Setting up a Home Router: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:34, 23 September 2025

This material needs expanding ...

To include information on ipv6

This HowTo is written to indicate the basics necessary to get a simple router set up for a network. Unlike most HowTos, this will not form an exhaustive list of instructions, as a home router is not one piece of software, and not every piece of software listed here will be relevant to your specific requirements. Moreover, the individual pieces of software themselves, in particular firewalls, require configuration which requires documentation in their own right.

As such this HowTo will indicate the relevant pieces of software, and link to the corresponding documentation. It will also contain some more general guidance.

Note: Throughout this HowTo, it is presumed that you have a router provided by your ISP via which you can get an internet connection

Before You Start

You should know

This article presumes that you are familiar with the fundamentals of IP networks. In particular you should have a good understanding of the terms:

IP Address
Address Mask
Subnet
CIDR (Notation of the form 192.168.1.0/24)

Enable Routing and Set Up Routes

Configuring Network Interfaces

Generally speaking, routers are in charge of their own IP addresses, as such you will need to understand how to configure static IP addresses on the interfaces.

Connecting to the Internet - pppd

Warning: If you are planning on connecting your router directly to the internet, you should have a firewall in place. See next section.

If you are looking to connect your router directly to the internet without using the router from your ISP, then you will need to configure pppd. The documentation for pppd can be found here.

Firewalls

Firewalls At the time of writing, there are three main firewall options available of which the author is aware:

ufw - the uncomplicated firewall
nftables
IPTables is also an option - but be advised that it is an older piece of software with a somewhat arcane syntax. It has been superseded by nftables.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 * CIDR (Notation of the form 192.168.1.0/24)
+==Enable Routing and Set Up Routes==
-=== You should have done ===
+==Configuring Network Interfaces==
-Ensure to [[Configure Networking|Connect your router to your ISP router]]. This howto will presume throughout that this connection is set up on the interface eth0.
+Generally speaking, routers are in charge of their own IP addresses, as such you will need to understand how to [[Configure Networking#Static address configuration|configure static IP addresses on the interfaces]].
-=== You should ===
+==Connecting to the Internet - pppd==
-Design your network address layout
+{{Warning|If you are planning on connecting your router directly to the internet, you should have a firewall in place. See next section.}}
-== Setting up your router ==
+If you are looking to connect your router directly to the internet without using the router from your ISP, then you will need to configure pppd. The documentation for pppd can be found [https://linux.die.net/man/8/pppd here].
-There are two options for your router, depending on whether you wish to use statically or dynamically assigned addresses for your network.
-Statically assigned addresses are generally only suitable for networks where there are a very limited number of computers connecting to the router. Moreover, they are unsuitable for situations in which computers which you do not control will need access to your network, for example if you are setting up a router including a wireless interface.
+==Firewalls==
-=== Setting up a network with statically assigned addresses ===
+Firewalls At the time of writing, there are three main firewall options available of which the author is aware:
+* [[Uncomplicated Firewall|ufw - the uncomplicated firewall]]
-=== Setting up a network with dynamically assigned addresses ===
+* [https://wiki.nftables.org/wiki-nftables/index.php/Main_Page nftables]
+* IPTables is also an option - but be advised that it is an older piece of software with a somewhat arcane syntax. It has been superseded by nftables.
-== Extension: Adding routes to subnets ==
+==DHCP Server==
-== Optional Next Steps ==
-* Set up a firewall on your router
-* Set up pppd on your router to manage an ISP connection directly
+==Wi-Fi==
-* Set up hostapd to set up a wireless network