Why is my router blocking websites?

I'm not exactly a networking expert and am currently having some issues with my new sitecom router (firmware is upgraded to the latest version)

When NAT is enabled on my router and the router firewall is on

... when I use the shieldsup! utility GRC is providing, it tells me all ports are stealth. ....when I turn my firewall off, all ports are closed.

However, with my firewall up, i'm having trouble using some sites, for instance just surfing to thepiratebay.org.

Is NAT protecting me sufficiently? I'm not exactly keen on turning my firewall off, but I would think i'd be allowed to surf any website.

Thanx in advance, rinze

Syg

Posted 2010-09-08T07:43:58.793

Reputation: 111

what os, what firewall? – Nifle – 2010-09-08T07:58:59.483

Which router are you using? – AndrejaKo – 2010-09-08T08:57:26.670

It's a sitecom modemrouter (WL-348). The firewall I'm talking about is my router's firewall. Not the one on my pc('s), which is AVG btw. – Syg – 2010-09-09T11:08:53.713

What you are running into is the torrents that you are (I'm assuming downloading from comments below) are not setup with the specified ports that your torrent client is utilizing. Since thepiratebay is mainly an operation that illegally distributes illegal content I will not help any more – James Mertz – 2010-10-13T05:10:20.543

This question is off topic not because of the content, but the intent. Super User cannot nor will condone or in any way assist in any activities that could be considered illegal. – BinaryMisfit – 2010-10-13T07:33:36.957

This is so ridiculous, I can hardly find the words to describe it. But ok. First off, not all use (or intent) of torrents is illegal. Second, where do I say I'm downloading torrents anyway? It has absolutely nothing to do with it. The piratebay is just an example I mentioned beacause it's a well known site. I'm having the same problem with a dutch movie website. – Syg – 2010-11-28T10:49:02.557

Answers

Firewall doesn't makes sense as far as the firewalled device is behind NAT and its network is trusted. For example if you have router for your home network and you know that there are no malicious computers connected to your network it's perfectly safe to turn off firewall on your PC.

sorki

Posted 2010-09-08T07:43:58.793

Reputation: 103

Hi, the firewall i'm talking about is the one on my sitecom router, not the one on my pc. – Syg – 2010-09-09T11:09:58.723

I am not sure about the router you are using but is it possible they have a filter/blacklist of websites enabled on it? Goto the routers webconsole and take a look at the settings.

You can do this by just http:// routerIPAddress

You can get your router's IP address by going into command prompt ( WINDOWSKEY + R -> cmd ) and typing ipconfig /all

The gateway IP address would be your router's IP. Then just use your browser and goto it.

For example: http://192.168.0.1 if 192.168.0.1 is your router's IP address.

If you are prompted for a password, there are lists of default passwords available on the web if you just Google your routers make and model. Typically logins are just user:admin and the password is blank.

qroberts

Posted 2010-09-08T07:43:58.793

Reputation: 4 609

already checked. Unless there is a special login for advanced settings (but I don't think so) there's no such list. However, i've come to the conclusion that the following might be the case: changing the firewall from enabled to disabled and vice versa resets it. My router starts blocking thepiratebay after a while because of the large number of packets being send to the tracker or something like that. – Syg – 2010-09-09T21:02:53.857