Is there a 'best of breed' SOHO NAT raouter?

[tanstafl]

I suspect a true consensus doesn't exist (who would be the arbiter?).
But I would appreciate some personal preferences and reasons to help
me consider the choices.

I currently have an old Dlink 604 hooked up to a Charter Cable modem.
I will soon be installing an AT&T DSL line/modem as an alternate for
backup, but if Charter doesn't clean up it's act, DSL will eventually
be primary/only. A nice feature would be dual WAN ports for the cable
& DSL connections that can be explicitly chosen via Web configuration
(I would never want to try simultaneous operation).

Functions I need to have are at least 4 FE or Gbe ports, full port
auto negotiation (I now have 2 Gbe PCs and 1 FE - a Gbe NAS device
will follow later. Wired connections only - I have a touch of Luddite
in me :-) I need to drill a NAT hole for 1 VPN.

I'm not focused strictly on the $40 cookie cutter whiz-bang line of
firewalls. Higher cost is OK as long as it buys something. TIA




----
Pete Gebel pfgebel(deletethis)@crisperiodcom
Have the best day possible - all things considered

[Leythos]

In article <pqqjj4tv6v5dmsb5ccv6bvs58j0hje8d7o@4ax.com>, me@mine.xxz
says...
> I suspect a true consensus doesn't exist (who would be the arbiter?).
> But I would appreciate some personal preferences and reasons to help
> me consider the choices.
>
> I currently have an old Dlink 604 hooked up to a Charter Cable modem.
> I will soon be installing an AT&T DSL line/modem as an alternate for
> backup, but if Charter doesn't clean up it's act, DSL will eventually
> be primary/only. A nice feature would be dual WAN ports for the cable
> & DSL connections that can be explicitly chosen via Web configuration
> (I would never want to try simultaneous operation).
>
> Functions I need to have are at least 4 FE or Gbe ports, full port
> auto negotiation (I now have 2 Gbe PCs and 1 FE - a Gbe NAS device
> will follow later. Wired connections only - I have a touch of Luddite
> in me :-) I need to drill a NAT hole for 1 VPN.
>
> I'm not focused strictly on the $40 cookie cutter whiz-bang line of
> firewalls. Higher cost is OK as long as it buys something. TIA

Why not just purchase a cheap GB network switch for under $100 and then
purchase the firewall of your choice.


--
- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

[tanstafl]

On Sat, 6 Dec 2008 05:31:35 -0500, Leythos <spam999free@rrohio.com>
wrote:

>In article <pqqjj4tv6v5dmsb5ccv6bvs58j0hje8d7o@4ax.com>, me@mine.xxz
>says...
>> I suspect a true consensus doesn't exist (who would be the arbiter?).
>> But I would appreciate some personal preferences and reasons to help
>> me consider the choices.
>>
>> I currently have an old Dlink 604 hooked up to a Charter Cable modem.
>> I will soon be installing an AT&T DSL line/modem as an alternate for
>> backup, but if Charter doesn't clean up it's act, DSL will eventually
>> be primary/only. A nice feature would be dual WAN ports for the cable
>> & DSL connections that can be explicitly chosen via Web configuration
>> (I would never want to try simultaneous operation).
>>
>> Functions I need to have are at least 4 FE or Gbe ports, full port
>> auto negotiation (I now have 2 Gbe PCs and 1 FE - a Gbe NAS device
>> will follow later. Wired connections only - I have a touch of Luddite
>> in me :-) I need to drill a NAT hole for 1 VPN.
>>
>> I'm not focused strictly on the $40 cookie cutter whiz-bang line of
>> firewalls. Higher cost is OK as long as it buys something. TIA
>
>Why not just purchase a cheap GB network switch for under $100 and then
>purchase the firewall of your choice.

Choosing the firewall is the point of the post :-) I suspect most
current boxes have 4 FE/Gbe ports standard - which covers my short
term future needs. If a good 'wall comes with 8 ports, all the
better. If not I can add that switch if/when I need it. I won't
really need Gbe capability until I get a NAS device next year. Just
trying to ascertain whether I should get a more capable device. I
generally feel uneasy using Kmart level commodity gear and now is a
good time for me to upgrade if its warranted.
----
Pete Gebel pfgebel(deletethis)@crisperiodcom
Have the best day possible - all things considered

[Leythos]

In article <hrmkj410agdoenmjbmgkan6c7t8vapjj7k@4ax.com>, me@mine.xxz
says...
>
> On Sat, 6 Dec 2008 05:31:35 -0500, Leythos <spam999free@rrohio.com>
> wrote:
>
> >In article <pqqjj4tv6v5dmsb5ccv6bvs58j0hje8d7o@4ax.com>, me@mine.xxz
> >says...
> >> I suspect a true consensus doesn't exist (who would be the arbiter?).
> >> But I would appreciate some personal preferences and reasons to help
> >> me consider the choices.
> >>
> >> I currently have an old Dlink 604 hooked up to a Charter Cable modem.
> >> I will soon be installing an AT&T DSL line/modem as an alternate for
> >> backup, but if Charter doesn't clean up it's act, DSL will eventually
> >> be primary/only. A nice feature would be dual WAN ports for the cable
> >> & DSL connections that can be explicitly chosen via Web configuration
> >> (I would never want to try simultaneous operation).
> >>
> >> Functions I need to have are at least 4 FE or Gbe ports, full port
> >> auto negotiation (I now have 2 Gbe PCs and 1 FE - a Gbe NAS device
> >> will follow later. Wired connections only - I have a touch of Luddite
> >> in me :-) I need to drill a NAT hole for 1 VPN.
> >>
> >> I'm not focused strictly on the $40 cookie cutter whiz-bang line of
> >> firewalls. Higher cost is OK as long as it buys something. TIA
> >
> >Why not just purchase a cheap GB network switch for under $100 and then
> >purchase the firewall of your choice.
>
> Choosing the firewall is the point of the post :-) I suspect most
> current boxes have 4 FE/Gbe ports standard - which covers my short
> term future needs. If a good 'wall comes with 8 ports, all the
> better. If not I can add that switch if/when I need it. I won't
> really need Gbe capability until I get a NAS device next year. Just
> trying to ascertain whether I should get a more capable device. I
> generally feel uneasy using Kmart level commodity gear and now is a
> good time for me to upgrade if its warranted.

Firewalls are not a Network Switch with lots of ports to use for your
LAN, they are generally 1 port per network and each network is actually
isolated from each other.

If you talking about CHEAP NAT Routers called firewall by idiot
marketing people that want to lull you into a false sense of security,
yes, many of those that multiple ports to be used as a network switch on
a LAN.

So, if you want Gig ethernet ports, spend $50 on a cheap 5 or 8 port GB
ethernet switch and settle for that method.

In most cases you're not going to see any difference in your internet
side, so unless you've got 100mbps fiber or better, select any NAT
appliance or firewall you want and then get a GB ethernet switch.

--
- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)