10. Other Features

This final section will attempt to capture all the rest of the features that you're likely to find in NAT routers that don't really fit neatly into any of the previous headings. Here we go...

Discard WAN ping / "Stealth" mode - One of the basic things that any port scanning program does is to ping your IP address and see if any answer comes back. This feature makes sure that your router doesn't make a peep if it's hit with a ping, so that the port scanner thinks that nobody's home at your IP address and doesn't mark you for further investigation. Definitely a good feature to have, and to enable if you have it!

Remote Administration - This feature allows you to access the admin screens of your router from the WAN (Internet) side. Very handy if you travel frequently and need to adjust a setting on your router, or if you're responsible for keeping routers at customer sites up and running. Since this feature can potentially allow anyone to gain control of your network if it's not properly secured, you need to look for products that have ways to make it harder for anyone besides you to control the router. At minimum, you should be able to restrict Remote Admin access to specific IP addresses or range of addresses. Better yet, but harder to find, is the ability to specify the port number that you use to access the Admin HTTP server. This means that someone would not only have to know your router's WAN IP address, but also the port number that you've assigned.

Print Server - This feature was made popular by SMC's older Barricade line of routers. It allows you to connect a parallel port printer to the router instead of a networked computer and offload the printer sharing tasks to it. This means that printing doesn't depend on a particular computer being up and running, and can also allow you to move your printer to a more centrally located spot. Most router-embedded print servers don't have much memory (limiting the size of files that can be printed), may not handle printing from MacOS computers, and don't support bi-directional printer features. Still, it's a nice feature to have, especially when it adds hardly anything to the price of routers that have it.

MTU - This feature allows you to adjust the Maximum Transmission Unit of your router. It will probably be of interest to users with PPPoE based connections, or those folks trying to get VPN connections working, or both! It's needed because of the way that some BSPs set up their networks. Playing with this parameter on cable-modem connected computers was made popular by speedguide.net, but there's no need to adjust this parameter on a router unless your BSP or router manufacturer recommends it.