19.2 Network connections overview
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## 19.2 Network connections overview

In Status → Connections, all the network connections which can be detected by WinRoute include the following:

- client connections to the Internet through WinRoute

- connections from the host on which WinRoute is running

- connections from other hosts to services provided by the host with WinRoute

- connections performed by clients within the Internet that are mapped to services running in LAN

WinRoute administrators are allowed to close any of the active connections.

Note:

1. Connections among local clients will not be detected nor displayed by WinRoute.

2. UDP protocol is also called connectionless protocol. This protocol does not perform any connection. The communication is performed through individual messages (so-called datagrams). Periodic data exchange is monitored in this case.

Figure 19.7. Overview of all connections established via WinRoute

One connection is represented by each line of the Connections window. These are network connections, not user connections (each client program can occupy more than one connection at a given moment).

The columns contain the following information:

Traffic rule

  Name of the WinRoute traffic rule (see chapter 7 Traffic Policy) by which the connection was allowed.

Service

  Name of transmitted service (if such service is defined in WinRoute — see chapter 14.3 Services). If the service is not defined in WinRoute, the corresponding port number and protocol will be displayed instead (e.g. 5004/UDP).

Source, Destination

  IP address of the source (the connection initiator) and of the destination. If there is an appropriate reverse record in DNS, the IP address will be substituted with the DNS name.

The following columns are hidden by default. They can be enabled through the Modify columns dialog opened from the context menu (for details, see chapter 3.2 View Settings).

Source port, Destination port

  Ports used for the particular connection.

Protocol

  Communication protocol (TCP or UDP)

Timeout

  Time left until automatic disconnection. The countdown starts when data traffic stops. Each new data packet sets the counter to zero.

Rx, Tx

  Total size of data received (Rx) or transmitted (Tx) during the connection (in kilobytes). Received data means the data transferred from Source to Destination, transmitted data means the opposite.

Info

  An informational text describing the connection (e.g. about the protocol inspector applied to the connection).

Information in Connections is refreshed automatically within a user defined interval or the Refresh button can be used for manual refreshing.

### Options of the Connections Dialog

The following options are available below the list of connections:

- Hide local connections — connections from or/and to the WinRoute host will not be displayed in the Connections window.

  This option only makes the list better-arranged and distinguishes connections of other hosts in the local network from the WinRoute host's connections.

- Show DNS names — this option displays DNS names instead of IP addresses. If a DNS name is not resolved for a certain connection, the IP address will be displayed.

Right-click on the Connections window (on the connection selected) to view a context menu including the following options:

Figure 19.8. Context menu for Connections

Kill connection

  Use this option to finish selected connection immediately (in case of UDP connections all following datagrams will be dropped).

  Note: This option is active only if the context menu has been called by right-clicking on a particular connection. If called up by right-clicking in the Connections window (with no connection selected), the option is inactive.

Refresh

  This option will refresh the information in the Connections window immediately. This function is equal to the function of the Refresh button at the bottom of the window.

Auto refresh

  Settings for automatic refreshing of the information in the Connections window. Information can be refreshed in the interval from 5 seconds up to 1 minute or the auto refresh function can be switched off (No refresh).

Manage Columns

  By choosing this option you can select which columns will be displayed in the Connections window (see chapter 3.2 View Settings).

### Color Settings

Clicking on the Colors button displays the color settings dialog to define colors for each connection:

Figure 19.9. Connection colors settings

For each item either a color or the Default option can be chosen. Default colors are set in the operating system (the common setting for default colors is black font and white background).

Font Color

  - Active connections — connections with currently active data traffic

  - Inactive connections — TCP connections which have been closed but 2 minutes after they were killed they are still kept active — to avoid repeated packet mishandling)

Background Color

  - Local connections — connections where an IP address of the host with WinRoute is either source or destination

  - Inbound connections — connections from the Internet to the local network (allowed by firewall)

  - Outbound connections — connections from the local network to the Internet

  Note: Incoming and outgoing connections are distinguished by detection of direction of IP addresses — “out” (SNAT) or “in” (DNAT). For details, refer to chapter 7 Traffic Policy.

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