Hardware Firewall

MDR

I have just ordered my girlfriend Ripware, aren't I the generous boyfriend,
(and ex-IOFFL committee member), thing is I don't want all this going wrong,
therefore I want her nice and safe behind a hardware firewall, I presume
the Ripwave reciever doesn't have one built in ?

Can anyone recommend one that I can use, that is reasonably priced, am still
smarting from the €100 install.?

Cheers

Saruman

Eh what?? The ripwave thing as far as i know is just a USB device.. plugs right in to your PC which means you cant use any type of H/W firewall technology that i am aware of.

See here: http://www.irishbroadband.ie/htmdocs/our_products/security.htm
They say they can install a firewall.. Dont know if that covers ripwave or even if they just mean software... Call them and ask them what type of firewall they mean.. then dont buy it... then we can find out what you need.

Ciaran500

Saruman wrote:

Eh what?? The ripwave thing as far as i know is just a USB device.. plugs right in to your PC which means you cant use any type of H/W firewall technology that i am aware of.

Ripwave comes as USB or ethernet.

MDR

there was no USB option, just ethernet was all.

Saruman

Oh if it works over ethernet then your laughing!! Just make sure you dont use USB.
Theoretically you should have some static IP addresses. One for the line, one for the Ripwave box and one for the firwall.. Its not necessary though you can get away without it.

Then again... I dont know enough about Ripwave to say for certain.
I installed a firewall on the breeze product at a company, well i think it was breeze.. it looked just like a black AC adapter to me Anyway it worked fine and i think you get a static IP with that... No good for VPN but i doubt you need to have that set up at home.

Anyway firewalls are expensive... how cheap do you mean?? They are usually more expensive than ADSL routers.. a lot more expensive...

Capt'n Midnight

For that budget you can either get an old PC running as a firewall or a small router (DSL / wireless etc)

Don't forget to harden the PC too. - firewalls don't stop viruses or malware

bk

Any of the routers on the following page should have at least a basic firewall:
http://www.dsl-warehouse.ie/Category.asp?PcatIDL1=2&CatID=21&l=2&CnL1=NTL/Telewest&CnL2=Cable%20Routers

See here for versions with wifi:
http://www.dsl-warehouse.ie/Category.asp?PcatIDL1=2&CatID=20&l=2&CnL1=NTL/Telewest&CnL2=Wireless%20Cable%20Routers

The important point is that they need to have a WAN port and NO modem built in.

SachaJ

I just ordered myself a DrayTek Vigor 2900V. Seems to have above average security, and loads of features, including a DMZ and DHCP server. I opted for the VOIP version of the Vigor 2900 series.

You can get the normal Vigor 2900 for about €150 off ebay. I payed €200 for the 2900V, including postage from ebay (Germany).

Went for the Draytek on the recommendation of another board user.

CyberGhost

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

For that budget you can either get an old PC running as a firewall or a small router (DSL / wireless etc)

old pc running as a firewall? interesting, interesting, are there any firewalls that will run on an pc(like a dedicated firewall, that runs without an os)?

bk

SachaJ wrote:

Went for the Draytek on the recommendation of another board user.

That was probably me, I'm a big fan of Draytek, however it is probably overkill for MDR's needs. One of the routers for €50 is probably sufficient for his GF.

PixelTrawler

MDR wrote:

I have just ordered my girlfriend Ripware, aren't I the generous boyfriend,
(and ex-IOFFL committee member), thing is I don't want all this going wrong,
therefore I want her nice and safe behind a hardware firewall, I presume
the Ripwave reciever doesn't have one built in ?

Can anyone recommend one that I can use, that is reasonably priced, am still
smarting from the €100 install.?

Cheers

i have a router with a hardware firewall, but i also run sygate personal firewall, microsoft antispyware and "anitvir" (german software - google it) antivirus software so you could set them up - all free

bk

CyberGhost wrote:

old pc running as a firewall? interesting, interesting, are there any firewalls that will run on an pc(like a dedicated firewall, that runs without an os)?

Sort of, SmoothWall Express is a firewall that runs on a very cut down and hardend Linux OS.

The OS is very cut down, there is no GUI etc, you configure it through a web interface, and the OS comes with bear minimum kernel and a few networking oriented apps like Squid proxy, so it will run on really old machines.

http://www.smoothwall.org

stiofanD

CyberGhost wrote:

old pc running as a firewall? interesting, interesting, are there any firewalls that will run on an pc(like a dedicated firewall, that runs without an os)?

Have a look at these sites:

Devil Linux is a hardened Linux distribution that runs entirely from a CD-ROM - no hard drive needed. It requires the use of a CDROM and a write-protected floppy. The CDROM provides the operating system, and the floppy provides the configuration information.

Alternatively, look at Floppy firewall which does something similar, but its simpler and runs from a single floppy!!!

Capt'n Midnight

CyberGhost wrote:

old pc running as a firewall? interesting, interesting, are there any firewalls that will run on an pc(like a dedicated firewall, that runs without an os)?

I use gnatbox lite - upto 2 pc's or 5 if you register - runs from a floppy based on BSD - web managable - a 486 or better will be fine - you can remove all the other drives from the PC to save power - this is important because the cost of electricity for a PC running 24/7 would be more than a low power NAT router.

CyberGhost

hey Thanks guys! I will look into to it.

TimTim

http://m0n0.ch/wall/

Same idea but based on FreeBSD

Redshift

Lots of routers now come with a true hardware firewall while many others have just NAT firewalling while it does offer reasonable protection it is really just a side affect of the fact that your PC itself doesn't have a public IP address because it is held by the router which forwards packets to your PC's private IP. A true Hardware firewall will have what is called Stateful Packet Inspection which is much more advanced and effective.

brav

ive been using smoothwall on a 10year old machine here, with ripwave ethernet. no problems so far(ive had this set up for 6ish months i think, always on)

http://smoothwall.org/

very powerfull free firewall

Sponge Bob

MDR

If you love the woman buy her a Cisco PIX 505 Hardware Firewall !