How To Disable the UPnP Feature On Your NETGEAR Router
What is UPnP?
UPnP (Universal Plug'n'Play) is a protocol that enables programs running on a host to automatically configure port forwarding on the NAT-Router. Devices may dynamically add themselves to a network without the need for user intervention or configuration. A UPnP-enabled device may obtain an IP address, advertise its capabilities, learn about other connected UPnP devices and then communicate directly with those devices. The same device can terminate its connection cleanly when it wishes to leave the UPnP community. The intent of UPnP is to support zero-configuration, "invisible" networking of devices including intelligent appliances, PCs, printers and other smart devices using standard protocols. UPnP also supports the functionality of NAT Traversal. This is a solution to the real-time communication problem for peer-to-peer applications such as instant messaging running behind the NAT-enabled Firewall. UPnP devices are "plug-and-play" in that when connected to a network they automatically announce their network address and supported device and services types, enabling clients that recognize those types to immediately begin using the device.
What UPnP does when enabled on a router :
Enabling UPnP on a router will allow applications running on client devices like PCs to open inbound ports, without any intervention or approval from the user or network manager. This can be thought of as temporary inbound firewall rules being created on demand. This feature is typically used by P2P (Peer to Peer) applications like gaming and Windows Live Messenger.
Disadvantages of UPnP:
Security risk associated with enabling UPnP on the router, technically a worm or malware program could use this function to compromise security for the entire LAN.
Thus, it is recommended to set up port forwarding manually whenever possible, and leave UPnP disabled. However, in some cases dynamic port forwarding is required and manual port forwarding becomes impractical, leaving the user with no other option than to enable UPnP.
By default, NETGEAR home routers have UPnP enabled, while the business routers have it disabled.
Steps to be followed for enable or disable the UPnP:
1. Open a browser and type in http://www.routerlogin.com/ or http://192.168.1.1
2. Log in to the router. By default, user name is “admin” and the Password is “password”.
3. Click on Advanced at the top of the screen.
4. Click on Advanced Setup at the side of the screen, and then click UPnP.
5. Click the Turn UPnP On box to enable or disable UPnP.
6. The Portmap Table section of this screen also lists any UPnP temporary port forwarding that are currently active. None active in this screenshot:
