate USB bus speeds are shown in the following table. Actual bus speeds can
vary, depending on the CPU speed, memory, speed of the network, and other variables.
Table 3. USB Drive Speeds
Bus

Speed/Sec

USB 1.1

12 Mbits

USB 2.0

480 Mbits

The router should work with most USB-compliant external flash and hard drives. For the most
up-to-date list of USB drives supported by the router, go to:
http://kbserver.netgear.com/readyshare
The router supports both read and write for FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, and Linux file systems
(EXT2 and EXT3).

Note: Some USB external hard drives and flash drives require drivers to
be loaded in to the PC before the PC can access the USB device.
Such USB devices do not work with the router.

ReadySHARE Access
Once you have set up your router, you can connect any USB storage device and share the
contents with other users on your network.
You can access your USB device in any of the following ways:
•

On Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 2000 systems, select Start >
Run, and enter \\readyshare in the dialog box. Click OK.

•

On Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 2000 systems, open Internet
Explorer or Safari, and enter \\readyshare in the address bar.

•

On Mac OS X (version 10.2 or later), enter smb://readyshare in the address bar.

•

In My Network Places, enter \\readyshare in the address bar.

File-Sharing Scenarios
You can share files on the USB drive for a wide variety of business and recreational
purposes. The files can be any PC, Mac, or Linux file type including text files, Word,
PowerPoint, Excel, MP3, pictures, and multimedia. USB drive applications include:

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•

Sharing multimedia with friends and family such as MP3 files, pictures, and other
multimedia with local and remote users.

•

Sharing resources on your network. You might want to store files in a central location so
that you do not have to power up a computer to perform local sharing. In addition, you
can share files between Macintosh, Linux, and PC computers by using the USB drive as
a go-between across the systems.

•

Sharing files such as Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and text files with
remote users.

A few common uses are described in the following sections.

Sharing Photos
You can create your own central storage location for photos and multimedia. This eliminates
the need to log in to (and pay for) an external photo-sharing site.


To share files with your friends and family:
1. Insert your USB drive into the USB port on the router either directly or with a USB cable.
Computers on your local area network (LAN) can automatically access this USB drive
using a web browser or Microsoft Networking.
2. If you want to specify read-only access or to allow access from the Internet, see USB
Storage Advanced Settings on page 48.

Storing Files in a Central Location for Printing
This scenario is for a family that has one high-quality color printer directly attached to a
computer, but not shared on the local area network (LAN). This family does not have a print
server.



•

One family member has photos on a Macintosh computer that she wants to print.

•

The photo-capable color printer is directly attached to a PC, but not shared on the
network.

•

The Mac and PC are not visible to each other on the network.

To print photos from a Mac on the printer attached to a PC:
1. On the Mac, access the USB drive by typing \\readyshare in the address field of a web
browser. Then copy the photos to the USB drive.
2. On the PC, use a web browser or Microsoft Networking to copy the files from the USB drive
to the PC. Then print the files.

Sharing Large Files over the Internet
Sending files that are larger than 5 MB can pose a problem for many email systems. The
router allows you to share very large files such as PowerPoint presentations or .zip files over
the Internet. FTP can be used to easily download shared files from the router.
Sharing files with a remote colleague involves the following considerations:

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•

There are two user accounts: admin and guest. The password for admin is the same one
that you use to access the router. By default, it is password. The guest user account has
no password.

•

On the FTP site, the person receiving the files should use the guest user account and
enter any password (FTP requires that you type something in the password field).

•

Be sure to select the FTP (via Internet) check box in the USB Storage Advanced
Settings screen. This option supports both downloading and uploading of files.

Note: You can enable the HTTP (via Internet) option on the Advanced USB
Storage screen to share large files. This option supports
downloading files only.

Basic Settings
You can view or edit basic settings for the USB storage device attached to your router.
You can access this feature by selecting Basic > ReadySHARE, or Advanced > USB
Storage > ReadySHARE.
The USB Storage (Basic Settings) screen displays:

By default, the USB storage device is available to all computers on your local area network
(LAN).
The ReadySHARE print feature allows you to share a printer that you connect to the USB
port on your router. To use the ReadySHARE print feature on a Windows PC, you need to
use the NETGEAR USB Control Center utility. For information about this feature, see Chapter
6, ReadySHARE Printer.

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

To access your USB device:
1. Click the network device name or the share name in your computer’s network folders
list.
2. For SMB://readyshare, click Connect.

Note: If you logged in to the router before you connected your USB device,
you might not see your USB device in the router screens until you
log out and then log back in again.

Add or Edit a Network Folder
1. You can access this feature by selecting Basic > ReadySHARE, and clicking Edit, or
selecting Advanced > USB Storage > Advanced Settings.

2. Specify the changes that you want to make:
• To add a folder, click Create Network Folder.

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•

To edit a folder, select its radio button, and then click Edit.

3. You can use this screen to select a folder, to change the share name, or to change the read
Access or write access from All – no password to admin.
The user name (account name) for All – no password is guest. The password for admin is
the same one that is used to log in to the router. By default, it is password.
4. Click Apply for your changes to take effect.

USB Storage Advanced Settings
You can set up the device name, workgroups, and network folders for your USB device. On
the Advanced tab, select USB Storage > Advanced Settings to display the following
screen:

You can use this screen to specify access to the USB storage device.
•

Network Device Name. The default is readyshare. This is the name used to access the
USB device connected to the router.

•

Workgroup. If you are using a Windows workgroup rather than a domain, the workgroup
name is displayed here. The name works only in an operating system that supports
NetBIOS, such as Microsoft Windows.

•

Access Method. The access methods are described here.
Network Connection. Enabled by default, this connection allows all users on the LAN to
have access to the USB drive.
HTTP. Enabled by default. You can type http://readyshare.routerlogin.net/shares to
access the USB drive.
HTTP (via internet). Disabled by default. If you enable this setting, remote users can
type http:// (for example, http://1.1.10.102/shares) or a
URL domain name to access the USB drive over the Internet. This setting supports file
uploading only.

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FTP. Disabled by default.
FTP (via internet). Disabled by default. If you enable this setting, remote users can
access the USB drive through FTP over the Internet. This setting supports both
downloading and uploading of files.

Available Network Folders
You might need to scroll down to view this section of the screen:

•

Share Name. If only 1 device is connected, the default share name is USB_Storage. You
can click the name shown, or you can type it in the address field of your web Browser. If
Not Shared is shown, the default share has been deleted, and no other share for the root
folder exists. Click the link to change this setting.

•

Read/Write Access. Shows the permissions and access controls on the network folder:
All - no password (the default) allows all users to access the network folder. The
password for admin is the same one that you use to log in to the router.

•

Folder Name. Full path used by the network folder.

•

Volume Name. Volume name from the storage device (either USB drive or HDD).

•

Total/Free Space. Shows the current utilization of the storage device.

Safely Remove a USB Drive
To safely remove a USB disk drive so that no users can access it, select USB Storage >
Basic Settings, and click the Safely Remove USB Device button. This takes the drive
offline.

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Media Server Settings
By default, the router is set up to act as a Ready DLNA Media server, which lets you view
movies and photos on DLNA/UPnP AV–compliant media players, such as Xbox360,
Playstation, and NETGEAR’s Digital Entertainer Live.
To view these settings, select Advanced > USB Storage > Media Server to display the
following screen:

By default the Enable Media Server check box and the Automatic (when new files are added)
radio button are selected. When these options are selected, the router scans for media files
whenever new files are added to the ReadySHARE USB hard drive.

Specify Approved USB Devices
For more security, you can set up the router to share approved USB devices only. You can
access this feature from the Advanced Setup menu on the Advanced tab.

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

To set up approved USB devices:
1. Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > USB Settings. The following screen
displays:

2. Click the Approved Devices button. The USB Drive Approved Devices screen displays:

This screen shows the approved USB devices and the available USB devices. You can
remove or add approved USB devices.
3. To add an approved USB device, select it from the Available USB Devices list, and then click
Add.
4. Select the Allow only approved devices check box.
5. Click Apply so that your change takes effect.

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If you want to work with another USB device, you have to first click the Safely Remove USB
Device button for the currently connected USB device. Connect the other USB device, and
repeat this process.

Connect to the USB Drive from a Remote Computer
To connect to the USB drive from remote computers with a web browser, you have to use the
router’s Internet port IP address. If you are using Dynamic DNS, you can type the DNS name,
rather than the IP address. You can view the router’s Internet IP address from the dashboard
on the Basic Home screen or the Advanced Home screen.

Access the Router’s USB Drive Remotely Using FTP


To connect to the router’s USB drive using a web browser:
1. Connect to the router by typing ftp:// and the Internet port IP address in the address
field of Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, for example:
ftp://10.1.65.4
If you are using Dynamic DNS, you can type the DNS name, rather than the IP address.
2. Type the account name and password that has access rights to the USB drive. The user
name (account name) for All – no password is guest.
3. The directories of the USB drive that your account has access to are displayed, for example,
share/partition1/directory1. You can now read and copy files from the USB directory.

USB Storage
52

ReadySHARE Printer

ReadySHARE Printer is compatible with Macs and Windows PCs. It lets you connect a USB
printer to the router’s USB port, and access it wirelessly.
This chapter contains the following sections:
•

ReadySHARE Printer

•

USB Control Center Utility

•

Desktop NETGEAR genie

For additional about ReadySHARE features, see www.netgear.com/readyshare.

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

ReadySHARE Printer
You can connect a USB printer to the router’s USB port, and share it among Windows and
Mac computers on the network.


To set up ReadySHARE Printer:
1. Connect the USB printer to the router’s USB port with a USB printer cable.
2. Install the USB printer driver software on each computer that will share the printer. If you do
not have the printer driver, contact the printer manufacturer to find and download the most
recent printer driver software.
3. On each computer that will share the printer, download the NETGEAR USB Control Center
utility. The NETGEAR USB utility has a Mac version and a Windows version, which you can
access in two different ways:
• From the ReadySHARE Printer area of this URL:
www.netgear.com/readyshare

•

From the ReadySHARE tab of the Desktop NETGEAR genie. (See Desktop
NETGEAR genie on page 62).

Note: You have to install this utility before you can use the ReadySHARE
Printer feature. For the ReadySHARE Printer feature to work, this
utility has to be runing in the background.

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4. Follow the instructions to install the NETGEAR USB Control Center utility.

5. After you have installed the utility, select the language.

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6. If this is the first time you are accessing the utility, you are asked to select the printer and
click the Connect button.

Once the connection is established, the status changes to Manually connected by xxx.

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Note that you can click the Disconnect button at any time to release the connection. The
status then changes to Available.

Once the Connect button has been clicked once on all of the computers in the network,
the utility on each of them automatically handles the printing queue and handling. The
status of the printer should appear as Available on all of the computers.
•

When the status is Available, you can use the USB printer.

•

When the status is Manually connected by xxx, only the xxx computer can use the
printer. Other network devices must wait until the xxx computer has released the
connection, or until the connection times out (the default time-out value is 30
seconds).

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•

You can set the value for the default time-out time from the Tools > Configuration
screen.

•

The USB Control Center utility must be running for the computer to be able to print to
the USB printer attached to the router. If you exit the utility, printing does not work.

•

Some firewall software, such as Comodo, blocks the ReadySHARE Print utility from
accessing the USB printer. If you do not see the printer in the utility, you can disable
the firewall temporarily to allow the utility to work.

7. If your printer supports scanning, make sure that the printer is in the Available state, and
click the Network Scanner button. This activates the Scanner window so you can use the
printer for scanning.

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USB Control Center Utility
The USB Control Center Utility allows you to control a shared USB device from your
computer that is connected to the USB port on your router. The utility allows you to control a
printer, a scanner, or an audio speaker.
The utility has to be installed on each computer on your network from which you want to
control the device. You can download this utility for PC and Mac at
www.netgear.com/landing/en-us/readyshare.aspx.
When you launch the USB Control Center Utility, a screen similar to the following displays:

This is the main screen, which shows a device icon, the description for this USB device, and
its status.
Available. The device is available from the computer that you are using.
Waiting to Connect. You need to connect to this device from the computer that you are
using. If this is the first time you are connecting, you might be prompted to install the device
driver.
Menu selections:
•

System. Exit the utility.

