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XII. Firewall/Security Features

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Disabling LAN ports on DrayTek Routers

Products:
Vigor 2620Ln
Vigor 2760
Vigor 2762
Vigor 2763
Show all

Keywords:
disable port
lan ports
lan switch

It is possible to physically disable the LAN ports on some DrayTek routers, which can be used along with the Bind IP to MAC facility to increase security on a network. When a port is disabled, the port will be completely inactive and the LEDs will not light when a device is plugged into it.

When disabling ports, it's recommended to take a configuration backup from the router before proceeding - if all ports are disabled, it will not be possible to access the router locally and if there is no way to access the router remotely, then it would be necessary to factory reset the router to regain access to the router.

Current Router Models

DrayTek's current routers, including the Vigor 2865 and Vigor 2862 series feature [Panel Control], which allows the router's LAN ports, LEDs, buttons and USB ports to be disabled. This can be used to enhance security of the router and ensure it can continue to operate if tampered with, for example disabling the Factory Reset button.

Notice for Vigor 2962 and Vigor 3910 users - The Panel Control feature is unavailable on these router models.

We recommend to double check which port is to be disabled before proceeding, to check that go to the [Diagnostics] > [ARP Cache Table] and look at the Port column on the right of the table. The port that each LAN device is connected to will be listed here, there can be more than one device on each port if there's a switch or access point connected to that port.

To use the Panel Control feature, log in to the router's web interface and go to [System Maintenance] > [Panel Control]. From there, click on the LAN Ports tab to control LAN port operation:

disable2865lan1

To disable a port, uncheck the Enable tickbox for that port. The router will display a warning immediately when unchecking any LAN port, to confirm the operation:

disable2865lan2

Click OK for the message box and the LAN port checkbox will now be unchecked. To apply the change, click OK on the Panel Control menu:

disable2865lan4

Wait a few seconds for the router to apply the change, then the LAN port will show "---" as its status to indicate that it's disabled, instead of "Link Up" / "Link Down".

To re-enable the LAN port, simply re-tick the tickbox and click OK.

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First Published: 09/04/2015
Last Updated: 07/02/2022