How do you block a port using Hub 3

[Julieat]

I just want to block a single port on Hub3  - all users/all outgoing ip etc.

Loads of examples on port forwarding but nothing on how to block altogether

if I create a rule - say all source Ip; all destination IP; udp/tcp; source port 25:25; destination port 25:25 - should this do it?

Does enable enable this rule or enable the port?

[spgray]

what are you trying to achieve?
all incoming ports are blocked by default unless you manually open it.

[Julieat]

I would like to block a port.

By blocking the port no one could use this port.

Nothing complicated -

if you come on my network and try to use this port it would be blocked,

if you load a program on my computer and it tries to use this port - it will be blocked 

if you load an app on my phone and it tries to use this port - it will be blocked 

if you load an app on my smart TV and it tries to use this port - it will be blocked

if you load an app on my ipad and it tries to use this port - it will be blocked 

By blocked, it means any network traffic trying to use this port won't get through  

[jem101 · Accepted solution]

@Julieat if you are trying to block specific outgoing traffic then I’m afraid you can’t - the VM hubs have no means of doing this.

The port forwarding is for unsolicited incoming traffic only and enabling does enable the rule.

The only way you can do this is to put the hub into modem mode and get your own router which has more sophisticated traffic management and control.

[spgray]

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@Julieat wrote:

I would like to block a port.

By blocking the port no one could use this port.

Nothing complicated -

if you come on my network and try to use this port it would be blocked,

if you load a program on my computer and it tries to use this port - it will be blocked 

if you load an app on my phone and it tries to use this port - it will be blocked 

if you load an app on my smart TV and it tries to use this port - it will be blocked

if you load an app on my ipad and it tries to use this port - it will be blocked 

By blocked, it means any network traffic trying to use this port won't get through  

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yes i know what blocked means thankyou!, i was trying to understand what you were trying to do.
and from your explanation you can't do what you want to do, not with a virgin hub anyway.

why you would want to do that though is beyond me.
what specifically are you trying to block access to?

[Julieat]

Thank you jem101.

It seems such a normal basic requirement, really surprised it isn't possible

[Anonymous]

is not basic at all. your talking about a firewall not a router. Not many routers will allow this.

[Julieat]

well if you have an app that for example broadcasts using port 25 then your IP address could be flagged as spam generating so your IP gets listed on the pbl or sbl or css or even xbl.

If your children use certain gaming apps - you could block their ports so they can still do homework but not use the games etc.

Basically port blocking is a very basic and simple security measure.

[Julieat]

The hub 3 has a firewall integrated - that's the advertising anyhow, it also has firewall settings options, port forwarding and other things that one would normally associate with a firewall.

I would have expected port blocking to be part of the firewall options ahead of some of the options that are actually in there 

[jem101]

@Julieat yes you are completely right, blocking port 25 would mitigate against finding yourself on one of the blocklists - but it can be argued, (and I have) that at least this provides a sort of early warning that you have something malicious on your network - OK you're not sending out spam but what else might the malware be doing with your data?

Technically a firewall and router are two separate things, but most ISP provided 'hubs' and even large scale enterprise-class devices usually do both roles (and some don't make a very good job of either)! ISP provided devices are usually built to a lowest possible cost and outgoing traffic management is probably seen as a really niche requirement.

John