•

Tools. Access the Control Center Configuration to set up your shared USB device. See
the following section, Control Center Configuration.

•

About. View details about the USB Control Center software.

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Control Center Configuration
Select Tools >Configuration to display the following screen:

Automatically execute when logging on Windows. Enable this utility to start automatically
when you are logged in to Windows.
Timeout. Specify the timeout value for holding the USB resource when it is not in use.
Language. Select the display language for this utility.

USB Printer
The first time you use a printer, you need to click Connect. You might be asked to install the
driver for this printer. After the driver is installed, the printer status changes to Available.

Note: Some USB printers (for example: HP and Lexmark printer) request
that Do not connect the USB cable until you are prompted by the
installation software in their installation.

If the USB printer is detected and connected automatically, you need to disconnect the
printer, and then wait for the prompt asking you to click Connect.

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Once the printer shows Available status, it is no longer grayed out in a Paused state in the
Windows Printers window.

This USB printer is ready. The utility does not need to always hold the connection of this USB
printer. Once there is any print job for this printer, the USB utility connects to this USB printer
automatically then prints. After the print job is done, the printer status returns to the Paused
state.

Scan with a Multi-Function Printer
You can use the scan feature of a multi-function printer.
1. Make sure that the printer’s status shows as Available status.
2. Click the Network Scanner button.
This activates the scanner window to perform scans.

USB Speaker


To control a USB speaker:
1. Select the USB speaker.
2. Click the Connect button to connect this speaker, or click Disconnect to disconnect the
speaker.
If you click Connect, and someone else is already connected to the speaker, a request is
sent to that person. The person who receives the request can click an Accept or Reject
button.
If someone is connected to the speaker and it is not being used (the router does not detect
any activity), the router holds the connection for the amount of time that is in the timeout
value, and then makes it available.

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Desktop NETGEAR genie
Desktop NETGEAR genie is the easy dashboard for managing, monitoring, and repairing
your home network.

•

Automatically repair common wireless network problems.

•

Have easy access to router features like Live Parental Controls, guest access, broadband
usage meter, speed test, and more.

•

Use the Network map to see all devices on your home network.

To download the free NETGEAR genie, go to this page at the NETGEAR website:
www.NETGEAR.com/genie.

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62

Security
Ke epi ng u nwante d c onte nt out of you r n et work

This chapter explains how to use the basic firewall features of the router to prevent objectionable
content from reaching the PCs and other devices connected to your network.
This chapter includes the following sections:
•

Keyword Blocking of HTTP Traffic

•

Block Services (Port Filtering)

•

Schedule Blocking

•

Security Event Email Notifications

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Keyword Blocking of HTTP Traffic
Use keyword blocking to prevent certain types of HTTP traffic from accessing your network.
The blocking can be always or according to a schedule.
1. Select Advanced > Security > Block Sites to display the following screen:

2. Select one of the keyword blocking options:
• Per Schedule. Turn on keyword blocking according to the Schedule screen settings.
•

Always. Turn on keyword blocking all the time, independent of the Schedule screen.

3. In the Keyword field, enter a keyword or domain, click Add Keyword, and click Apply.
The Keyword list supports up to 32 entries. Here are some sample entries:



•

Specify XXX to block http://www.badstuff.com/xxx.html.

•

Specify .com if you want to allow only sites with domain suffixes such as .edu or .gov.

•

Enter a period (.) to block all Internet browsing access.

To delete a keyword or domain:
1. Select the keyword you want to delete from the list.
2. Click Delete Keyword, and then Apply to save your changes.



To specify a trusted computer:
You can exempt one trusted computer from blocking and logging. The computer you exempt
has to have a fixed IP address.
1. In the Trusted IP Address field, enter the IP address.
2. Click Apply to save your changes.

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Block Services (Port Filtering)
Services are functions performed by server computers at the request of client computers. For
example, web servers serve web pages, time servers serve time and date information, and
game hosts serve data about other players’ moves. When a computer on the Internet sends
a request for service to a server computer, the requested service is identified by a service or
port number. This number appears as the destination port number in the transmitted IP
packets. For example, a packet that is sent with the destination port number 80 is an HTTP
(web server) request.
The service numbers for many common protocols are defined by the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF at http://www.ietf.org/) and published in RFC1700, “Assigned Numbers.”
Service numbers for other applications are typically chosen from the range 1024 to 65535 by
the authors of the application. Although the router already holds a list of many service port
numbers, you are not limited to these choices. You can often determine port number
information by contacting the publisher of the application, by asking user groups or
newsgroups, or by searching.
The Block Services screen lets you add and block specific Internet services by computers on
your network. This is called service blocking or port filtering. To add a service for blocking,
first determine which port number or range of numbers are used by the application.


To block services:
1. Select Advanced > Security > Block Services to display the following screen:

2. Select either Per Schedule or Always to enable service blocking, and click Apply. If you
selected Per Schedule, specify a time period in the Schedule screen as described in
Schedule Blocking on page 67.

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3. Click Add to add a service. The Block Services Setup screen displays:

4. From the Service Type list, select the application or service to allow or block. The list already
displays several common services, but you are not limited to these choices. To add any
additional services or applications that do not already appear, select User Defined.
5. If you know that the application uses either TCP or UDP, select the appropriate protocol. If
you are not sure, select Both.
6. Enter the starting and ending port numbers. If the application uses a single port number,
enter that number in both fields.
7. Select the radio button for the IP address configuration you want to block, and enter the IP
addresses. You can block the specified service for a single computer, a range of computers
with consecutive IP addresses, or all computers on your network.
8. Click Add to enable your Block Services Setup selections.

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Schedule Blocking
You can specify the days and time that you want to block Internet access.


To schedule blocking:
1. Select Advanced > Security > Schedule to display the following screen:

2. Set up the schedule for blocking keywords and services.
• Days to Block. Select days on which you want to apply blocking by selecting the
appropriate check boxes, or select Every Day to select the check boxes for all days.
•

Time of Day to Block. Select a start and end time in 24-hour format, or select All
Day for 24-hour blocking.

3. Select your time zone from the list. If you use daylight savings time, select the
Automatically adjust for daylight savings time check box.
4. Click Apply to save your settings.

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Security Event Email Notifications
To receive logs and alerts by email, provide your email information in the Email screen, and
specify which alerts you want to receive and how often.


To set up email notifications:
1. Select Advanced > Security > Email to display the following screen:

2. To receive email logs and alerts from the router, select the Turn Email Notification On
check box.
3. In the Your Outgoing Mail Server field, enter the name of your ISP’s outgoing (SMTP) mail
server (such as mail.myISP.com). You might be able to find this information in the
configuration screen of your email program. If you leave this field blank, log and alert
messages are not sent by email.
4. Enter the email address to which logs and alerts are sent in the Send to This Email Address
field. This email address is also used for the From address. If you leave this field blank, log
and alert messages are not sent by email.
5. If your outgoing email server requires authentication, select the My Mail Server requires
authentication check box. Fill in the User Name and Password fields for the outgoing email
server.
6. You can have email alerts sent immediately when someone attempts to visit a blocked site,
and you can specify that logs are sent automatically.
If you select the Weekly, Daily, or Hourly option and the log fills up before the specified
period, the log is automatically emailed to the specified email address. After the log is
sent, the log is cleared from the router’s memory. If the router cannot email the log file, the
log buffer might fill up. In this case, the router overwrites the log and discards its contents.
7. Click Apply to save your settings.

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68

Administration

M a nagi ng your net work

This chapter describes the router settings for administering and maintaining your router and
home network. See also Remote Management on page 105 for information about upgrading or
checking the status of your router over the Internet, and Traffic Meter on page 109 for
information about monitoring the volume of Internet traffic passing through your router’s Internet
port.
This chapter includes the following sections:
•

Upgrade the Router Firmware

•

View Router Status

•

View Logs of Web Access or Attempted Web Access

•

Manage the Configuration File

•

Set Password

•

Time Machine

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Upgrade the Router Firmware
The router firmware (routing software) is stored in flash memory. You can update the firmware
from the Administration menu on the Advanced tab. You might see a message at the top of
the NETGEAR genie screens when new firmware is available for your product.
You can use the Check button on the Router Update screen to check and update to the latest
firmware for your product if new firmware is available.


To check for new firmware and update your router:
1. Select Advanced > Administration > Router Update to display the following screen:

Click
Check

2. Click Check.
The router finds new firmware information if any is available.
3. Click Yes to update and locate the firmware you downloaded (the file ends in .img).
WARNING:
When uploading firmware to the router, do not interrupt the web
browser by closing the window, clicking a link, or loading a new
page. If the browser is interrupted, it could corrupt the firmware.
When the upload is complete, your router restarts. The upgrade process typically takes
about 1 minute. Read the new firmware release notes to determine whether or not you
need to reconfigure the router after upgrading.

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View Router Status
To view router status and usage information, select Advanced Home or select
Administration > Router Status to display the following screen:

Router Information
Hardware Version. The router model.
Firmware Version. The version of the router firmware. It changes if you upgrade the router
firmware.
GUI Language Version. The localized language of the user interface.
LAN Port.
•

MAC Address. The Media Access Control address. This is the unique physical address
being used by the Ethernet (LAN) port of the router.

•

IP Address. The IP address being used by the Ethernet (LAN) port of the router. The
default is 192.168.1.1.

•

DHCP Server. Identifies whether the router’s built-in DHCP server is active for the
LAN-attached devices.

Internet Provider (WAN) Setup
MAC Address. The Media Access Control address. This is the unique physical address
being used by the Internet (WAN) port of the router.
IP Address. The IP address being used by the Internet (WAN) port of the router. If no
address is shown or the address is 0.0.0, the router cannot connect to the Internet.

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Connection. This shows if the router is using a fixed IP address on the WAN. If the value is
DHCP Client, the router obtains an IP address dynamically from the ISP.
IP Subnet Mask. The IP subnet mask being used by the Internet (WAN) port of the router.
Domain Name Server. The Domain Name Server addresses being used by the router. A
Domain Name Server translates human-language URLs such as www.netgear.com into IP
addresses.

Statistics Button
On the Router Status screen, in the Internet Provider (WAN) Setup pane, click the Statistics
button to display the following screen:

Figure 6. System up time and poll interval statistics

System Up Time. The time elapsed since the router was last restarted.
Port. The statistics for the WAN (Internet) and LAN (Ethernet) ports. For each port, the
screen displays:
•

Status. The link status of the port.

•

TxPkts. The number of packets transmitted on this port since reset or manual clear.

•

RxPkts. The number of packets received on this port since reset or manual clear.

•

Collisions. The number of collisions on this port since reset or manual clear.

•

Tx B/s. The current transmission (outbound) bandwidth used on the WAN and LAN ports.

•

Rx B/s. The current reception (inbound) bandwidth used on the WAN and LAN ports.

•

Up Time. The time elapsed since this port acquired the link.

•

Poll Interval. The interval at which the statistics are updated in this screen.

To change the polling frequency, enter a time in seconds in the Poll Interval field, and click
Set Interval.
To stop the polling entirely, click Stop.

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Connection Status Button
On the Router Status screen in the Internet Connection pane, click the Connection Status
button to view connection status information.

Figure 7. View connection status information

The Release button returns the status of all items to 0. The Renew button refreshes the
items. The Close Window button closes the Connection Status screen.
IP Address. The IP address that is assigned to the router.
Subnet Mask. The subnet mask that is assigned to the router.
Default Gateway. The IP address for the default gateway that the router communicates with.
DHCP Server. The IP address for the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol server that
provides the TCP/IP configuration for all the computers that are connected to the router.
DNS Server. The IP address of the Domain Name Service server that provides translation of
network names to IP addresses.
Lease Obtained. The date and time when the lease was obtained.
Lease Expires. The date and time that the lease expires.

