MN500 and port forwarding

I have a question about the MN500 and persistant port forwarding.

Been using this product for a few months now, all in all a very nice router,
no complaints.

But I do have one issue that concerns me. From time to time an application
will automatically get added to the persistant port forwarding table. (Most
notably Messenger on new XP installs before I remove the Messenger software
again) A few other apps have done this as well.

To be blunt, that scares the hell out of me. I know I'm virus free at the
moment, and not currently experiencing any problems, but is there any way to
disable that? I dont want it *ever* adding entries without my say-so. A
carefully written virus could give itself all sorts of access without you
even knowing about it.

The other question is about the table itself. Just as an example, I add a
few entries for ProgramX. I close the browser, then open it again and check
the port forwarding. Entries are still gone as they should be. Then I tell
the router to reset. After the reset, I load the management tool again,
check the port forwarding entries, and the deleted entries are back. Is
this a bug in the firmware?

Firmware is version 1.11.017, dated 10/03/03.

Thanks for any insights

Sounds like UPnP on one or more computers behind the router is working.

Max Norris wrote:
> I have a question about the MN500 and persistant port forwarding.
>
> Been using this product for a few months now, all in all a very nice router,
> no complaints.
>
> But I do have one issue that concerns me. From time to time an application
> will automatically get added to the persistant port forwarding table. (Most
> notably Messenger on new XP installs before I remove the Messenger software
> again) A few other apps have done this as well.
>
> To be blunt, that scares the hell out of me. I know I'm virus free at the
> moment, and not currently experiencing any problems, but is there any way to
> disable that? I dont want it *ever* adding entries without my say-so. A
> carefully written virus could give itself all sorts of access without you
> even knowing about it.
>
> The other question is about the table itself. Just as an example, I add a
> few entries for ProgramX. I close the browser, then open it again and check
> the port forwarding. Entries are still gone as they should be. Then I tell
> the router to reset. After the reset, I load the management tool again,
> check the port forwarding entries, and the deleted entries are back. Is
> this a bug in the firmware?
>
> Firmware is version 1.11.017, dated 10/03/03.
>
> Thanks for any insights
>
>