The Identification page allows you to specify various name parameters for your FreshTomato device.

Router Name: Here, enter a nickname for your FreshTomato device for your own reference.

The router name will display on the Overview page and in the title of the router's web interface pages. This is not a TCP/IP hostname. It does not register the device or help resolve it on the network. The next field is for that.

Hostname: Here, you can specify the TCP/IP hostname of your FreshTomato device.

This name will be registered on an IP network for functions such as outgoing DHCP lease requests, local DNS resolution, and NetBIOS name resolution for SAMBA filesharing. It is also used extensively in the log, which can help with router identification if you have multiple routers reporting back to a single local log server.

Domain Name: This field sets the TLD (top-level domain) name of your router's internal DNS server. It defines a namespace for your LAN.

If you enter a name that conflicts with a registered TLD on the Internet, the local network will take priority (avoid using, “.com” or “.org”). For home networks, this should usually be set to something like “local” or “lan”. If this field is left blank, there will be no local DNS resolution of devices on the LAN except from devices that support/are running mDNS.

For example, if set Domain Name to “local”, Hostname to “Router”, and you have an IP camera on your LAN with hostname “Camera-32DA” (similar under “Name” on the router's Device List page). Typing “router.local” into your web browser would open your router's configuration page. Entering “camera-32da.local” would open your camera's webpage. And entering “\\Router” into Windows File Explorer would take you to a list of shared objects by your router's SAMBA server (if enabled).