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Wireless Settings (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)

The following settings are displayed:
Name (SSID). The wireless network name (SSID) used by the router. The default names for
the 5 GHz ends in -5G to distinguish it from the 2.4 GHz network.
Region. The geographic region where the router is being used. It might be illegal to use the
wireless features of the router in some parts of the world.
Channel. Identifies the operating channel of the wireless port being used. The default
channel is Auto. When Auto is selected, the router will find the best operating channel
available. If you notice interference from nearby devices, you can select a different channel.
Channels 1, 6, and 11 will not interfere with each other.
Mode. Indicates the wireless communication mode: Up to 54 Mbps, Up to 217 Mbps
(default), and Up to 450 Mbps.
Wireless AP. Indicates whether the radio feature of the router is enabled. If this feature is not
enabled, the Wireless LED on the front panel is off.
Broadcast Name. Indicates whether the router is broadcasting its SSID.
Wireless Isolation. Select this check box only if you want to prevent wireless connections to
the router.
Wi-Fi Protected Setup. Indicates whether Wi-Fi Protected Setup is configured for this
network.

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Guest Network (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)

Name (SSID). The 11N wireless network name (SSID) used by the router. The default names
are NETGEAR-Guest and NETGEAR-5G-Guest.
Wireless AP. Indicates whether the radio feature of the router is enabled. If this feature is not
enabled, the Wireless LED on the front panel is off.
Broadcast Name. Indicates whether the router is broadcasting its SSID.
Wireless Isolation. Select this check box only if you want to prevent wireless connections to
the router.
Allow guest to access My Local Network. If selected, any user who connects to this SSID
can access local networks associated with the router.

View Logs of Web Access or Attempted Web Access
The log is a detailed record of the websites you have accessed or attempted to access. Up to
256 entries are stored in the log. Log entries appear only when keyword blocking is enabled
and no log entries are made for the trusted user.

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Select Advanced > Administration > Logs. The Logs screen displays.

The log screen shows the following information:
•

Date and time. The date and time the log entry was recorded.

•

Source IP. The IP address of the initiating device for this log entry.

•

Target address. The name or IP address of the website or news group visited or to which
access was attempted.

•

Action. Whether the access was blocked or allowed.

To refresh the log screen, click the Refresh button.
To clear the log entries, click the Clear Log button.
To email the log immediately, click the Send Log button.

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Manage the Configuration File
The configuration settings of the N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router are stored within
the router in a configuration file. You can back up (save) this file to your computer, restore it,
or reset it to the factory default settings.

Back Up Settings


To back up the router’s configuration settings:
1. Select Advanced > Administration > Backup Settings to display the following screen:

2. Click Back Up to save a copy of the current settings.
3. Choose a location to store the .cfg file that is on a computer on your network.

Restore Configuration Settings


To restore configuration settings that you backed up:
1. Enter the full path to the file on your network, or click the Browse button to find the file.
2. When you have located the .cfg file, click the Restore button to upload the file to the router.
Upon completion, the router reboots.
WARNING:
Do not interrupt the reboot process.

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Erase
Under some circumstances (for example, if you move the router to a different network or if
you have forgotten the password), you might want to erase the configuration and restore the
factory default settings.
You can either use the Restore Factory Settings button on the back of the router (see Factory
Settings on page 120), or you can click the Erase button in this screen.
Erase sets the user name to admin, the password to password, and the LAN IP address to
192.168.1.1, and enables the router’s DHCP.

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Set Password
This feature allows you to change the default password that is used to log in to the router with
the user name admin.
This is not the same as changing the password for wireless access. The label on the bottom
of your router shows your unique wireless network name (SSID) and password for wireless
access (see Label on page 11).


To set the password for the user name admin:
1. Select Advanced > Administration > Set Password to display the following screen:

2. Type the old password, and type the new password twice in the fields on this screen.
3. If you want to be able to recover the password, select the Enable Password Recovery
check box.
4. Click Apply so that your changes take effect.

Password Recovery
NETGEAR recommends that you enable password recovery if you change the password for
the router’s user name of admin. Then you will have an easy way to recover the password if
it is forgotten. This recovery process is supported in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome
browsers, but not in the Safari browser.


To set up password recovery:
1. Select the Enable Password Recovery check box.
2. Select two security questions, and provide answers to them.
3. Click Apply to save your changes.
When you use your browser to access the router, the login window displays. If password
recovery is enabled, when you click Cancel, the password recovery process starts. You can
then enter the saved answers to the security questions to recover the password.

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Time Machine
Time Machine works only on Mac computers. It automatically backs up everything on your
computer to a USB hard drive that is connected to the Mac.

Set Up Time Machine
If you are already using Time Machine software with your USB hard drive, you can skip the
set up and go directly to the following section, Access the Connected USB Hard Drive.


To set up Time Machine:
1. Physically connect the USB hard drive to your Mac.
2. On your Mac, go to the magnifying glass at the top right of the desktop, and search for disk
utility.
3. Open the Disk Utility and format your drive, as shown here.

The router supports GUID and MBR partitions only. To see how to change the partition
scheme, see Change the Partition Scheme on page 85.
You can now use Time Machine wirelessly by connecting the USB hard drive to your C router.

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Access the Connected USB Hard Drive
After the initial set up explained in the previous section, you can access the connected USB
hard drive from Your Mac or PC.


To access the drive:
1. Start ReadySHARE:
• On a Mac: Select Go > Connect to Server, and then type: smb://readyshare
•

On a PC: Select Start > Run, and then type: \\readyshare

2. From your MAC desktop, open Macintosh HD.
3. Click the Connect As button. In the pop-up window, select Registered User, and enter
admin as the user name and password as the password. Click Connect.
• After connecting successfully, you can list your connected devices. Note that you see
one extra device, called admin, whenever you log in as admin.
•

If you are backing up a large amount of data, befor eyou contineu, see Before You
Back up a Large Amount of Data on page 83.

4. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences. Open Time Machine. Click Select
Disk and choose the backup disk. Click the Use for Backup button to complete your
selection.
If you do not see the USB partition that you want to use for backup in the Time Machine
disk list, go to MAC finder, and click that USB partition.Then that device displays in the
Time Machine list.

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You are prompted to log in.
Time Machine
Show All

Enter your name and password for the server
“WNDR4500” so that Time Machine can access it.
Connect as:

Guest
Registered User

Name: admin
Password:

Time Machine
OFF

ON
N

Cancel

Connect

yyour
our music,
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and other
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inpor tant fi
fil
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les. S
Since
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ime
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achine keeps
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Mac
appeared in the past.
Show Time Machine status in the menu bar

Click the lock to prevent further changes.

5. Enter the password (the same one you use to log in to the router as admin) and backup
begins.
T_Drive

DEVICES
iDisk
Remote Disc
NO NAME
WNDR4500

Mac OS X Install DVD

Connected as: admin
SHARED
Disconnect

WNDR3800
PLACES

admin

Desktop

S_Drive

tecqa

T_Drive

Applications

USB_Storage

Documents
SEARCH FOR
Today
Yesterday
Past Week
All Images
All Movies
All Documents

999.54 GB available

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Before You Back up a Large Amount of Data
Before you back up a large amount of data with Time Machine, NETGEAR recommends that
you do the following to ensure a successful operation:
1. Upgrade the operating system of the Mac machine.
2. Verify and repair the backup disk and the local disk.
3. Verify and repair the permissions on the local disk.
4. Set Energy Saver.
a. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences.
b. From the View menu, select Energy Saver.
c. On the Energy Saver screen, select Wake for Ethernet network access.

d. Click the Back arrow to exit this screen. Your changes will be saved.
5. Modify your Security settings.
a. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences.
b. From the View menu, select Security.

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c. On the Security screen, leave the Log out after minutes of inactivity check box
cleared (not selected).

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Change the Partition Scheme
To run with the router, the partition scheme on your Mac has to be set to either GUID or MBR.


To make sure the partition scheme is set to one of these supported schemes:
1. Open the Disk Utility and select your USB drive.
2. Select the Partition tab.
3. Select Volume Scheme and set the number of partitions you would like to use.

4. Click Options, and the Partition options appear.
5. Select GUID Partition Table or Master Boot Record (MBR).
6. Click OK.

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85

Advanced Settings

This chapter describes the advanced features of your router. The information is for users with a
solid understanding of networking concepts who want to set the router up for unique situations
such as when remote access from the Internet by IP or domain name is needed.
This chapter includes the following sections:
•

Advanced Wireless Settings

•

Wireless Repeating Function (WDS)

•

Port Forwarding and Triggering

•

Set Up Port Forwarding to Local Servers

•

Set Up Port Triggering

•

Dynamic DNS

•

Static Routes

•

Remote Management

•

USB Settings

•

Universal Plug and Play

•

IPv6

•

Traffic Meter

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Advanced Wireless Settings
Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > Wireless Settings to display the following screen:

Scroll to view
more settings

The following settings are available in this screen:
Enable Wireless Router Radio. You can completely turn off the wireless portion of the
wireless router by clearing this check box. Select this check box again to enable the wireless
portion of the router. When the wireless radio is disabled, other members of your household
can use the router by connecting their computers to the router with an Ethernet cable.

Note: The Fragmentation Length, CTS/RTS Threshold, and Preamble
Mode options are reserved for wireless testing and advanced
configuration only. Do not change these settings.

Turn off wireless signal by schedule. You can use this feature to turn off the wireless signal
from your router at times when you do not need a wireless connection. For instance, you
could turn it off for the weekend if you leave town.
WPS Settings.You can add WPS devices to your network.
AP Mode. You can make the WNDR4500 function as an access point.
Wireless Card Access List. Click the Set Up Access List button display the Wireless Card
Access List screen. On this screen you can restrict access to your network to specific devices
based on their MAC address.

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Wireless Repeating Function (WDS)
You can set the N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router up to be used as a wireless access
point (AP). Doing this enables the router to act as a wireless repeater. A wireless repeater
connects to another wireless router as a client where the network to which it connects
becomes the ISP service.
Wireless repeating is a type of Wireless Distribution System (WDS). A WDS allows a wireless
network to be expanded through multiple access points instead of using a wired backbone to
link them. The following figure shows a wireless repeating scenario.

Repeater
access point

Base station
access point

Figure 8. Wireless repeating scenario

Note: If you use the wireless repeating function, you need to select either
WEP or None as a security option in the Wireless Settings screen.
The WEP option displays only if you select the wireless mode Up to
54 Mbps in the Wireless Settings screen.

Wireless Base Station. The router acts as the parent access point, bridging traffic to and
from the child repeater access point, as well as handling wireless and wired local computers.

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To configure this mode, you have to know the MAC addresses of the child repeater access
point.
Wireless Repeater. The router sends all traffic from its local wireless or wired computers to a
remote access point. To configure this mode, you have to know the MAC address of the
remote parent access point.
The WNDR4500 router is always in dual band concurrent mode, unless you turn off one
radio. Be aware that if you enable the wireless repeater in either radio band, the wireless
base station or wireless repeater cannot be enabled in the other radio band. However, if you
enable the wireless base station in either radio band and use the other radio band as a
wireless router or wireless base station, dual band concurrent mode is not affected.
For you to set up a wireless network with WDS, the following conditions have to be met for
both access points:
•

Both access points have to use the same SSID, wireless channel, and encryption mode.

•

Both access points have to be on the same LAN IP subnet. That is, all the access point
LAN IP addresses are in the same network.

•

All LAN devices (wired and wireless computers) have to be configured to operate in the
same LAN network address range as the access points.

Wireless Repeating Function
Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > Wireless Repeating to view or change wireless
repeater settings for the router.

Scroll to view
more settings

•

Enable Wireless Repeating Function. Select the check box for the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz
network to use the wireless repeating function.

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•

Wireless MAC of this router. This field displays the MAC address for your router for your
reference. You will need to enter this MAC address in the corresponding Wireless
Repeating Function screen of the other access point you are using.

•

Wireless Repeater. If your router is the repeater, select this check box.
Repeater IP Address. If your router is the repeater, enter the IP address of the other
access point.
Disable Wireless Client Association. If your router is the repeater, selecting this check
box means that wireless clients cannot associate with it. Only LAN client associations are
allowed.
-

If you are setting up a point-to-point bridge, select this check box.

If you want all client traffic to go through the other access point (repeater with wireless
client association), leave this check box cleared.

