PowerPlayer Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 Hello...I have a question, I 'm installing a PC on my network which will act as a "server" and it will run WinXP pro, I will install 3 network cards on it and I want each network card to hold a different type of network, 1 is going to be the local Intranet, 2 is going to be connected to my ADSL modem and will be the Internet connection for the network and 3 is going to be a Wi-Fi only connection which will be connected to a wide area Wi-Fi network we have here in my area.Throughout the office since its 3 stories there several switch/hubs...The ADSL modem does have an internal firewall which I don't use now so I m wide open to the Internet!Now I was thinking of getting a Hardware Firewall and pluging all that on it, to be safe from everything...My problem is that I don't know of any hardware firewalls, specially one that will do all that, and then if such firewall exists, the hardest will be the "how to" implement all that to my small network (about 10 pcs all together).Also from what I understand everyone in the local intranet must have access to everything and we want to block Internet (partially) because I'm using MSN Messenger, Soulseek and eDonkey and ofcourse block out completely the Wi-Fi and only let a shared folder for the outside users to see!If you can please provide some help!!!Best RegardsTed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackR Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 Welcome to the Forum.The issue of sharing Broadband Connection is more than just a Firewall.It is not a Good way to go with Multiple NICs in one computer. WinXP is not a Real Server like Win2003. As a result in order to share the connection you would need to Use Windows ICS which is not a Good solution, and rarely work with WIFI.You much better off designing the System around Cable/DSL Router.The Router by default provides Hardware Firewall. You can read short more here:Link to: Basic Options for Internet Connection Sharing.Link to: Hubs, routers, switches, DSL, LANs, WANs...?Link to: What do I need for wireless networking? If you are looking for Inexpensive way this hardware might be a good start. It is a combo of Wired and Wireless Router and at the moment the best performance for the price. D-Link Extreme G Bundle Kit ($89 after rebate). . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 PowerPlayer,Welcome to SFNL Forums! Looks like JackR has some great info for you. In addition, I found another location to purchase the DI-624 (although, JackR's link is very good pricing).Similar pricing on that very nice D-Link DI-624 at the ubuy.com Superstore and it doesn't look like a rebate is needed for the price from what I could see, and the shipping pricing looks pretty good too. In stock: D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G DI-624 Wireless Router - Router - external Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackR Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 Similar pricing on that very nice D-Link DI-624 at the ubuy.com Superstore and it doesn't look like a rebate is needed for the price from what I could see, and the shipping pricing looks pretty good too. In stock: D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G DI-624 Wireless Router - Router - external Careful Fran.The Ubid is just the Router.The Buy.com is the Router Bundle with the PCMCIA Client Card.The Card by itself goes for $50 otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted February 20, 2004 Share Posted February 20, 2004 In that case, the buy.com deal is nothing short of amazing! Thanks for clearing that up JackR!Disregard the ubuy store deal! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rons Posted February 20, 2004 Share Posted February 20, 2004 Welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxdude32 Posted February 20, 2004 Share Posted February 20, 2004 Got an old 486 or Pentium machine lying around with at least 32 MB of RAM? Then, Smoothwall, dude! SmoothWall Express is an open source firewall distribution based on the GNU/Linux operating system. Linux is the ideal choice for security systems; it is well proven, secure, highly configurable and freely available as open source code. SmoothWall includes a hardened subset of the GNU/Linux operating system, so there is no separate OS to install. Designed for ease of use, SmoothWall is configured via a web-based GUI, and requires absolutely no knowledge of Linux to install or use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted February 21, 2004 Share Posted February 21, 2004 Have heard some great things about Smoothwall! Excellent choice! :thumbsup:We are using a BSD firewall server but Smoothwall has had some great reviews too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowerPlayer Posted February 21, 2004 Author Share Posted February 21, 2004 Thanx guys for all the info and the interest!I 'm pretty sure I have an old machine that I will try that linux smoothwall, its probably the cheapest solution and from what I understand probably the best too!How do I implement the three networks into it though? Don't forget that I have Local Intranet, Internet via an ADSL modem and a Wi-Fi coming in...Do I install the 3 NICs on that linux machine or what...A schematic would be greatly appreciated!Thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted February 21, 2004 Share Posted February 21, 2004 Do I install the 3 NICs on that linux machine or what...Yep! If this Linux firewall server works anything like BSD servers, you would use smoothwall to do the routing. :thumbsup:Your routing tables will be interesting to be sure. ;)I would strongly suggest that you read this to help with configuration:http://www.smoothwall.org/download/pdf/doc...onfig.print.pdf(PDF file: 438K)There are three other PDF docs are available on Smoothwall Docs page as well that will come in very handy:http://smoothwall.org/docs/Post if you need help as you go ... we will all try to help where we can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxdude32 Posted February 21, 2004 Share Posted February 21, 2004 ow do I implement the three networks into it though? Don't forget that I have Local Intranet, Internet via an ADSL modem and a Wi-Fi coming in...Do I install the 3 NICs on that linux machine or what...A schematic would be greatly appreciated!ThanxSmoothwall separates the three network cards into three zones, green, red and orange (or is that yellow? not sure). Green goes to your local network, red goes to the Internet, orange is for the DMZ (web servers or anything else you wish to be accessible from the Internet, meaning there is no firewall for it). Not sure how wireless would integrate into that, most likely you would still have to choose which zone it went into, probably green since you most likely want the firewall to protect it. Which network card goes for what is decided during the install, but their basic guide covers this. From what I know, Smoothwall is as good as many much more expensive commercial hardware firewalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackR Posted February 21, 2004 Share Posted February 21, 2004 LOL.Do not forget that the Linux does not provide you with Wireless.You still need to get Wireless Hardware. So Whether you use Linux or what ever, you should consider the project as a whole before you continue.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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