Ethernet Adapter

Hi,

<i>Originally posted by kaspaas:
I believe there is an Ethernet adaptor for MyWireless.
Does it have NAT,firewalling etc?</i>

Doesn't seem that way. It's an ethernet cable that fits on to the modem (in place of the USB cable) which allows you to do PPPoE to your host computer. If you need firewalling and NAT, you'll have to get a Unix/Linux/FreeBSD box and set it up.

On the extreme side (and I really won't recommend this), get a Windows PC, <b>load a personal firewall</b> onto it, enable Internet Connection Sharing and run your other three machines behind it like that.

--deckert
 
Why won't you recommend it? I use ICS and a personal firewall and it works 100% with minimal setup. While I am very capable of setting up a linux box I just found it would take more time than what it was worth, with ICS I was done in 5 minutes. The personal firewalls available today are perfectly capable, even the freeware ones... or are you just a linux fanboy? [;)]
 
Deckert
Use Proxy+ on a machine with 2 lancards, 1 to your lan and the other to your modem. Works like a charm on adsl, don't see why it won't work on mywireless.
 
<i>Originally posted by Perdition
Why won't you recommend it? ....
... or are you just a linux fanboy? [;)]</i>

*tsk* *tsk*

Let's not get into a religious war :-)

You might call me a Linux fanboy, but by the same token you'd have to call me a MS fanboy and a FreeBSD fanboy because I use them all. Sort-of like using the right tool for the right job. It's just against <b>my</b> first principles to expose an MS machine to the 'net, no matter how good the personal firewall is.

And, of course, at home it doesn't make sense to me to dedicate an MS license to a machine that just sits there, being a firewall/NAT device. But I'm definitely biased, and I like to tinker, especially with QoS and stuff.

--deckert
 
Fair enough, I also believe in the right tool for the job. Both the Linux and MS camps have their pros and cons and I tend to get a bit ruffled if someone religiously supports either one without valid justification.

I submit that MS has had its share of security troubles over the past few years though linux has had its fair share too. In inexperienced hands all operating systems are inherently insecure.

Like yourself I like to tinker though I don't have much patience for network configuration anymore. I did it for 6 years and I'm tired of it. These days I take the route that involves the least amount of effort to set up, though I still take security very seriously and research all the products I use.

My previous post was mainly for the benefit of the forum members who do not have the inclination to play around with linux. MS provides ICS and a firewall in XP that does a decent job if set up correctly. XP SP-2 will beef up the XP firewall a lot more and I think it actually turns it on by default. This means that the average Joe will be well protected from most of the scumbags out there.

Anyway this has gone way off the original topic so forgive me, I was bored [;)]
 
Windows has all these colours.... thats why I bought it... [:p] [:D]

In any case, do you get the ethernet cable with the modem? or do you have to make your own?

Cause i'd rather connect my modem thru ethernet than usb cause of the potential lag issue raised in the other thread (then i'll test and send back data to you)

as soon as I have the modem... which would be today, or tomorrow, or 2 months from now (512kb package, haha, I own you guys!)
 
You have to buy the ethernet cable as an extra, it is a std RJ45 jack on one side and what looks like a non-standard connection to go into the MyWireless modem. You can get it from fastcomm at R150.00.
 
Perdition:

our thinking is the same then.

And a bit more OT: As soon as I get the cable I will measure it out and see if we can track down the makers fo the non-standard 10-pin connector. If it's a Molex connector or something similar we'll find it and I will post the specs here.

--deckert
 
On this I'm a firm believer of dedicated equipment for firewalling etc.

That is why I use on ADSL a Netgear 834 Modem/router. Not the best firewall there is, but it will keep out all but the must desparate cracker.

And best of all: It is out of the way, and not inviting to eager fingers.

South Africa needs World Class Broadband at World Competitive Prices.
 