Base Station MAC Address. If your router is the repeater, enter the MAC address for the
access point that is the base station.
•

Wireless Base Station. If your router is the base station, select this check box.
Disable Wireless Client Association. If your router is the base station, selecting this
check box means that wireless clients cannot associate with it. Only LAN client
associations are allowed.
Repeater MAC Address (1 through 4). If your router is the base station, it can act as the
“parent” of up to 4 other access points. Enter the MAC addresses of the other access
points in these fields.

Set Up the Base Station
The wireless repeating function works only in hub and spoke mode. The units cannot be
daisy-chained. You have to know the wireless settings for both units. You have to know the
MAC address of the remote unit. First, set up the base station, and then set up the repeater.


To set up the base station:
1. Set up both units with exactly the same wireless settings (SSID, mode, channel, and
security). Note that the wireless security option has to be set to None or WEP.

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2. Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > Wireless Repeating Function to display the
Wireless Repeating Function screen.

Scroll to view
more settings

3. In the Wireless Repeating Function screen (depending on the frequency you want to use),
select the Enable Wireless Repeating Function check box and select the Wireless Base
Station radio button.
4. Enter the MAC address for one or more repeater units.
5. Click Apply to save your changes.

Set Up a Repeater Unit
Use a wired Ethernet connection to set up the repeater unit to avoid conflicts with the
wireless connection to the base station.

Note: If you are using the WNDR4500 base station with a non-NETGEAR
router as the repeater, you might need to change additional
configuration settings. In particular, you should disable the DHCP
server function on the wireless repeater AP.



To configure the router as a repeater unit:
1. Log in to the router that will be the repeater. Select Basic > Wireless Settings and
verify that the wireless settings match the base unit exactly. The wireless security option
has to be set to WEP or None.
2. Select Advanced > Wireless Repeating Function, and select the Enable Wireless
Repeating Function check box and the Wireless Repeater radio button.
3. Fill in the Repeater IP Address field. This IP address has to be in the same subnet as the
base station, but different from the LAN IP address of the base station.

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4. Click Apply to save your changes.
5. Verify connectivity across the LANs.
A computer on any wireless or wired LAN segment of the router should be able to
connect to the Internet or share files and printers with any other wireless or wired
computer or server connected to the other access point.

Port Forwarding and Triggering
By default, the router blocks inbound traffic from the Internet to your computers except replies
to your outbound traffic. You might need to create exceptions to this rule for these purposes:
•

To allow remote computers on the Internet to access a server on your local network.

•

To allow certain applications and games to work correctly when their replies are not
recognized by your router.

Your router provides two features for creating these exceptions: port forwarding and port
triggering. The next sections provide background information to help you understand how
port forwarding and port triggering work, and the differences between the two.

Remote Computer Access Basics
When a computer on your network needs to access a computer on the Internet, your
computer sends your router a message containing the source and destination address and
process information. Before forwarding your message to the remote computer, your router
has to modify the source information and create and track the communication session so that
replies can be routed back to your computer.
Here is an example of normal outbound traffic and the resulting inbound responses:
1. You open a browser, and your operating system assigns port number 5678 to this
browser session.
2. You type http://www.example.com into the URL field, and your computer creates a web page
request message with the following address and port information. The request message is
sent to your router.
Source address. Your computer’s IP address.
Source port number. 5678, which is the browser session.
Destination address. The IP address of www.example.com, which your computer finds
by asking a DNS server.
Destination port number. 80, which is the standard port number for a web server
process.
3. Your router creates an entry in its internal session table describing this communication
session between your computer and the web server at www.example.com. Before sending
the web page request message to www.example.com, your router stores the original

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information and then modifies the source information in the request message, performing
Network Address Translation (NAT):
• The source address is replaced with your router’s public IP address. This is
necessary because your computer uses a private IP address that is not globally
unique and cannot be used on the Internet.
•

The source port number is changed to a number chosen by the router, such as
33333. This is necessary because two computers could independently be using the
same session number.

Your router then sends this request message through the Internet to the web server at
www.example.com.
4. The web server at www.example.com composes a return message with the requested web
page data. The return message contains the following address and port information. The
web server then sends this reply message to your router.
Source address. The IP address of www.example.com.
Source port number. 80, which is the standard port number for a web server process.
Destination address. The public IP address of your router.
Destination port number. 33333.
5. Upon receiving the incoming message, your router checks its session table to determine
whether there is an active session for port number 33333. Finding an active session, the
router then modifies the message to restore the original address information replaced by
NAT. Your router sends this reply message to your computer, which displays the web
page from www.example.com. The message now contains the following address and port
information.
Source address. The IP address of www.example.com.
Source port number. 80, which is the standard port number for a web server process.
Destination address. Your computer’s IP address.
Destination port number. 5678, which is the browser session that made the initial
request.
6. When you finish your browser session, your router eventually detects a period of inactivity in
the communications. Your router then removes the session information from its session
table, and incoming traffic is no longer accepted on port number 33333.

Port Triggering to Open Incoming Ports
In the preceding example, requests are sent to a remote computer by your router from a
particular service port number, and replies from the remote computer to your router are
directed to that port number. If the remote server sends a reply back to a different port
number, your router does not recognize it and discards it. However, some application servers
(such as FTP and IRC servers) send replies back to multiple port numbers. Using the port
triggering function of your router, you can tell the router to open additional incoming ports
when a particular outgoing port originates a session.

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An example is Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Your computer connects to an IRC server at
destination port 6667. The IRC server not only responds to your originating source port, but
also sends an “identify” message to your computer on port 113. Using port triggering, you can
tell the router, “When you initiate a session with destination port 6667, you have to also allow
incoming traffic on port 113 to reach the originating computer.” Using steps similar to the
preceding example, the following sequence shows the effects of the port triggering rule you
have defined:
1. You open an IRC client program to start a chat session on your computer.
2. Your IRC client composes a request message to an IRC server using a destination port
number of 6667, the standard port number for an IRC server process. Your computer then
sends this request message to your router.
3. Your router creates an entry in its internal session table describing this communication
session between your computer and the IRC server. Your router stores the original
information, performs Network Address Translation (NAT) on the source address and port,
and sends this request message through the Internet to the IRC server.
4. Noting your port triggering rule and having observed the destination port number of 6667,
your router creates an additional session entry to send any incoming port 113 traffic to your
computer.
5. The IRC server sends a return message to your router using the NAT-assigned source port
(as in the previous example, say port 33333) as the destination port. The IRC server also
sends an “identify” message to your router with destination port 113.
6. Upon receiving the incoming message to destination port 33333, your router checks its
session table to determine whether there is an active session for port number 33333.
Finding an active session, the router restores the original address information replaced by
NAT and sends this reply message to your computer.
7. Upon receiving the incoming message to destination port 113, your router checks its session
table and learns that there is an active session for port 113, associated with your computer.
The router replaces the message’s destination IP address with your computer’s IP address
and forwards the message to your computer.
8. When you finish your chat session, your router eventually senses a period of inactivity in the
communications. The router then removes the session information from its session table,
and incoming traffic is no longer accepted on port numbers 33333 or 113.
To configure port triggering, you need to know which inbound ports the application needs.
Also, you need to know the number of the outbound port that will trigger the opening of the
inbound ports. You can usually determine this information by contacting the publisher of the
application or user groups or newsgroups.

Note: Only one computer at a time can use the triggered application.

Port Forwarding to Permit External Host Communications
In both of the preceding examples, your computer initiates an application session with a
server computer on the Internet. However, you might need to allow a client computer on the

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Internet to initiate a connection to a server computer on your network. Normally, your router
ignores any inbound traffic that is not a response to your own outbound traffic. You can
configure exceptions to this default rule by using the port forwarding feature.
A typical application of port forwarding can be shown by reversing the client-server
relationship from the previous web server example. In this case, a remote computer’s
browser needs to access a web server running on a computer in your local network. Using
port forwarding, you can tell the router, “When you receive incoming traffic on port 80 (the
standard port number for a web server process), forward it to the local computer at
192.168.1.123.” The following sequence shows the effects of the port forwarding rule you
have defined:
1. The user of a remote computer opens a browser and requests a web page from
www.example.com, which resolves to the public IP address of your router. The remote
computer composes a web page request message with the following destination
information:
Destination address. The IP address of www.example.com, which is the address of your
router.
Destination port number. 80, which is the standard port number for a web server
process.
The remote computer then sends this request message through the Internet to your
router.
2. Your router receives the request message and looks in its rules table for any rules covering
the disposition of incoming port 80 traffic. Your port forwarding rule specifies that incoming
port 80 traffic should be forwarded to local IP address 192.168.1.123. Therefore, your router
modifies the destination information in the request message:
The destination address is replaced with 192.168.1.123.
Your router then sends this request message to your local network.
3. Your web server at 192.168.1.123 receives the request and composes a return message
with the requested web page data. Your web server then sends this reply message to your
router.
4. Your router performs Network Address Translation (NAT) on the source IP address, and
sends this request message through the Internet to the remote computer, which displays the
web page from www.example.com.
To configure port forwarding, you need to know which inbound ports the application needs.
You usually can determine this information by contacting the publisher of the application or
the relevant user groups and newsgroups.

How Port Forwarding Differs from Port Triggering
The following points summarize the differences between port forwarding and port triggering:
•

Port triggering can be used by any computer on your network, although only one
computer can use it at a time.

•

Port forwarding is configured for a single computer on your network.

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•

Port triggering does require that you know the computer’s IP address in advance. The IP
address is captured automatically.

•

Port forwarding requires that you specify the computer’s IP address during configuration,
and the IP address can never change.

•

Port triggering requires specific outbound traffic to open the inbound ports, and the
triggered ports are closed after a period of no activity.

•

Port forwarding is always active and does not need to be triggered.

Set Up Port Forwarding to Local Servers
Using the port forwarding feature, you can allow certain types of incoming traffic to reach
servers on your local network. For example, you might want to make a local web server, FTP
server, or game server visible and available to the Internet.
Use the Port Forwarding screen to configure the router to forward specific incoming protocols
to computers on your local network. In addition to servers for specific applications, you can
also specify a default DMZ server to which all other incoming protocols are forwarded.
Before starting, you need to determine which type of service, application, or game you want
to provide, and the local IP address of the computer that will provide the service. The server
computer has to always have the same IP address.


To set up port forwarding:
Tip: To ensure that your server computer always has the same IP address,
use the reserved IP address feature of your N900 Wireless Dual Band
Gigabit Router.

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1. Select Advanced Setup > Port Forwarding/Port Triggering to display the following
screen:

Port Forwarding is selected as the service type.
2. From the Service Name list, select the service or game that you will host on your network. If
the service does not appear in the list, see Add a Custom Service on page 97.
3. In the corresponding Server IP Address field, enter the last digit of the IP address of your
local computer that will provide this service.
4. Click Add. The service appears in the list in the screen.

Add a Custom Service
To define a service, game, or application that does not appear in the Service Name list, you
have to first determine which port number or range of numbers is used by the application.
You can usually determine this information by contacting the publisher of the application or
user groups or newsgroups.


To add a custom service:
1. Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > Port Forwarding/Port Triggering.
2. Select Port Forwarding as the service type.

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3. Click the Add Custom Service button to display the following screen:

4. In the Service Name field, enter a descriptive name.
5. In the Protocol list, select the protocol. If you are unsure, select TCP/UDP.
6. In the Starting Port field, enter the beginning port number.
• If the application uses a single port, enter the same port number in the Ending Port
field.
•

If the application uses a range of ports, enter the ending port number of the range in
the Ending Port field.

7. In the Server IP Address field, enter the IP address of your local computer that will provide
this service.
8. Click Apply. The service appears in the list in the Port Forwarding/Port Triggering screen.

Editing or Deleting a Port Forwarding Entry


To edit or delete a port forwarding entry:
1. In the table, select the radio button next to the service name.
2. Click Edit Service or Delete Service.

Application Example: Making a Local Web Server Public
If you host a web server on your local network, you can use port forwarding to allow web
requests from anyone on the Internet to reach your web server.


To make a local web server public:
1. Assign your web server either a fixed IP address or a dynamic IP address using DHCP
address reservation. In this example, your router will always give your web server an IP
address of 192.168.1.33.

