FW: Firewall-wizards digest, Vol 1 #41 - 2 msgs

[Adam Molaver <adam () molaver org>]

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Steve,

 I've had excellent luck with both the Linksys BEFSR-41, and the Dlink
DI-701.  The Linksys has three features that make it better than almost
all the other devices of this type (yes, even the Webramp et al @
$500-800).  Numero 1 - 4 port switch integrated.  If you've only got two,
three, or even 4 computers, you don't need an additional hub or switch. 
Numero 2 - Supports an entire class C of clients, no additional licensing
or costs.  That's 253 clients, where most of the other products start you
at 10 or 25.  Regardless of whether you would be bumping these limits, its
nice to know that artificial restriction isn't there.  And numero 3 - DMZ
host.  Some strange applications (Netmeeting/CUSee Me come to mind)
dynamically open ports from the server side back to the client.  Without a
specific H.323 proxy, using these applications behind NAT is not possible.
 The Linksys lets you specify a single host that all inbound requests on
unknown ports gets relayed to.  This functionality does not preclude the
use of the device for any other purpose, including relaying specific ports
to other (non-DMZ) hosts.

 Now the downside...  I had reliability problems with the box for almost a
month.  Simply powering it off and on solved them, but it was annoying.  I
upgraded the firmware probably 4 times during that period, solving little
things here and there.  This past Friday I installed the newest firmware
(1.34), and it appears to have solved whatever problem they had.  Not a
hiccup all weekend.  And to test it, I've been flood pinging a box
continuously.  That test caused every other firmware to die, usually
within a few hours.

 The Dlink doesn't have all those features, although it does have a CLI in
addition the GUI tool they provide for configuration (Linksys is
web-interface only).  Its not documented but telnet to port 333 of the
dlink, and a full featured configuration console is available.  Just
make sure you set a password, as it appears the default configuration
allows this connection on the WAN interface, with a blank password.  This
box has been rock solid, with not one lockup in about 3 months of use.  

 Both of them also now support PPPoE, which may or may not be important to
you - I'm using it on the Linksys, and it works as advertised.  Both
products highly recommended as SOHO firewalls.

ahm

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