Newbie questions around ports and Subnet masks

[bbmm89]

Hey guys,

I hope this is in the right forum, I've been researching about the above topic and having trouble locating the most appropriate info for my questions.

So the situation is I have a new router (Netcomm NF18ACV - I'm on Australian NBN HFC now) and I've been setting up my router with security in mind.

I ran Shield's UP tests and it showed ports 80 and 443 were closed. I understand that this is ok, but a stealth port would be better. How do I configure these ports to stealth? Is it critical for these ports to be stealth over closed?

I also want to change my local LAN address from the stock one, to a custom one. For example, if I change it from 192.168.20.1 to 192.168.25.4, would I have to change the subnet mask? Stock one is 255.255.255.0.

If you have any other suggestions to improve security that would be appreciated also. I've been using https://routersecurity.org/#StartHere and https://routersecurity.org/testrouter.php as resources to change my settings and run tests.

I use a VPN to bypass the port closures, and other stuff like DNS/ Ping.

Thanks everyone

 

[ColinTaylor]

I also want to change my local LAN address from the stock one, to a custom one. For example, if I change it from 192.168.20.1 to 192.168.25.4, would I have to change the subnet mask? Stock one is 255.255.255.0.

No you don't have to change the subnet mask, and there would be no point in doing so. I can't answer your other questions as I am not familiar with your device or ISP.

 

[bbmm89]

No you don't have to change the subnet mask, and there would be no point in doing so. I can't answer your other questions as I am not familiar with your device or ISP.

Thanks for the reply, this helps.

What about ports though? How big of a deal is it to have ports 80 and 443 closed vs if they were stealth?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Thanks for the reply, this helps.

What about ports though? How big of a deal is it to have ports 80 and 443 closed vs if they were stealth?

That's the bit I can't answer. Sometimes it's a false positive from equipment on your ISP's network.

 

[MichaelCG]

As long as the ports are closed, don't worry about it. Open is when you have to be concerned.

 

[bbmm89]

That's the bit I can't answer. Sometimes it's a false positive from equipment on your ISP's network.

As long as the ports are closed, don't worry about it. Open is when you have to be concerned.

I see. Thanks guys.