What home Firewall are you using?

[Wraythe]

For the past 10 years, I've been using a Cisco PIX501 firewall. Last week I upgraded to IPCop (ipcop.org) which is using a modified version of Linux iptables. So far I've been very impressed :wink:

What firewall are you using to protect your home network from the bad guys?

 

[jond]

At home I'm just running the free verizon router/firewall/switch/AP.
Are you doing anything cool with the ipcop?
One thing I would like to have is VPN access to home from my android and laptop.

 

[Nick675]

Build your own smoothwall.org it is proven to be faster and more secure than even Cisco. Can also add other cool mods. Nice web layout too. Download vmware player and check it out

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[robr]

Why does anybody really need anything more than their router? All your PCs are NATted behind the router and nothing from the outside can get to your stuff on the inside unless you start forwarding ports.

I use a Draytek router FWIW. Blows away all the consumer crap out there (Netgear, D-Link, Linksys..... even the DD-WRT & Tomato stuff) for not much more $$$.

 

[kookoo4nsx]

Does the draytek router offer increased range? I currently have a cisco router that brighthouse supplied and the wireless range is pathetic at my home!

Is is advisable to buy a used draytek to save a few bucks?

 

[robr]

Does the draytek router offer increased range? I currently have a cisco router that brighthouse supplied and the wireless range is pathetic at my home!

Is is advisable to buy a used draytek to save a few bucks?

I have a hard time answering that because at my home it's decent, no complaints. I have a client with one that gets about 1/5th mile range on the same model. It's in an old brick mill building (no windows in that room) and he still gets a signal when he walks down the road to the supermarket and is inside the supermarket. This is a company of about 50 employees and he RAVES about how amazing the wireless is. I wanted to 'upgrade' him to a Fortinet to accomplish some things he wanted to do with the network and he refuses to let me replace his Draytek because of the wireless on it. So......... I don't know if his is unusual or mine is .

If you can find a used current model I wouldn't have an issue going that route. I wouldn't buy a model that's no longer made.

 

[MoreRPMs]

Isn't increased radiation exposure which would naturally occur with a "stronger" router a big drawback?

 

[robr]

you are surrounded by wifi and cell signals wherever you go. while there have been all sorts of people screaming cell phones will cause a cauliflower like growth to burst forth from your ear, nobody that i'm aware of has ever made the claim that wifi is dangerous. and a router with strong wifi im sure is a hell of a lot weaker than all the commercial wifi hotspots around offices and shopping malls.

 

[MoreRPMs]

I'm sure you've run into people like I have that warn of the dangers of radiation. It does make me think, especially when from one's residence you can potentially gain access to multiple router signals, even ones from several hundred feet away. Does seem like we're being bombarded with radiation (however small) wherever we sit, stand, sleep. To most it's a non-issue, and to to others it's definitely a bit disconcerting.

 

[Wraythe]

Build your own smoothwall.org

Smoothwall ( smoothwall.org ) and IPCop (ipcop.org) are hardened based Linux firewalls. Both Firewalls are very easy to install, configure and manage.

The reason I'm using a Linux based firewall is: Security & Scalability

The following URL's will give a brief history on both firewalls:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPCop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmoothWall

 

[Wraythe]

Why does anybody really need anything more than their router? All your PCs are NATted behind the router and nothing from the outside can get to your stuff on the inside unless you start forwarding ports.

In addition to NAT (network address translation), you really need to make sure your home router/firewall has SPI (stateful packet inspection).

@RobR
If I recall correctly you worked for DEC. You will be proud to hear I'm running IPCop on an old school x86 DEC 1000 server :biggrin:

 

[Wraythe]

Are you doing anything cool with the ipcop?
One thing I would like to have is VPN access to home from my android and laptop.

Yes. I wanted isolated networks for my workstations, WIFI devices & DMZ servers. Setting up VPN access is easy using IPCop

 

[robr]

In addition to NAT (network address translation), you really need to make sure your home router/firewall has SPI (stateful packet inspection).

@RobR
If I recall correctly you worked for DEC. You will be proud to hear I'm running IPCop on an old school x86 DEC 1000 server :biggrin:

I did and that's old school! Though still seems like overkill to me for home use

 

[HIJACKER]

At home I'm just running the free verizon router/firewall/switch/AP.
Are you doing anything cool with the ipcop?
One thing I would like to have is VPN access to home from my android and laptop.

Easily done. You just need to make a configuration change on the Verizon Router to allow port forwarding on the specific port and get whichever VPN client installed that you'd like to use.

 

[robr]

the draytek has a built in vpn server. pretty easy to set up the most basic type of vpn.