Blocking a LAN ip from internet access/

Personally, I would set a static IP address to the NAS and then apply and access control list on the router. To do so please follow your routers manual below (Page 38 onwards). This should allow clients connected directly to the router access to the NAS however you may find that only hosts connected to the switch will have access.

http://www.tp-link.com/Resources/doc...User_Guide.pdf

Remember to set the static IP address stack outside your DHCP scope otherwise you may encounter IP address conflicts (Page 26 to find ranges)

EDIT: @Tomerello, sure would but could have complications with VPN since the router is the middle man.

Both viable options though.

Hope This Helps,
Josh :)

Yes it would stop the NAS accessing the internet but it would also stop anyone else but the machine connected to it being able to access since the NAS will have to be on a different subnet.

Josh :)

Shadowjk said:

Yes it would stop the NAS accessing the internet but it would also stop anyone else but the machine connected to it being able to access since the NAS will have to be on a different subnet.

Josh :)

The Subnet Mask currently used by the LAN's router is 255.255.255.0 . If, as mentioned earlier, I try a direct NAS to PC connection (to the unused Realtek LAN port) overriding the switch, what Subnet Mask should I use when configuring such direct connection? I guess it should be a number different from 255.255.255.0 as that is the one used by the router?

Also, if I set a static IP for both the NAS and PC, can I connect them via the Switch alone without the router? The only benefit over the direct LAN-PC connection would be the possibility of adding more devices to the internet-less LAN?

If, as mentioned earlier, I try a direct NAS to PC connection (to the unused Realtek LAN port) overriding the switch, what Subnet Mask should I use when configuring such direct connection? I guess it should be a number different from 255.255.255.0 as that is the one used by the router?

The subnet mask can be the same if you wish and for easy configuration I would keep it the same for the Realtek port. When I mean a different subnet I mean a slightly different IP address. For example your IP address for the network card connected to the switch could be '192.168.1.X'. The penultimate number/octet represents the network based on the subnet mask. Therefore for the realtek port that would connect to the NAS you would have an IP address of something like '192.168.2.X' Since 2 is different than 1. By doing so you have created a new network. Keep the subnet mask the same 255.255.255.0 for all LAN cards when setting up static IP addresses and the default gateway is the IP address of your router. For the realtek port you won't have a router therefore you can leave that blank. When setting a static IP address for your network card that is connected to the switch make sure that the DNS servers are set to the same IP address as your default gateway.

Also, if I set a static IP for both the NAS and PC, can I connect them via the Switch alone without the router?

Yes, For example if your PC has an IP address of 192.168.1.10 and your router has an IP address of 192.168.1.1, you can just simply set a static IP address on your NAS by changing the last octet/set of numbers. For example you could set the IP address for the NAS as 192.168.1.50 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. By doing so, whenever you wish to connect to your NAS you can do so without going through your router .

The only benefit over the direct LAN-PC connection would be the possibility of adding more devices to the internet-less LAN?

That would be correct but the major disadvantage or advantage depending on how you look at it, is that only the PC directly connected would have access to the NAS. Any other machine connected to the switch or wireless network would not have access to the NAS.

Hopefully this answers some of your questions,
Josh :)

antares said:

Hi Shadow again, you seem to be a knowledgeable networking guy, can you recommend a book in TCP/IP networking for newbies like me? Thanks

It depends really what sort of area in networking you want to look into. For example I'm better with network infrastructure than with file sharing and homegroups. As for a book, I don't know one that I could recommend unfortunately I did however find a microsoft page on TCP/IP which you may wish to look into. It does get quite complex with binary but overall it tells you the fundamentals of IPv4 :)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/164015

Hope this helps,
Josh :)