Minimal Firewall

[Carl Parrish]

Darrin Chandler wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 24, 2006 at 03:40:06PM -0700, vodhner at cox.net wrote:
>   
>> Spinoff from the "Cable Modem" discussion:
>>
>> I'd like to set up a stand-alone firewall box, but it would need to be:
>>
>> 1. Low power, passively cooled, quiet.
>>     
>
> Easy...
>
>   
>> 2. Turnkey on the hardware side.
>>     
>
> Easy...
>
>   
>> 3. Close to turnkey on the software side.
>>     
>
> Easy...
>
>   
>> 4. and oh yes ... not too expensive.
>>     
>
> Drat! There had to be a catch somewhere.
>
>   
>> 5. Ability to run sniffers, etc. might be interesting, but not sure I'd use that.
>>     
>
> Easy...
>
>   
>> First that comes to mind is a Linksys WRT54GL router, running Linux.  I have no interest in wireless, and have a router that is doing the job, so the router features are not of much benefit to me.
>>     
>
> Wireless or not, routing or not, the WRT54GL is going to be one of your
> cheapest options. It depends on what is too expensive for you. You can
> easily meet all the other criteria with a WRAP or Soekris box, running
> Linux or a BSD from flash or a microdrive.
>
>   
I've been playing with my WRT54GL and I have to say I've been amazed at
what this thing can do for the price. I'm thinking of getting two more
as soon as I can justify it. (maybe for hotspots) Also as soon as I
understand asterisk better than I currently do I'm going to try playing
with it on a WRT54GL. That said I've been looking for an excuse to get a
mini koobox (http://www.koobox.com/minikoobox.php). its only about 4
times the cost of a WRT54GL and a bit bigger but it looks kewl.