rik1471

If I purchase Pipex XTreme ADSL for £19.99 a month, and a 4 port Linksys BEFSR41 Router, will I need any other equipment (other than a splitter box and ethernet cables) to connect 3 PCs to the internet.

rik1471

Cheers

babber

The router should give all the connecting PCs an IP adress (private i.e. 192.168.xx.xx) so no need to use anything other than DHCP on the PCs and the router will take care of the IP addresses and gateway information.

The ADSL line DHCP server in the exhange will lease an IP (public 62.30.xx.xx) to the router and that's it. You may have to register the WAN MAC address with the ISP, and that should be it. Easy. Not sure about that though, you do with a Cable Modem.

I haven't got ADSL, but can't see it's any different that a cable modem router.

Oh and stay well clear of using USB connections, due to latancy on slower machines.

Hope this help, cheers Phill C

boxst

Hello

Have a look here (at the FAQ's and forums): bbs.adslguide.org.uk.

Steve.

dharbige

Sounds like the self-install package.

If so, you will need micro-filters for each of your phone points (i.e. not just for the point where you will plug your modem in).

You don't have an ADSL modem, (so ignore Chris L ) as the router provides the ADSL connection. The router will also provide NAT and port forwarding facilities, which will give you an effective firewall. However, (I think) you will only be able to forward ports to a single (fixed) machine on your LAN. This basically means that incoming connections will only go to the configured machine. This is probably a good thing for home use.
A software Firewall may be interesting, but shouldn't be necessary.

You will not get a "fixed" IP address from Pipex - theoretically you could get a different one every time you connect. In practice, you are hardly ever disconnected, unless there are network problems. You do not need to register any hardware addresses with Pipex.

I've got a very similar setup, except I've got the Alcatel Speedtouch 510 router which I purchased from DSLSource.

Hope this helps.

David H.

Jeff Wiltshire

"The router will also provide NAT and port forwarding facilities, which will give you an effective firewall"

Errrr.....sort of.....ish ....(bit like a Nova with a STI5 Wing and a bonnet scoop being called an Impreza )

It will give you a level of security but be very careful with Port Forwarding as this will effectively bypass any security that the NAT setup will give you. You'd be as well to use one of the small software firewalls (Black Ice, Zonealarm etc) just to be on the safe side.

rik1471

Thanks very much. Oh where would I be without Scoobynet

dharbige

Jeff,

I think you are undervaluing the firewall facilites of the router.

A firewall is there to protect from unauthorised access to the LAN from the WAN.
By default, the router does this, as it does not allow ANY connection from the outside.

This is not very helpful if you wish to run a server (such as a mail or FTP server) from inside your LAN, as nothing can make a connection. The Port forwarding facility allows selected ports to be opened, and then only on a specific machine within the LAN.
This is not much different to opening a port on a "traditional" firewall, which you would typically do for the same reason.

Applying Port Forwarding indiscriminately would be dangerous and foolish, but even a top-end hardware firewall can be configured badly, such that it provides little or no protection.

However, configured properly, I stand by my statement that the router would be an "effective firewall". An "Impreza GL" amongst Imprezas, if you will.

The main reason advantages I can see of a "software firewall" over the firewall facilities of the router are to gain protection against unwanted connections being made FROM your PC TO the WAN, automatically by "rogue" software, and to receive warnings about attempts from the "outside" to connect.
However, I cannot believe that such products do not have some negative effect on network performance, and regular warnings of attempted (and rejected) connections from the WAN serve no real purpose other than to confuse or worry the user.

AntBlue

ru getting ADSL? Let me know what you think about it, ive heard some people have problems when setting up FTP sites because of the IP constantly changing, i.e. when ADSL is down etc

Jeff Wiltshire

David

I was not trying to 'put down' your response, but was trying to re-enforce the security message. Routers by their very nature are not firewalls and the 'firewall' function of these devices is, by their very nature, limited to Packet Filters at best. NAT in itself is not designed as a security protocol and is rather security by obscurity. Packet filters intercept packets at Layer 3 whereas Stateful Inspection devices intercept packets between Layer 2 & layer 3 and also maintain a state or session table of all outgoing or incoming connections.

Most, if not all, of these routers with packet filter functionality have never been tested by ICSA or any other reputable organisation and therefore their ability to protect or secure an internal host is unknown.

You are, of course, correct in what you say regarding opening ports through a Firewall and this is why I suggested that a software firewall be placed on the device/host that any inbound connection is allowed to. This is exactly the same type of system that I have recommended to my corporate clients (obviously the software/hardware and scale is different) carrying out my profession of security consultancy.

At the end of the day it is all about risk. You make a risk assessment and apply appropriate security measures. A free personal firewall on a home system would seem to be an appropriate security measure.


Jeff

Chris L

Rik

Equipment wise you should be OK - check whether the ADSL modem is connected to your PC via USB or Ethernet. Also check whether Pipex are providing single or multiple IP address (I suspect that they will give you one - either fixed , or possibly random (using DHCP)).

If that is the case, you would need to configure your PC to perform some kind of server / router function to hand out IP addresses to the three PCs you want to connect and control their subsequent connection to the Internet. If you do a search on the Internet, you'll find loads of stuff on setting up your PC to perform server functions etc.

The other thing that is highly recommend would be a firewall - there are a number of software based versions that are available free on the Internet (Zonealarm is very popular).

Hope that helps

Cheers
Chris

[Edited by Chris L - 4/9/2002 10:18:15 AM]