Prevent Internet access whilst allowing LAN access

WeatherMan

WeatherMan

Active Member
Hi guys,

Just got a new HTPC up n running, it's running XP and not a great spec. I want it running as fast as possible so to display 1080p effectively.

I've just run through over 130 updates on XP and it's slowed down to a crawl, so I've decided to reformat and disable all updates.


This box is just going to be used to pull video content down from my gaming machine upstairs.

So, obviously I need LAN access to be able to do this, because of the security concerns of having an un-updated WinXP, I wan't to prevent incoming and outgoing internet access from this machine to the router.


What is the easiest way to make this happen?
 
Give the computer a static IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway. Just don't give it DNS addresses.
 
I don't really want to disable DHCP, as there's many users on my home network, 3 laptops, wii, 2 desktops, mobile phones, printer, TV blah blah.

I suppose I could keep the IP as dynamic and set a bad DNS, such that the HTPC cannot resolve domain names, but still access the LAN?

My concern isn't the PC talking out to the internet, it's a hacker getting in.

If the DNS was set wrong on the HTPC, could someone hacking the network still access it?
 
You have to remember that there are a ton of IP addresses it can assign to you. No reason to worry about running out of IP addresses by assigning one static IP address.

They'd still access it because it's on your network, yes. HAcking a home network is highly unlikely though.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
You have to remember that there are a ton of IP addresses it can assign to you. No reason to worry about running out of IP addresses by assigning one static IP address.

They'd still access it because it's on your network, yes. HAcking a home network is highly unlikely though.
Click to expand...

Ah wait, so I can set a static IP on my HTPC even though DHCP is running on the router, and still access the LAN? :)

I did not know that!

I will try that now, thanks :D
 
Good grief!

Big cock up on my part, I've just found out why the system was so slow!

One of my ram sticks was not clipped in properly! Just went into system properties and was shocked to see only 512MB ram displayed :P

I will try the updates again tonight, as I doubt I'll have any slowdowns if it was just to do with too little RAM, haha

If all goes well I'll get the machine fully updated and then won't really mind about the system being connected to the web :)

Thanks for the guidance though, I learned something new today :cool:

Time to get downloading these 130 updates again :rolleyes: :P
 
Realizing this thread is slightly aged:

You can also leave off the default gateway when you assign the static address. This would allow hosts to communicate with your HTPC on the local LAN but it wouldn't have a route to return traffic to the web.

I'd make sure your static assignment was outside of the range of the DHCP pool as well to avoid any potential lease conflicts.
 
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