ZyXEL Communications P-661HW User Manual

P-661H/HW Series User’s Guide

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Chapter 9 Firewall Configuration

The default rule for LAN to WAN traffic is that all users on the LAN are allowed non-
restricted access to the WAN. When you configure a LAN to WAN rule, you in essence want 
to limit some or all users from accessing certain services on the WAN. WAN to LAN Rules

The default rule for WAN to LAN traffic blocks all incoming connections (WAN to LAN). If 
you wish to allow certain WAN users to have access to your LAN, you will need to create 
custom rules to allow it. 

Alerts are reports on events, such as attacks, that you may want to know about right away. You 
can choose to generate an alert when a rule is matched in the Edit Rule screen (see 

 

When an event generates an alert, a message can be immediately sent to an e-

mail account that you specify in the Log Settings screen. Refer to the chapter on logs for 
details.

When the firewall is on, your ZyXEL Device acts as a secure gateway between your LAN and 
the Internet. In an ideal network topology, all incoming and outgoing network traffic passes 
through the ZyXEL Device to protect your LAN against attacks.

Figure 83   Ideal Firewall Setup

You may have more than one connection to the Internet (through one or more ISPs). If the 
alternate gateway is on the LAN (and its IP address is in the same subnet as the ZyXEL 
Device’s LAN IP address), the “triangle route” (also called asymmetrical route) problem may 
occur. The steps below describe the “triangle route” problem. 

1 A computer on the LAN initiates a connection by sending out a SYN packet to a 

receiving server on the WAN.

2 The ZyXEL Device reroutes the SYN packet through Gateway A on the LAN to the 

WAN. 

3 The reply from the WAN goes directly to the computer on the LAN without going 

through the ZyXEL Device.