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2. In the Port Forwarding screen, configure the router to forward the HTTP service to the local
address of your web server at 192.168.1.33. HTTP (port 80) is the standard protocol for web
servers.
3. (Optional) Register a host name with a Dynamic DNS service, and configure your router to
use the name as described in Dynamic DNS on page 101. To access your web server from
the Internet, a remote user has to know the IP address that has been assigned by your ISP.
However, if you use a Dynamic DNS service, the remote user can reach your server by a
user-friendly Internet name, such as mynetgear.dyndns.org.

Set Up Port Triggering
Port triggering is a dynamic extension of port forwarding that is useful in these cases:
•

More than one local computer needs port forwarding for the same application (but not
simultaneously).

•

An application needs to open incoming ports that are different from the outgoing port.

When port triggering is enabled, the router monitors outbound traffic looking for a specified
outbound “trigger” port. When the router detects outbound traffic on that port, it remembers
the IP address of the local computer that sent the data. The router then temporarily opens the
specified incoming port or ports, and forwards incoming traffic on the triggered ports to the
triggering computer.
While port forwarding creates a static mapping of a port number or range to a single local
computer, port triggering can dynamically open ports to any computer that needs them and
can close the ports when they are no longer needed.

Note: If you use applications such as multiplayer gaming, peer-to-peer
connections, real-time communications such as instant messaging,
or remote assistance (a feature in Windows XP), you should also
enable Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) according to the instructions
in Universal Plug and Play on page 106.

To set up port triggering, you need to know which inbound ports the application needs. Also,
you need to know the number of the outbound port that will trigger the opening of the inbound
ports. You can usually determine this information by contacting the publisher of the
application or user groups or newsgroups.


To set up port triggering:
1. Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > Port Forwarding/Port Triggering.

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2. Select the Port Triggering radio button to display the port triggering information.

3. Clear the Disable Port Triggering check box if it is selected.
Note: If the Disable Port Triggering check box is selected after you configure
port triggering, port triggering is disabled. However, any port triggering
configuration information you added to the router is retained even though it is
not used.
4. In the Port Triggering Timeout field, enter a value up to 9999 minutes.
5. This value controls the inactivity timer for the designated inbound ports. The inbound ports
close when the inactivity time expires. This is required because the router cannot be sure
when the application has terminated.

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6. Click Add Service to display the following screen:

7. In the Service Name field, type a descriptive service name.
8. In the Service User list, select Any (the default) to allow this service to be used by any
computer on the Internet. Otherwise, select Single address, and enter the IP address of
one computer to restrict the service to a particular computer.
9. Select the service type, either TCP or UDP or both (TCP/UDP). If you are not sure, select
TCP/UDP.
10. In the Triggering Port field, enter the number of the outbound traffic port that will cause the
inbound ports to be opened.
11. Enter the inbound connection port information in the Connection Type, Starting Port, and
Ending Port fields.
12. Click Apply. The service appears in the Port Triggering Portmap table.

Dynamic DNS
If your Internet service provider (ISP) gave you a permanently assigned IP address, you can
register a domain name and have that name linked with your IP address by public Domain
Name Servers (DNS). However, if your Internet account uses a dynamically assigned IP
address, you do not know in advance what your IP address will be, and the address can
change frequently. In this case, you can use a commercial Dynamic DNS service. This type
of service lets you register your domain to their IP address and forwards traffic directed at
your domain to your frequently changing IP address.
If your ISP assigns a private WAN IP address (such as 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x), the Dynamic
DNS service will not work because private addresses are not routed on the Internet.
Your router contains a client that can connect to the Dynamic DNS service provided by
DynDNS.org. First visit their website at http://www.dyndns.org and obtain an account and

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host name that you configure in the router. Then, whenever your ISP-assigned IP address
changes, your router automatically contacts the Dynamic DNS service provider, logs in to
your account, and registers your new IP address. If your host name is hostname, for
example, you can reach your router at http://hostname.dyndns.org.
On the Advanced tab, select Advanced Setup > Dynamic DNS to display the following
screen:

Figure 9. Forward traffic to a changing IP address


To set up Dynamic DNS:
1. Register for an account with one of the Dynamic DNS service providers whose names
appear in the Service Provider list. For example, for DynDNS.org, select
www.dyndns.org.
2. Select the Use a Dynamic DNS Service check box.
3. Select the name of your Dynamic DNS service provider.
4. Type the host name (or domain name) that your Dynamic DNS service provider gave you.
5. Type the user name for your Dynamic DNS account. This is the name that you use to log in
to your account, not your host name.
6. Type the password (or key) for your Dynamic DNS account.
7. If your Dynamic DNS provider allows the use of wildcards in resolving your URL, you can
select the Use Wildcards check box to activate this feature.
For example, the wildcard feature causes *.yourhost.dyndns.org to be aliased to the
same IP address as yourhost.dyndns.org.
8. Click Apply to save your configuration.

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Static Routes
Static routes provide additional routing information to your router. Under usual
circumstances, the router has adequate routing information after it has been configured for
Internet access, and you do not need to configure additional static routes. You have to
configure static routes only for unusual cases such as multiple routers or multiple IP subnets
located on your network.
As an example of when a static route is needed, consider the following case:
•

Your primary Internet access is through a cable modem to an ISP.

•

You have an ISDN router on your home network for connecting to the company where
you are employed. This router’s address on your LAN is 192.168.1.100.

•

Your company’s network address is 134.177.0.0.

When you first configured your router, two implicit static routes were created. A default route
was created with your ISP as the gateway, and a second static route was created to your
local network for all 192.168.1.x addresses. With this configuration, if you attempt to access a
device on the 134.177.0.0 network, your router forwards your request to the ISP. The ISP
forwards your request to the company where you are employed, and the request is likely to
be denied by the company’s firewall.
In this case you have to define a static route, telling your router that 134.177.0.0 should be
accessed through the ISDN router at 192.168.1.100. In this example:
•

The Destination IP Address and IP Subnet Mask fields specify that this static route
applies to all 134.177.x.x addresses.

•

The Gateway IP Address field specifies that all traffic for these addresses should be
forwarded to the ISDN router at 192.168.1.100.

•

A metric value of 1 will work since the ISDN router is on the LAN.

•

Private is selected only as a precautionary security measure in case RIP is activated.

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

To set up a static route:
1. Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > Static Routes, and click Add to display the
following screen:

2. In the Route Name field, type a name for this static route (for identification purposes only.)
3. Select the Private check box if you want to limit access to the LAN only. If Private is
selected, the static route is not reported in RIP.
4. Select the Active check box to make this route effective.
5. Type the destination IP address of the final destination.
6. Type the IP subnet mask for this destination. If the destination is a single host, type
255.255.255.255.
7. Type the gateway IP address, which has to be a router on the same LAN segment as the
N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router.
8. Type a number between 1 and 15 as the metric value.
This value represents the number of routers between your network and the destination.
Usually, a setting of 2 or 3 works, but if this is a direct connection, set it to 1.
9. Click Apply to add the static route.

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Remote Management
The remote management feature lets you upgrade or check the status of your N900 Wireless
Dual Band Gigabit Router over the Internet.


To set up remote management:
1. Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > Remote Management.

Note: Be sure to change the router’s default login password to a very secure
password. The ideal password should contain no dictionary words from any
language and contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and
symbols. It can be up to 30 characters.
2. Select the Turn Remote Management On check box.
3. Under Allow Remote Access By, specify the external IP addresses to be allowed to access
the router’s remote management.
Note: For enhanced security, restrict access to as few external IP addresses
as practical.
•

To allow access from a single IP address on the Internet, select Only This Computer.
Enter the IP address that will be allowed access.

•

To allow access from a range of IP addresses on the Internet, select IP Address
Range. Enter a beginning and ending IP address to define the allowed range.

•

To allow access from any IP address on the Internet, select Everyone.

4. Specify the port number for accessing the management interface.

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Normal web browser access uses the standard HTTP service port 80. For greater
security, enter a custom port number for the remote web management nterface. Choose a
number between 1024 and 65535, but do not use the number of any common service
port. The default is 8080, which is a common alternate for HTTP.
5. Click Apply to have your changes take effect.
6. When accessing your router from the Internet, type your router’s WAN IP address into your
browser’s address or location field followed by a colon (:) and the custom port number. For
example, if your external address is 134.177.0.123 and you use port number 8080, enter
http://134.177.0.123:8080 in your browser.

USB Settings
For added security, the router can be set up to share only approved USB devices. See
Specify Approved USB Devices on page 50 for the procedure.

Universal Plug and Play
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) helps devices, such as Internet appliances and computers,
to access the network and connect to other devices as needed. UPnP devices can
automatically discover the services from other registered UPnP devices on the network.

Note: If you use applications such as multiplayer gaming, peer-to-peer
connections, or real-time communications such as instant
messaging or remote assistance (a feature in Windows XP), you
should enable UPnP.

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

To turn on Universal Plug and Play:
1. Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > UPnP. The UPnP screen displays.

2. The available settings and information in this screen are:
Turn UPnP On. UPnP can be enabled or disabled for automatic device configuration.
The default setting for UPnP is disabled. If this check box is not selected, the router does
not allow any device to automatically control the resources, such as port forwarding
(mapping) of the router.
Advertisement Period. The advertisement period is how often the router broadcasts its
UPnP information. This value can range from 1 to 1440 minutes. The default period is 30
minutes. Shorter durations ensure that control points have current device status at the
expense of additional network traffic. Longer durations can compromise the freshness of
the device status, but can significantly reduce network traffic.
Advertisement Time to Live. The time to live for the advertisement is measured in hops
(steps) for each UPnP packet sent. The time to live hop count is the number of steps a
broadcast packet is allowed to propagate for each UPnP advertisement before it
disappears. The number of hops can range from 1 to 255. The default value for the
advertisement time to live is 4 hops, which should be fine for most home networks. If you
notice that some devices are not being updated or reached correctly, then it might be
necessary to increase this value.
UPnP Portmap Table. The UPnP Portmap Table displays the IP address of each UPnP
device that is currently accessing the router and which ports (internal and external) that
device has opened. The UPnP Portmap Table also displays what type of port is open and
whether that port is still active for each IP address.
3. Click Apply to save your settings.

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IPv6
You can use this feature to set up an IPv6 Internet connection type if NETGEAR genie does
not detect it automatically.


To set up an IPv6 Internet connection type:
1. Select Advanced > Advanced Setup > IPv6 to display the following screen:

2. Select the IPv6 connection type from the list. Your Internet service provider (ISP) can provide
this information.
• If your ISP did not provide details, you can select IPv6 Tunnel.
•

If you are not sure, select Auto Detect so that the router detects the IPv6 type that is
in use.

•

If your Internet connection does not use PPPoE, DHCP, or fixed, but is IPv6, then
select IPv6 auto config.

3. Click Apply so that your changes take effect.

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Traffic Meter
Traffic metering allows you to monitor the volume of Internet traffic passing through your
router’s Internet port. With the Traffic Meter utility, you can set limits for traffic volume, set a
monthly limit, and get a live update of traffic usage.


To monitor Internet traffic:
1. Click Advanced > Advanced Setup > Traffic Meter to display the following screen:

Scroll to
view more
settings

2. To enable the Traffic Meter, select the Enable Traffic Meter check box.
3. If you would like to record and restrict the volume of Internet traffic, select the Traffic
volume control by radio button. You can select one of the following options for controlling
the traffic volume:
No Limit. No restriction is applied when the traffic limit is reached.
Download only. The restriction is applied to incoming traffic only.
Both Directions. The restriction is applied to both incoming and outgoing traffic.
4. You can limit the amount of data traffic allowed per month by specifying how many Mbytes
per month are allowed or by specifying how many hours of traffic are allowed.
5. Set the Traffic Counter to begin at a specific time and date.
6. Set up Traffic Control to issue a warning message before the monthly limit of Mbytes or
hours is reached. You can select one of the following to occur when the limit is attained:
• The Internet LED flashes green or amber.
•

The Internet connection is disconnected and disabled.

7. Set up Internet Traffic Statistics to monitor the data traffic.
8. Click the Traffic Status button to get a live update on Internet traffic status on your router.
9. Click Apply to save your settings.

Advanced Settings
109

10.