Hmmm, won't you be able to use your ADSL netgear router as a router? you just plug your sentech modem in the ethernet thingy and bob is your cousin twice removed!
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The personal firewalls available today are perfectly capable, even the freeware ones...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Perfectly capable of being DoS'ed and bypassed, you mean?

mithrandi, i Ainil en-Balandor, a faer Ambar
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by mithrandi</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The personal firewalls available today are perfectly capable, even the freeware ones...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Perfectly capable of being DoS'ed and bypassed, you mean?

mithrandi, i Ainil en-Balandor, a faer Ambar
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Any ill configured firewall can be DoS'ed and/or bypassed. The main purpose of a personal firewall is to deter the casual hacker which is fine for 99% of home users. If you're being DoS'ed or someone is determined to get into your system then you've either pissed someone off or you have information they want, in which case by all means implement a superior firewall solution. 99% of home users don't have the time or need to fort knox their network.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Any ill configured firewall can be DoS'ed and/or bypassed. The main purpose of a personal firewall is to deter the casual hacker which is fine for 99% of home users. If you're being DoS'ed or someone is determined to get into your system then you've either pissed someone off or you have information they want, in which case by all means implement a superior firewall solution. 99% of home users don't have the time or need to fort knox their network.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I'm not talking about badly configured firewalls. I'm talking about how 99% of windows firewalls etc. have inherent vulnerabilities which allow attackers to take over your system, or failing that, DoS it. Sure, these get fixed eventually, but new ones are popping up all the time. Most of the attacks can be carried out by any random script kiddie that reads Bugtraq or visits Packetstorm; and there's nothing you can do about it, because these products are not Free or Open Source software. I would honestly say you're probably better off NOT using a firewall, and just closing off external access completely.

mithrandi, i Ainil en-Balandor, a faer Ambar
 
How do you shut off external access completely and still use all your internet related programs normally? It's better to have some protection (even if not perfect) than no protection at all. On the topic of open source, sure you could fix a vulnerability yourself though in the grand scheme of things how many people have the ability to do this? Most people who use linux don't keep track of every vulnerability and patch their system the second a vulnerability is released, so you can't really argue that open source is any safer than proprietary software.

Anyway I'm done on this issue, you have your opinion and I have mine.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">How do you shut off external access completely and still use all your internet related programs normally?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
It's called "NAT". Hiding behind a firewall/gateway doing NAT isn't a perfect solution, but it's far superior to almost any Windows-based firewall solution.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">It's better to have some protection (even if not perfect) than no protection at all. On the topic of open source, sure you could fix a vulnerability yourself though in the grand scheme of things how many people have the ability to do this?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
A small minority; this number is still often larger than the number of people that have the ability to fix vulnerabilities in propritary software, and you don't have to be a member of this minority to benefit from their skills.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Most people who use linux don't keep track of every vulnerability and patch their system the second a vulnerability is released, so you can't really argue that open source is any safer than proprietary software.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
What the hell is there to "keep track of"? For example, I run Debian. To upgrade my system, I perform the following commands:
Code: 
aptitude update
aptitude upgrade
and now I have the latest security patches applied. There's nothing to "keep track of" or "patch". In Gentoo, you would do something like:
Code: 
emerge sync
emerge -u world
If you choose to use a distribution with a mediocre/useless/nonexistent package management system, then you had better know what you are doing; if not, then you're just being stupid.

Also, compare this to Windows, where you have to run around trying to find updates for all of your software all over the show.

mithrandi, i Ainil en-Balandor, a faer Ambar
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by mithrandi</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">How do you shut off external access completely and still use all your internet related programs normally?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
It's called "NAT". Hiding behind a firewall/gateway doing NAT isn't a perfect solution, but it's far superior to almost any Windows-based firewall solution.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Tottaly agree with you Mith, a cheap P2 350 with a basic linux firewall using NAT is more than sufficient and 10 times better than running a personal firewall on you desktop. At least if you get DoS'd it's only the firewall and not your desktop that you work on that gets a beating.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> Dude get over it, not everyone is going to use linux .... All you can do is accept.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
"Dude", you need to see an optometrist; I never once said that everyone should use Linux, or even asked anyone to use Linux. I'm merely pointing out that for certain tasks it is clearly superior to anything the Windows world has to offer. If you choose to use MS junk, that's your funeral, I couldn't care less. Posting smart aleck comments like this doesn't do anyone any good.

mithrandi, i Ainil en-Balandor, a faer Ambar
 
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