After the basic Internet information was configured and I set the IP address of the DI-713 to something other than 192.168.0.1, I was ready to get my computers on my Ethernet network on the 'net! This is extremely simple with the DI-713's DHCP server, as now all I had to do was set everything on my Windows machines to automatic and wham! We've got Internet!

For the wireless computers, all I had to do was set some very simple settings on the DI-713 and also on my wireless network adapters so that they match (allowing them to find each other). Once that was done, everything was functioning perfectly: both my wired and wireless computers had access to the Internet and they could even see each other, courtesy of the built-in wireless access point, so I could, for example, conduct file sharing between wired and wireless computers. Very cool!

So now that I've got everything set up, I decided to explore around a bit and see what else this baby can do. First up is the virtual server screen, where one can specify ports to forward so that you can run servers on computers behind the DI-713's firewall. This is very easy, as everything is all graphical. There are even presets for common servers such as HTTP, FTP, Telnet and SMTP that one can choose. The only problem, though, that I see with configuring this is that there are only 20 slots to work with. I'm sure that with a small network, there shouldn't be much of a problem, but with large networks and multiple servers, this could become a problem as you might need to open up more than 20 different ports. To help relieve this problem, there's a setting called the DMZ host that one can use. This means that if a computer is set as a DMZ host the firewall will leave a hole for all the ports on that computer, making it as if it was virtually directly connected to the Internet. This is perfect for those who have a "server" computer, as, instead of opening each port up manually, one can simply set it so that it is a DMZ host.

Another one of the "advanced" settings is the control for special applications. When a computer is behind a firewall, it's a known fact that some programs won't work properly because the firewall is blocking the port(s) that they need. These programs might include multiplayer games, Internet phone programs, etc. To solve this, the DI-713 allows the user to input these special applications so that the firewall will still allow them to use the ports that they need. Unfortunately, though, there are only 4 (!) slots for these settings, so you should use them sparingly. I, myself, have never had to use them, even for my multiplayer gaming, but it is a known fact that some applications and games will require you to use up one of these slots for them to work properly.

On to: Conclusion