Troubleshooting

This chapter provides information to help you diagnose and solve problems you might have with
your router. If you do not find the solution here, check the NETGEAR support site at
http://support.netgear.com for product and contact information.
This chapter contains the following sections:
•

Quick Tips

•

Troubleshooting with the LEDs

•

Cannot Log In to the Router

•

Cannot Access the Internet

•

Changes Not Saved

•

Wireless Connectivity

•

Restore the Factory Settings and Password

•

Troubleshoot Your Network Using the Ping Utility

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Quick Tips
This section describes tips for troubleshooting some common problems

Sequence to Restart Your Network
Be sure to restart your network in this sequence:
1. Turn off and unplug the modem.
2. Turn off the router and computers.
3. Plug in the modem and turn it on. Wait 2 minutes.
4. Turn on the router and wait 2 minutes.
5. Turn on the computers.

Check Ethernet Cable Connections
Make sure that the Ethernet cables are securely plugged in.
•

The Internet LED on the router is on if the Ethernet cable connecting the router and the
modem is plugged in securely and the modem and router are turned on.

•

For each powered-on computer connected to the router by an Ethernet cable, the
corresponding numbered router LAN port LED is on.

Wireless Settings
Make sure that the wireless settings in the computer and router match exactly.
•

For a wirelessly connected computer, the wireless network name (SSID) and wireless
security settings of the router and wireless computer need to match exactly.

•

If you set up an access list in the Advanced Wireless Settings screen, you have to add
each wireless computer’s MAC address to the router’s access list.

Network Settings
Make sure that the network settings of the computer are correct.
•

Wired and wirelessly connected computers need to have network (IP) addresses on the
same network as the router. The simplest way to do this is to configure each computer to
obtain an IP address automatically using DHCP.

•

Some cable modem service providers require you to use the MAC address of the
computer initially registered on the account. You can view the MAC address in the
Attached Devices screen.

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Troubleshooting with the LEDs
After you turn on power to the router, the following sequence of events should occur:
1. When power is first applied, verify that the Power/Test LED

is on.

2. Verify that the Power/Test LED turns amber within a few seconds, indicating that the self-test
is running.
3. After approximately 30 seconds, verify that:
• The Power/Test LED is solid green.
•

The Internet LED is on.

•

A numbered Ethernet port LED is on for any local port that is connected to a
computer. This indicates that a link has been established to the connected device.

The LEDs on the front panel of the router can be used for troubleshooting.

Power/Test LED Is Off or Blinking
•

Make sure that the power cord is securely connected to your router and that the power
adapter is securely connected to a functioning power outlet.

•

Check that you are using the 12V DC, 2.5A power adapter that NETGEAR supplied for
this product.

•

If the Power/Test LED blinks slowly and continuously, the router firmware is corrupted.
This can happen if a firmware upgrade is interrupted, or if the router detects a problem
with the firmware. If the error persists, you have a hardware problem. For recovery
instructions, or help with a hardware problem, contact technical support at
www.netgear.com/support.

Power/Test LED Stays Amber
When the router is turned on, the Power/Test LED turns amber for about 20 seconds and
then turns green. If the LED does not turn green, the router has a problem.
If the Power/Test LED is still amber 1 minute after you turn on power to the router:
1. Turn the power off and back on to see if the router recovers.
2. Press and hold the Reset button to return the router to its factory settings. as explained
in Restore the Factory Settings and Password on page 117.
If the error persists, you might have a hardware problem and should contact technical support
at www.netgear.com/support.

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LEDs Never Turn Off
When the router is turned on, the LEDs turn on for about 10 seconds and then turn off. If all
the LEDs stay on, there is a fault within the router.
If all LEDs are still on 1 minute after power-up:
•

Cycle the power to see if the router recovers.

•

Press and hold the Reset button to return the router to its factory settings as explained in
Restore the Factory Settings and Password on page 117.

If the error persists, you might have a hardware problem and should contact technical
support at www.netgear.com/support.

Internet or Ethernet Port LEDs Are Off
If either the Ethernet port LEDs or the Internet LED does not light when the Ethernet
connection is made, check the following:
•

Make sure that the Ethernet cable connections are secure at the router and at the modem
or computer.

•

Make sure that power is turned on to the connected modem or computer.

•

Be sure that you are using the correct cable:
When connecting the router’s Internet port to a cable or DSL modem, use the cable that
was supplied with the cable or DSL modem. This cable could be a standard
straight-through Ethernet cable or an Ethernet crossover cable.

Wireless LEDs Are Off
If the Wireless LEDs stay off, check to see if the Wireless On/Off button on the router has
been pressed. This button turns the wireless radios in the router on and off. The Wireless
LEDs are lit when the wireless radio is turned on.

The Push 'N' Connect (WPS) Button Blinks Amber
If after using the WPS function the button blinks amber, check the following:
•

Make sure that you are using the button and not the router’s built-in registrar.

•

Check that PIN verification has succeeded for the wireless device you are adding to the
wireless network.

•

Make sure you have not pressed the WPS button on the side of the router after disabling
the WPS feature (you logged in to the router and disabled this previously).

•

Check that the router is not in the temporary AP setup locked state (if you are using the
wireless repeater function).

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Cannot Log In to the Router
If you are unable to log in to the router from a computer on your local network, check the
following:
•

If you are using an Ethernet-connected computer, check the Ethernet connection
between the computer and the router as described in the previous section.

•

Make sure that your computer’s IP address is on the same subnet as the router. If you are
using the recommended addressing scheme, your computer’s address should be in the
range of 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254.

•

If your computer’s IP address is shown as 169.254.x.x, recent versions of Windows and
MacOS generate and assign an IP address if the computer cannot reach a DHCP server.
These auto-generated addresses are in the range of 169.254.x.x. If your IP address is in
this range, check the connection from the computer to the router, and reboot your
computer.

•

If your router’s IP address was changed and you do not know the current IP address,
clear the router’s configuration to factory defaults. This sets the router’s IP address to
192.168.1.1. This procedure is explained in Factory Settings on page 120.

•

Make sure that your browser has Java, JavaScript, or ActiveX enabled. If you are using
Internet Explorer, click Refresh to be sure that the Java applet is loaded.

•

Try quitting the browser and launching it again.

•

Make sure that you are using the correct login information. The factory default login name
is admin, and the password is password. Make sure that Caps Lock is off when you
enter this information.

•

If you are attempting to set up your NETGEAR router as an additional router behind an
existing router in your network, consider replacing the existing router instead. NETGEAR
does not support such a configuration.

•

If you are attempting to set up your NETGEAR router as a replacement for an ADSL
gateway in your network, the router cannot perform many gateway services, for example,
converting ADSL or cable data into Ethernet networking information. NETGEAR does not
support such a configuration.

Cannot Access the Internet
If you can access your router but you are unable to access the Internet, first determine
whether the router can obtain an IP address from your Internet service provider (ISP). Unless
your ISP provides a fixed IP address, your router requests an IP address from the ISP. You
can determine whether the request was successful using the Router Status screen.


To check the WAN IP address:
1. Start your browser, and select an external site such as www.netgear.com.
2. Access the router interface at www.routerlogin.net.
3. Select Adminstration > Router Status.

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4. Check that an IP address is shown for the Internet port. If 0.0.0.0 is shown, your router has
not obtained an IP address from your ISP.
If your router cannot obtain an IP address from the ISP, you might need to force your cable or
DSL modem to recognize your new router by restarting your network, as described in
Sequence to Restart Your Network on page 111.
If your router is still unable to obtain an IP address from the ISP, the problem might be one of
the following:
•

Your Internet service provider (ISP) might require a login program.
Ask your ISP whether they require PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) or some other type of
login.

•

If your ISP requires a login, the login name and password might be set incorrectly.

•

Your ISP might check for your computer’s host name.
Assign the computer host name of your ISP account as the account name in the Internet
Setup screen.

•

Your ISP allows only one Ethernet MAC address to connect to Internet and might check
for your computer’s MAC address. In this case, do one of the following:
-

Inform your ISP that you have bought a new network device, and ask them to use the
router’s MAC address.

Configure your router to clone your computer’s MAC address.

If your router can obtain an IP address, but your computer is unable to load any web pages
from the Internet:
•

Your computer might not recognize any DNS server addresses.
A DNS server is a host on the Internet that translates Internet names (such as www
addresses) to numeric IP addresses. Typically, your ISP provides the addresses of one or
two DNS servers for your use. If you entered a DNS address during the router’s
configuration, reboot your computer, and verify the DNS address.You can configure your
computer manually with DNS addresses, as explained in your operating system
documentation.

•

Your computer might not have the router configured as its TCP/IP gateway.
If your computer obtains its information from the router by DHCP, reboot the computer,
and verify the gateway address.

•

You might be running login software that is no longer needed.
If your ISP provided a program to log you in to the Internet (such as WinPoET), you no
longer need to run that software after installing your router. You might need to go to
Internet Explorer and select Tools > Internet Options, click the Connections tab, and
select Never dial a connection.

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Troubleshooting PPPoE
If you are using PPPoE, try troubleshooting your Internet connection.


To troubleshoot a PPPoE connection:
1. Log in to the router.
2. Select Administration > Router Status.
3. Click Connection Status. If all of the steps indicate OK, then your PPPoE connection is
up and working.
If any of the steps indicate Failed, you can attempt to reconnect by clicking Connect. The
router continues to attempt to connect indefinitely.
If you cannot connect after several minutes, you might be using an incorrect service name,
user name, or password. There also might be a provisioning problem with your ISP.

Note: Unless you connect manually, the router does not authenticate using
PPPoE until data is transmitted to the network.

Troubleshooting Internet Browsing
If your router can obtain an IP address but your computer is unable to load any web pages
from the Internet, check the following:
•

Your computer might not recognize any DNS server addresses. A DNS server is a host
on the Internet that translates Internet names (such as www addresses) to numeric IP
addresses.
Typically, your ISP provides the addresses of one or two DNS servers for your use. If you
entered a DNS address during the router’s configuration, restart your computer.
Alternatively, you can configure your computer manually with a DNS address, as
explained in the documentation for your computer.

•

Your computer might not have the router configured as its default gateway.
Reboot the computer and verify that the router address (www.routerlogin.net) is listed by
your computer as the default gateway address.

•

You might be running log in software that is no longer needed. If your ISP provided a
program to log you in to the Internet (such as WinPoET), you no longer need to run that
software after installing your router. You might need to go to Internet Explorer and select
Tools > Internet Options, click the Connections tab, and select Never dial a
connection.

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Changes Not Saved
If the router does not save the changes you make in the router interface, check the following:
•

When entering configuration settings, always click the Apply button before moving to
another screen or tab, or your changes are lost.

•

Click the Refresh or Reload button in the web browser. The changes might have
occurred, but the old settings might be in the web browser’s cache.

Wireless Connectivity
If you are having trouble connecting wirelessly to the router, try to isolate the problem.
•

Does the wireless device or computer that you are using find your wireless network?
If not, check the Wireless LEDs on the front of the router. It should be lit. If it is not, you
can press the WiFi On/Off button on the back of the router to turn the router’s wireless
radio back on.
If you disabled the router’s SSID broadcast, then your wireless network is hidden and
does not show up in your wireless client’s scanning list. (By default, SSID broadcast is
enabled.)

•

Does your wireless device support the security that you are using for your wireless
network (WPA or WPA2)?

•

If you want to view the wireless settings for the router, use an Ethernet cable to connect a
computer to a LAN port on the router. Then log in to the router, and select Wireless see
(Basic Wireless Settings on page 23).
Note: Be sure to click Apply if you make changes.

Wireless Signal Strength
If your wireless device finds your network, but the signal strength is weak, check these
conditions:
•

Is your router too far from your computer, or too close? Place your computer near the
router, but at least 6 feet away, and see whether the signal strength improves.

•

Is your wireless signal blocked by objects between the router and your computer?

Restore the Factory Settings and Password
This section explains how to restore the factory settings, changing the router’s administration
password back to password. You can erase the current configuration and restore factory
defaults in two ways:
•

Use the Erase function of the router (see Erase on page 78).

