I a just going through the motions of learning to use my new router.
I noticed that there are settings in the Firewall area of the browser interface (see attached image - router settings.gif).

Where are these located in the winbox settings? I can't seem to find their equivalent.

and could you clarify for me what the "protect router" and "protect LAN" settings do exactly?

Thanks.

just do check the boxes and apply for one interface, then go to IP firewall via winbox and check the Filter and NAT tab. you are able to see what kind of rules added(these have a comment "added by webbox" >> in V4.x). You need to have basic knowledge of TCP / IP and Network to understand that rules

BTW - Webfig in 5.x is far more sophisticated. The one in 4.x is a bit skeletal.

From the picture I see you are running an ancient version of RouterOS. start by upgrading to v5.8

http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Upgrading_RouterOS

From the picture I see you are running an ancient version of RouterOS. start by upgrading to v5.8

http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Upgrading_RouterOS

Ancient? hahah
Thats's right

Yep, I knew I needed to do that (as per my signature - which I need to change because practically the next day 5.8 came out).

I am coming off of big box store routers and trying to get something with a little more capability. A friend set this up for me a number of months ago and I am just getting around to it now which is why it is probably so far out of date.

So I figured I do a bunch of reading, and do a little tinkering to get the lay of the land before upgrading (and screwing up what ever he did to set it up).

This is where I saw a couple of these settings and though I'd ask about them.

I am not a networking guru, but I have used things like DDWRT and Tomato, but found that I'd like to work with some hardware that had a little more horsepower under the hood (hardware wise), and here I am.

This is a pretty big leap forward for me and I am doing as much reading as I can so as not to have to be spoon feed.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

I'll do the upgrade shortly so that I can ask more relevant questions.

Cheers.

Good luck my friend!