Filter Basics - Netopia R7100-C User Reference Manual

13-32 User's Reference Guide
Established connections
The TCP header contains one bit called the ACK bit (or TCP Ack bit). This ACK bit appears only with TCP, not
UDP. The ACK bit is part of the TCP mechanism that guaranteed the delivery of data. The ACK bit is set
whenever one side of a connection has received data from the other side. Only the first TCP packet will not have
the ACK bit set; once the TCP connection is in place, the remainder of the TCP packets with have the ACK bit
set.
The ACK bit is helpful for firewall design and reduces the number of potential filter rules. A filter rule could be
created just allowing incoming TCP packets with the ACK bit set, since these packets had to be originated from
the local network.
Example IP filter set screen
This is an example of the Netopia IP filter set screen:
Enabled:
Forward:
Source IP Address:
Source IP Address Mask:
Dest. IP Address:
Dest. IP Address Mask:
Protocol Type:
Source Port Compare...
Source Port ID:
Dest. Port Compare...
Dest. Port ID:
Established TCP Conns. Only:
Return/Enter accepts * Tab toggles * ESC cancels.
Enter the IP specific information for this filter.

Filter basics

In the source or destination IP address fields, the IP address that is entered must be the network address of
the subnet. A host address can be entered, but the applied subnet mask must be 32 bits (255.255.255.255).
The Netopia R7100 has the ability to compare source and destination TCP or UDP ports. These options are as
follows:
No Compare
Not Equal To
Less Than
Change Filter
Item
Does not compare TCP or UDP port
Matches any port other than what is defined
Anything less than the port defined
Yes
No
0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0
TCP
No Compare
0
Equal
2000
No
What it means