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

•

Use the Reset button on the back of the router. See Factory Settings on page 120. If you
restore the factory settings and the router fails to restart, or the green Power/Test LED
continues to blink, the unit might be defective. If the error persists, you might have a
hardware problem and should contact technical support at
http://www.netgear.com/support.

Troubleshoot Your Network Using the Ping Utility
Most network devices and routers contain a ping utility that sends an echo request packet to
the designated device. The device then responds with an echo reply. Troubleshooting a
network is made very easy by using the ping utility in your computer or workstation.

Test the LAN Path to Your Router
You can ping the router from your computer to verify that the LAN path to your router is set up
correctly.


To ping the router from a running Windows PC:
1. From the Windows toolbar, click Start, and then select Run.
2. In the field provided, type ping followed by the IP address of the router, as in this example:
ping www.routerlogin.net
3. Click OK.
You should see a message like this one:
Pinging with 32 bytes of data
If the path is working, you see this message:
Reply from < IP address >: bytes=32 time=NN ms TTL=xxx
If the path is not working, you see this message:
Request timed out
If the path is not functioning correctly, you could have one of the following problems:
•

Wrong physical connections
For a wired connection, make sure that the numbered LAN port LED is on for the port to
which you are connected.
Check that the appropriate LEDs are on for your network devices. If your router and
computer are connected to a separate Ethernet switch, make sure that the link LEDs are
on for the switch ports that are connected to your computer and router.

•

Wrong network configuration
Verify that the Ethernet card driver software and TCP/IP software are both installed and
configured on your computer.

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Verify that the IP address for your router and your computer are correct and that the
addresses are on the same subnet.

Test the Path from Your Computer to a Remote Device
After verifying that the LAN path works correctly, test the path from your computer to a remote
device.
1. From the Windows toolbar, click the Start button, and then select Run.
2. In the Windows Run window, type:
ping -n 10
where is the IP address of a remote device such as your ISP’s DNS server.
If the path is functioning correctly, replies like those shown in the previous section are
displayed.
If you do not receive replies:
•

Check that your computer has the IP address of your router listed as the default gateway.
If the IP configuration of your computer is assigned by DHCP, this information is not be
visible in your computer’s Network Control Panel. Verify that the IP address of the router
is listed as the default gateway.

•

Check to see that the network address of your computer (the portion of the IP address
specified by the subnet mask) is different from the network address of the remote device.

•

Check that your cable or DSL modem is connected and functioning.

•

If your ISP assigned a host name to your computer, enter that host name as the account
name in the Internet Setup screen.

•

Your ISP could be rejecting the Ethernet MAC addresses of all but one of your
computers.

Many broadband ISPs restrict access by allowing traffic only from the MAC address of your
broadband modem, but some ISPs additionally restrict access to the MAC address of a
single computer connected to that modem. If this is the case, configure your router to “clone”
or “spoof” the MAC address from the authorized computer.

Troubleshooting
119

Supplemental Information

This appendix provides factory default settings and technical specifications for the N900
Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500.

Factory Settings
You can return the router to its factory settings. Use the end of a paper clip or some other
similar object to press and hold the Reset button on the back of the router for at least 7
seconds. The router resets, and returns to the factory configuration settings shown in the
following table.
Table 4. Factory default settings
Feature
Router login

Internet
connection

Local network
(LAN)

Default behavior
User login URL

www.routerlogin.com or www.routerlogin.net

User name (case-sensitive)

admin

password

WAN MAC address

Use default hardware address

WAN MTU size

1500

Port speed

Autosensing

LAN IP

192.168.1.1

Subnet mask

255.255.255.0

DHCP server

Enabled

DHCP range

192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254

Time zone

Pacific time

Time zone daylight savings time

Disabled

Allow a registrar to configure this
router

Enabled

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Table 4. Factory default settings (continued)
Feature

Default behavior

Local network
DHCP starting IP address
(LAN) continued
DHCP ending IP address

192.168.1.2

Firewall

Wireless

Firewall

192.168.1.254

DMZ

Disabled

Time zone

GMT for WW except NA and GR, GMT+1 for GR, GMT-8
for NA

Time zone adjusted for daylight
savings time

Disabled

SNMP

Disabled

Inbound (communications coming
in from the Internet)

Disabled (except traffic on port 80, the HTTP port)

Outbound (communications going
out to the Internet)

Enabled (all)

Source MAC filtering

Disabled

Wireless communication

Enabled

SSID name

See router label

Security

WPA2-PSK (AES)

Broadcast SSID

Enabled

Transmission speed

Auto*

Country/region

United States in the US; otherwise varies by region

RF channel

6 until region selected

Operating mode

Up to 217 Mbps

Data rate

Best

Output power

Full

Inbound (communications coming
in from the Internet)

Disabled (bars all unsolicited requests)

Outbound (communications going
out to the Internet)

Enabled (all)

*. Maximum wireless signal rate derived from IEEE Standard 802.11 specifications. Actual throughput will vary.
Network conditions and environmental factors, including volume of network traffic, building materials and
construction, and network overhead, lower actual data throughput rate.

Supplemental Information
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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Technical Specifications
Table 5. WNDR4500 Router specifications
Feature

Description

Data and routing protocols

TCP/IP, RIP-1, RIP-2, DHCP, PPPoE, PPTP, Bigpond, Dynamic DNS, UPnP,
and SMB

Power adapter

•
•
•
•

Dimensions

8.8 in. x 6.8 in. x 1.2 in. (223 x 153 x 31 mm)

Weight

1.2 lbs. (0.5 kg)

Operating temperature

0° to 40° C (32º to 104º F)

Operating humidity

90% maximum relative humidity, noncondensing

Electromagnetic Emissions

FCC Part 15 Class B
VCCI Class B
EN 55 022 (CISPR 22), Class B C-Tick N10947

LAN

10BASE-T or 100BASE-Tx or 1000BASE-T, RJ-45

WAN

10BASE-T or 100BASE-Tx or 1000BASE-T, RJ-45

Wireless

Maximum wireless signal rate complies with the IEEE 802.11 standard. See the
footnote for the previous table.

Radio data rates

Auto Rate Sensing

Data encoding standards

IEEE 802.11n version 2.0
IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11b 2.4 GHz
IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11a 5.0 GHz

Maximum computers per
wireless network

Limited by the amount of wireless network traffic generated by each node
(typically 50–70 nodes).

North America: 120V, 60 Hz, input
UK, Australia: 240V, 50 Hz, input
Europe: 230V, 50 Hz, input
All regions (output): 12V DC @ 5A, output

Supplemental Information
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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Table 5. WNDR4500 Router specifications (continued)
Feature

Description

Operating frequency range

2.4 GHz
2.412–2.462 GHz (US)
2.412–2.472 GHz (Japan)
2.412–2.472 GHz (Europe ETSI)
5 GHz
5.18–5.24 + 5.745–5.825 GHz (US)
5.18–5.24 GHz (Europe ETSI)
FCC:
5.25–5.35 GHz (DFS band)
5.47–5.725 GHz (DFS band) 5600–5650 MHz is disabled and
unavailable for use
CE (Europe ETSI):
5.25–5.35 GHz (DFS band)
5.47–5.725 GHz (DFS band)

802.11 security

WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and WPA/WPA2

Supplemental Information
123

Notification of Compliance
N ETGE A R D ua l B a nd - Wi reles s

Regulatory Compliance Information
This section includes user requirements for operating this product in accordance with National laws for usage of radio
spectrum and operation of radio devices. Failure of the end-user to comply with the applicable requirements may
result in unlawful operation and adverse action against the end-user by the applicable National regulatory authority.
Note: Note: This product's firmware limits operation to only the channels allowed in a particular Region or Country.
Therefore, all options described in this user's guide may not be available in your version of the product.

Europe - EU Declaration of Conformity

Marking by the above symbol indicates compliance with the Essential Requirements of the R&TTE Directive of the
European Union (1999/5/EC). This equipment meets the following conformance standards:
EN300 328 (2.4Ghz), EN301 489-17, EN301 893 (5Ghz), EN60950-1
For complete DoC please visit the NETGEAR EU Declarations of Conformity website at:
http://support.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11621/

EDOC in Languages of the European Community

Language

Statement

Cesky [Czech]

NETGEAR Inc. tímto prohlašuje, že tento Radiolan je ve shode se základními požadavky
a dalšími príslušnými ustanoveními smernice 1999/5/ES.

Dansk [Danish]

Undertegnede NETGEAR Inc. erklærer herved, at følgende udstyr Radiolan overholder de
væsentlige krav og øvrige relevante krav i direktiv 1999/5/EF.

Deutsch
[German]

Hiermit erklärt NETGEAR Inc., dass sich das Gerät Radiolan in Übereinstimmung mit den
grundlegenden Anforderungen und den übrigen einschlägigen Bestimmungen der
Richtlinie 1999/5/EG befindet.

Eesti [Estonian]

Käesolevaga kinnitab NETGEAR Inc. seadme Radiolan vastavust direktiivi 1999/5/EÜ
põhinõuetele ja nimetatud direktiivist tulenevatele teistele asjakohastele sätetele.

English

Hereby, NETGEAR Inc., declares that this Radiolan is in compliance with the essential
requirements and other relevant provisions of Directive 1999/5/EC.

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N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Español [Spanish] Por medio de la presente NETGEAR Inc. declara que el Radiolan cumple con los
requisitos esenciales y cualesquiera otras disposiciones aplicables o exigibles de la
Directiva 1999/5/CE.
Ελληνική [Greek]

ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΠΑΡΟΥΣΑ NETGEAR Inc. ∆ΗΛΩΝΕΙ ΟΤΙ Radiolan ΣΥΜΜΟΡΦΩΝΕΤΑΙ ΠΡΟΣ
ΤΙΣ ΟΥΣΙΩ∆ΕΙΣ ΑΠΑΙΤΗΣΕΙΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΙΣ ΛΟΙΠΕΣ ΣΧΕΤΙΚΕΣ ∆ΙΑΤΑΞΕΙΣ ΤΗΣ Ο∆ΗΓΙΑΣ
1999/5/ΕΚ.

Français [French] Par la présente NETGEAR Inc. déclare que l'appareil Radiolan est conforme aux
exigences essentielles et aux autres dispositions pertinentes de la directive 1999/5/CE.

Italiano [Italian]

Con la presente NETGEAR Inc. dichiara che questo Radiolan è conforme ai requisiti
essenziali ed alle altre disposizioni pertinenti stabilite dalla direttiva 1999/5/CE.

Latviski [Latvian]

Ar šo NETGEAR Inc. deklarē, ka Radiolan atbilst Direktīvas 1999/5/EK būtiskajām
prasībām un citiem ar to saistītajiem noteikumiem.

Lietuvių
[Lithuanian]

Šiuo NETGEAR Inc. deklaruoja, kad šis Radiolan atitinka esminius reikalavimus ir kitas
1999/5/EB Direktyvos nuostatas.

Nederlands
[Dutch]

Hierbij verklaart NETGEAR Inc. dat het toestel Radiolan in overeenstemming is met de
essentiële eisen en de andere relevante bepalingen van richtlijn 1999/5/EG.

Malti [Maltese]

Hawnhekk, NETGEAR Inc., jiddikjara li dan Radiolan jikkonforma mal-htigijiet essenzjali u
ma provvedimenti ohrajn relevanti li hemm fid-Dirrettiva 1999/5/EC.

Magyar
[Hungarian]

Alulírott, NETGEAR Inc. nyilatkozom, hogy a Radiolan megfelel a vonatkozó alapvetõ
követelményeknek és az 1999/5/EC irányelv egyéb elõírásainak.

Polski [Polish]

Niniejszym NETGEAR Inc. oświadcza, że Radiolan jest zgodny z zasadniczymi
wymogami oraz pozostałymi stosownymi postanowieniami Dyrektywy 1999/5/EC.

Português
[Portuguese]

NETGEAR Inc. declara que este Radiolan está conforme com os requisitos essenciais e
outras disposições da Directiva 1999/5/CE.

Slovensko
[Slovenian]

NETGEAR Inc. izjavlja, da je ta Radiolan v skladu z bistvenimi zahtevami in ostalimi
relevantnimi določili direktive 1999/5/ES.

