How do I Disable the Netgear Router Firewall?

In most cases, disabling the firewall on your Netgear router is a really bad idea. In fact, it is such a bad idea that Netgear doesn't even make a button in their GUI that does this.


Nevertheless, we can effectively disable a Netgear router firewall just by adding a rule or two to the firewall configuration.

Netgear Router Firewall Default Rules
Netgear devices with firewalls have two default rules:

Outbound Services: Allow all access from the inside to the outside.
Inbound Services: Block all access from the outside to the inside, except responses to requests from the inside.
How to Disable the Netgear Router Firewall
To disable the Netgear Router Firewall, all we need to do is to add a new rule that allows all access from the outside to the inside.

To do this, type the router's address (the default is either 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1) in your Web browser

Enter your username and password in the prompt that appears. The default username is admin and the default password is password.

From the main menu, choose Security -> Rules

Add a new rule for Inbound Services with a service name of "ANY" and an action of "ALLOW always."

Then, move your new rule up until it is the first rule in the Inbound Services section.

Finally, make certain that this rule is enabled by checking the Enable column.

Your Netgear Router firewall is now disabled and your internal network is now completely unprotected and open to attack from the Internet.