idxadsl
New Member
I'm interesting find out how people are securing their ADSL connections currently. Software versus Hardware on Linux versus Microsoft. Please advise.
ADSL@IDXONLINE
ADSL@IDXONLINE
-
Join the MyBroadband community
South Africa’s biggest forum. Discuss, discover, and connect with thousands of members.
-
Question of the Day: What's the most interesting small town you've visited in South Africa?
Securing ADSL
- Thread starter idxadsl
- Start date
jfrancis
Member
My wife & sons have Win XP machines & use Zonealarm, Ad-aware and Norton Antivirus. My Linux machine acts as a squid proxy with IPTables firewall configured with FWBuilder. I use FreeSwan to terminate IPSEC tunnels to clients. That's about as much as I'm prepared to disclose...[8D]
idxadsl
New Member
Pretty clued up from the sounds of things. What about folk that aren't so technical that need simple easy plug & play solutions?
ADSL@IDXONLINE
ADSL@IDXONLINE
kaspaas
Expert Member
I believe it is better to use an ADSLmodem/router/firewall combination rather than a modem straight onto a PC - even for a stand alone unit. They are made to protect the network behind them (or rather, they are supposed to leave the factory in such a state)
It costs a few R100's extra, but routers/firewalls are dedicated pieces of equipment that can in general be configured by novices to keep PC's save.
Using a modem straight into a PC requires the PC user to activate a firewall (not too difficult) and keep it safe over time (difficult due to viruses and other exploits).
Also hardware routers adds the start of a home network (if you buy one including a few LAN ports).
In the office, I use my Netgear DG814 to block a number of nuisance sites where staff waste time during office hours. At home parents can block where they don't want kids to go
The Netgear DG814 is also so frienly to mail me regular reports of which sites were accessed and which were blocked.
Nice features.
I'm sure many other modems/routers have similar functions - and it will pay to do your homework very well to get the best value for money in your situation.
Just a note: The Telkom Router I tested (and rejected) had only a 10MBit/s LAN port. I don't know where they got hold of such slow ports because the 10/100 combinations is already long on the market. Beware that this could reduce the speed of a total network under some conditions of "ancient equipment" present on the network. Should not happen often though.
It costs a few R100's extra, but routers/firewalls are dedicated pieces of equipment that can in general be configured by novices to keep PC's save.
Using a modem straight into a PC requires the PC user to activate a firewall (not too difficult) and keep it safe over time (difficult due to viruses and other exploits).
Also hardware routers adds the start of a home network (if you buy one including a few LAN ports).
In the office, I use my Netgear DG814 to block a number of nuisance sites where staff waste time during office hours. At home parents can block where they don't want kids to go
The Netgear DG814 is also so frienly to mail me regular reports of which sites were accessed and which were blocked.
Nice features.
I'm sure many other modems/routers have similar functions - and it will pay to do your homework very well to get the best value for money in your situation.
Just a note: The Telkom Router I tested (and rejected) had only a 10MBit/s LAN port. I don't know where they got hold of such slow ports because the 10/100 combinations is already long on the market. Beware that this could reduce the speed of a total network under some conditions of "ancient equipment" present on the network. Should not happen often though.
kaspaas
Expert Member
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by kaspaas</i>
<br />I believe it is better to use an ADSLmodem/router/firewall combination rather than a modem straight onto a PC - even for a stand alone unit. They are made to protect the network behind them (or rather, they are supposed to leave the factory in such a state)
It costs a few R100's extra, but routers/firewalls are dedicated pieces of equipment that can in general be configured by novices to keep PC's save.
Using a modem straight into a PC requires the PC user to activate a firewall (not too difficult) and keep it safe over time (difficult due to viruses and other exploits).
Also hardware routers adds the start of a home network (if you buy one including a few LAN ports).
In the office, I use my Netgear DG814 to block a number of nuisance sites where staff waste time during office hours. At home parents can block where they don't want kids to go
The Netgear DG814 is also so frienly to mail me regular reports of which sites were accessed and which were blocked.
Nice features.
I'm sure many other modems/routers have similar functions - and it will pay to do your homework very well to get the best value for money in your situation.
Unless you have the time and the know-how, stay away from the Linux option (I use Linux for servers and workstations, but prefer the "dedicated hardware box" modem/router/firwall option. Maybe someday if I have lots of spare time, I will setup a Linux box to do bandwidth control etc etc etc.
Just a note: The Telkom Router I tested (and rejected) had only a 10MBit/s LAN port. I don't know where they got hold of such slow ports because the 10/100 combinations is already long on the market. Beware that this could reduce the speed of a total network under some conditions of "ancient equipment" present on the network. Should not happen often though.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
<br />I believe it is better to use an ADSLmodem/router/firewall combination rather than a modem straight onto a PC - even for a stand alone unit. They are made to protect the network behind them (or rather, they are supposed to leave the factory in such a state)
It costs a few R100's extra, but routers/firewalls are dedicated pieces of equipment that can in general be configured by novices to keep PC's save.
Using a modem straight into a PC requires the PC user to activate a firewall (not too difficult) and keep it safe over time (difficult due to viruses and other exploits).
Also hardware routers adds the start of a home network (if you buy one including a few LAN ports).
In the office, I use my Netgear DG814 to block a number of nuisance sites where staff waste time during office hours. At home parents can block where they don't want kids to go
The Netgear DG814 is also so frienly to mail me regular reports of which sites were accessed and which were blocked.
Nice features.
I'm sure many other modems/routers have similar functions - and it will pay to do your homework very well to get the best value for money in your situation.
Unless you have the time and the know-how, stay away from the Linux option (I use Linux for servers and workstations, but prefer the "dedicated hardware box" modem/router/firwall option. Maybe someday if I have lots of spare time, I will setup a Linux box to do bandwidth control etc etc etc.
Just a note: The Telkom Router I tested (and rejected) had only a 10MBit/s LAN port. I don't know where they got hold of such slow ports because the 10/100 combinations is already long on the market. Beware that this could reduce the speed of a total network under some conditions of "ancient equipment" present on the network. Should not happen often though.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">