Slovensky
[Slovak]

NETGEAR Inc. týmto vyhlasuje, že Radiolan spĺňa základné požiadavky a všetky
príslušné ustanovenia Smernice 1999/5/ES.

Suomi [Finnish]

NETGEAR Inc. vakuuttaa täten että Radiolan tyyppinen laite on direktiivin 1999/5/EY
oleellisten vaatimusten ja sitä koskevien direktiivin muiden ehtojen mukainen.

Svenska
[Swedish]

Härmed intygar NETGEAR Inc. att denna Radiolan står I överensstämmelse med de
väsentliga egenskapskrav och övriga relevanta bestämmelser som framgår av direktiv
1999/5/EG.

Notification of Compliance
125

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Íslenska
[Icelandic]

Hér með lýsir NETGEAR Inc. yfir því að Radiolan er í samræmi við grunnkröfur og aðrar
kröfur, sem gerðar eru í tilskipun 1999/5/EC.

Norsk
[Norwegian]

NETGEAR Inc. erklærer herved at utstyret Radiolan er i samsvar med de grunnleggende
krav og øvrige relevante krav i direktiv 1999/5/EF.

This device is a 2.4 GHz wideband transmission system (transceiver), intended for use in all EU member states and
EFTA countries, except in France and Italy where restrictive use applies.
In Italy the end-user should apply for a license at the national spectrum authorities in order to obtain authorization to
use the device for setting up outdoor radio links and/or for supplying public access to telecommunications and/or
network services.
This device may not be used for setting up outdoor radio links in France and in some areas the RF output power may
be limited to 10 mW EIRP in the frequency range of 2454 - 2483.5 MHz. For detailed information the end-user should
contact the national spectrum authority in France.

FCC Requirements for Operation in the United States
FCC Information to User
This product does not contain any user serviceable components and is to be used with approved antennas only.
Any product changes or modifications will invalidate all applicable regulatory certifications and approvals.

FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure
This equipment complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment. This
equipment should be installed and operated with minimum distance of 20 cm between the radiator and your body.
This transmitter must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.

FCC Declaration of Conformity
We, NETGEAR, Inc., 350 East Plumeria Drive, San Jose, CA 95134, declare under our sole responsibility that the
N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500 complies with Part 15 Subpart B of FCC CFR47 Rules.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
• This device may not cause harmful interference, and
• This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

FCC Radio Frequency Interference Warnings & Instructions
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15
of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a
residential installation. This equipment uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in
accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no
guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful
interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user
is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following methods:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
• Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver.
• Connect the equipment into an electrical outlet on a circuit different from that which the radio receiver is
connected.
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

FCC Caution
• Any changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the
user's authority to operate this equipment.

Notification of Compliance
126

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

• This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This
device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including
interference that may cause undesired operation.
• For product available in the USA market, only channel 1~11 can be operated. Selection of other channels is not
possible.
• This device and its antenna(s) must not be co-located or operation in conjunction with any other antenna or
transmitter.

Canadian Department of Communications Radio Interference Regulations
This digital apparatus (N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500) does not exceed the Class B limits for
radio-noise emissions from digital apparatus as set out in the Radio Interference Regulations of the Canadian
Department of Communications.
This Class [B] digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.
Cet appareil numérique de la classe [B] est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada

Industry Canada
This device complies with RSS-210 of the Industry Canada Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received,
including interference that may cause undesired operation.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Radiation Exposure Statement:
This equipment complies with IC radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment. This equipment
should be installed and operated with minimum distance 20cm between the radiator & your body.

Caution:
The device for the band 5150-5250 MHz is only for indoor usage to reduce po-tential for harmful interference to
co-channel mobile satellite systems.
High power radars are allocated as primary users (meaning they have priority) of 5250-5350 MHz and 5650-5850 MHz
and these radars could cause interference and/or damage to LE-LAN devices.
Ce dispositif est conforme à la norme CNR-210 d'Industrie Canada applicable aux appareils radio exempts de licence.
Son fonctionnement est sujet aux deux conditions suivantes: (1) le dispositif ne doit pas produire de brouillage
préjudiciable, et (2) ce dispositif doit accepter tout brouillage reçu, y compris un brouillage susceptible de provoquer un
fonctionnement indésirable.

NOTE IMPORTANTE: Déclaration d'exposition aux radiations:
Cet équipement est conforme aux limites d'exposition aux rayonnements IC établies pour un environnement non
contrôlé. Cet équipement doit être installé et utilisé avec un minimum de 20 cm de distance entre la source de
rayonnement et votre corps.

Avertissement:
Le dispositif fonctionnant dans la bande 5150-5250 MHz est réservé uniquement pour une utili-sation à l'intérieur afin
de réduire les risques de brouillage préjudiciable aux systèmes de satellites mobiles utilisant les mêmes canaux.
Les utilisateurs de radars de haute puissance sont désignés utilisateurs principaux (c.-à-d., qu'ils ont la priorité) pour
les bandes 5250-5350 MHz et 5650-5850 MHz et que ces radars pourraient causer du brouillage et/ou des dommages
aux dispositifs LAN-EL.

GPL License Agreement
GPL may be included in this product; to view the GPL license agreement go to
ftp://downloads.netgear.com/files/GPLnotice.pdf.
For GNU General Public License (GPL) related information, please visit
http://support.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2649 .

Notification of Compliance
127

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

Interference Reduction Table
The table below shows the Recommended Minimum Distance between NETGEAR equipment and household
appliances to reduce interference (in feet and meters).
Household Appliance

Recommended Minimum Distance
(in feet and meters)

Microwave ovens

30 feet / 9 meters

Baby Monitor - Analog

20 feet / 6 meters

Baby Monitor - Digital

40 feet / 12 meters

Cordless phone - Analog

20 feet / 6 meters

Cordless phone - Digital

30 feet / 9 meters

Bluetooth devices

20 feet / 6 meters

ZigBee

20 feet / 6 meters

Notification of Compliance
128

Index
A

QoS 38
repeater unit 91
user-defined services 65
connecting wirelessly 8
country setting 29
crossover cable 113
CTS/RTS Threshold 87
custom service (port forwarding) 97

access
remote 105
viewing logs 75
access points 88
accessing remote computer 92
adding
custom service 97
priority rules 39
address reservation 37
advertisement period 107
alerts, emailing 68
applications, QoS for online gaming 39
approved USB devices 50
attached devices 21
authentication, required by mail server 68
automatic firmware checking 70
automatic Internet connection 29

D
dashboard 16
data packets, fragmented 33
default DMZ server 33
default factory settings, list of 120
default factory settings, restoring 78, 117
default gateway 73
deleting
configuration 78
keywords 64
denial of service (DoS) protection 63
devices, attached 21
DHCP server 36, 73
DHCP setting 72
DMZ server 33
DNS addresses
troubleshooting 115
DNS servers 92
Domain Name Server (DNS) addresses 20, 72
Dynamic DNS 101
DynDNS.org 101

B
back panel 11
backing up configuration 77
base station, setting up 90
blocking
inbound traffic 92
keywords 64
services 65
sites 64
box contents 8

cables, checking 111
changes not saved, router 117
compliance 124
configuration file 77
configuring
DMZ server 33
Dynamic DNS 102
NAT 32
port forwarding 96
port triggering 99

electromagnetic emissions 122
email notices 68
encryption keys 27
erasing configuration 78
Ethernet cables, checking 111
Ethernet LED, troubleshooting and 112, 113

129

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

factory default settings, restoring 78, 117
factory settings
list of 120
resetting 11
file sharing 44
firmware version 71
firmware, upgrading 15, 70
fragmentation length 87
fragmented data packets 33
front panel 9

keywords 64

label, product 11
LAN port
QoS for 40
settings 71
LAN setup 35
language setting 29
large files, sharing 45
lease, DHCP 73
LEDs
described 10
troubleshooting and 112
local servers, port forwarding to 96
logging in 13, 15
logs
emailing 68
viewing 75

host name 19
host, trusted 64

G
games, online, QoS for 39
gateway IP address 20
genie, NETGEAR 14
guest networks 26, 75

MAC addresses
current 71
product label 11
QoS for 41
mail server, outgoing 68
maintenance settings 69
managing router remotely 105
media server, setting the router to be a 50
menus, described 16
metric value 104
mixed mode security options 27
MTU size 33
multicasting 36

I
inbound traffic, allowing or blocking 92
installing NETGEAR genie 14
installing with the Setup Wizard 29
Internet connection
setting up 19
troubleshooting 114
Internet LED, troubleshooting and 112
Internet port 29, 71
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) 94
Internet service provider (ISP)
account information 13
Internet Setup screen 19
login 13
Internet services, blocking access 65
Internet Setup screen 19
interval, poll 72
IP addresses
current 71
DHCP 13
dynamic 101
reserved 37
IP subnet mask 72

N
NAT (Network Address Translation) 32, 33, 93
NETGEAR genie 14
network, how to restart 111
networks
guest 75
networks, guest 26
networks, troubleshooting 111

O
outgoing mail server 68

130

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

router status, viewing 71

packets, fragmented 33
Parental Controls 22
passphrases
changing 25
product label 11
password recovery, admin 79
password, restoring 117
photos, sharing 45
poll interval 72
port filtering 65
port forwarding 92, 94, 95, 96
port numbers 65
port status 72
port triggering 92, 93, 95, 99
ports,listed, back panel 11
positioning the router 8
Power LED, troubleshooting and 112
PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet) 115
Preamble mode 87
preset security
about 23
passphrase 25
pre-shared key 27
primary DNS addresses 20
printing files and photos 45
prioritizing traffic 38
Push ’N’ Connect 17

S
scheduling keyword and service blocking 67
secondary DNS 20
security 23
firewall settings 63
see also security options
security options 27
security PIN 11, 30
sending logs by email 68
serial number, product label 11
services, blocking 65
settings, default. See default factory settings
Setup Wizard 29
sharing files 44
sites, blocking 64
SMTP server 68
specifications,technical 120
SSID, described 25
static routes 103
status, router, viewing 71
subnet mask 72
system up time 72

T
technical specifications 120
technical support 2
Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) 27
time to live, advertisement 107
time-out, port triggering 100
trademarks 2
traffic metering 109
troubleshooting 110
log in access 114
router changes not saved 117
trusted host 64

Q
QoS (Quality of Service) 38

R
radio, wireless 87
range of wireless connections 8
ReadySHARE access 44, 47
recovering admin password 79
releasing connection status 73
remote management 105
renewing connection status 73
repeater units 91
reserved IP adresses 37
reset button 120
restarting network 111
restoring
configuration file 77
default factory settings 78, 117
router interface, described 16

U
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) 106
up time, system 72
upgrading firmware 15, 70
USB
advanced configuration 48
basic storage settings 46
drive requirements 44
file sharing 44
ReadySHARE access 44, 47

131

N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500

remote computer connection 52
specifying approved devices 50
unmounting a USB drive 49
USB devices, approved 50
user-defined services 65

V
viewing
logs 75
router status 71

W
WAN IP address, troubleshooting 114
WAN setup 32
Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) 17, 30
devices, adding 17
wireless channel 25
wireless connection, troubleshooting 117
wireless connections 8
wireless devices,adding to the network 17
Wireless Distribution System (WDS) 88, 89
Wireless LED, troubleshooting and 113, 114
wireless mode 25
wireless network name (SSID)
broadcast 25
described 25
product label 11
wireless network settings 25
wireless radio 87
wireless repeating 88, 89
base station 90
repeater unit 91
wireless security options 27
wireless settings 23, 75
checking for correct 111
SSID broadcast 25
WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia) 38
WPA encryption 27
WPA2 encryption 27
WPA2-PSK encryption 27
WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK mixed mode 27
WPS button 17
WPS-PSK encryption 27
WPS-PSK+ WPA2-PSK encryption 27

132

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Author                          : NETGEAR, Inc.
Copyright                       : ?2011
Create Date                     : 2012:07:08 09:27:03Z
Keywords                        : NETGEAR, N900, Wireless, Dual, Band, Gigabit, Router, WNDR4500, User, Manual
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Subject                         : N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500
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Description                     : N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500
Title                           : N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4500 User Manual
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Netgear Wndr4500 Owner S Manual N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router User

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