ADSL2+ Modem/Router and Firewall for incoming requests

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › ADSL2+ Modem/Router and Firewall for incoming requests

thekiwi

295 posts

Ultimate Geek

#89201 28-Aug-2011 07:50

Hi all

Probably a common request, but need current advise on an ADLS2+ Modem/Router.

Currently have a TD-8840 which basically am pretty happy with but need to replace it with something which actually has a firewall and allows IP filtering.

The TD-8840, when in PPPoA modem basically doesnt do anything (had this confirmed by their Support):
"With regard to the IP filtering rules, all incoming traffic will only be blocked when the unit’s firewall has been enabled. However, enabling/disabling this setting is only available on the TD-8840 when it has been configured to use MAC Encapsulation Routing (MER) or IP over ATM (IPoA) connection mode in its ATM PVC Configuration page when configuring a connection under Advanced Setup -> WAN."

So servers / machines I have behind the firewall are not as protected as I would like.

Thus all traffic appears at the servers as from 10.0.0.1 (My IP Address for the TP-Link) ... so I cant filter at the servers either. My previous RTA1320 was good at filtering incoming IP Traffic, but just wouldnt hold a connection.

Can anyone recommend a good rock solid ADSL modem/router which does have a basic firewall? One which has a Broadcom chipset would be best ... since the TP-Link does hold the connection really well.

Privoxy

132 posts

Master Geek

#513339 29-Aug-2011 10:37

a $50 PC off trademe with PFsense installed is the best you can get at a consumer level.

Mighty Ape

Shop Mighty Ape for electronics, games, computers books and more (affiliate link).

thekiwi

295 posts

Ultimate Geek

#513347 29-Aug-2011 10:56

Yea, whilst Ive got a Virtualised Server running and could setup a Linux box , really want a Modem/Router/Firewall which does it so as to minimise my "power usage", as well as less UPS's required to get me through power cuts.

My previous RTA1320 and even the old M1122 all allowed me to set up IP Filtering ... but this TD8840 just doesn't.

Ragnor

8085 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#513355 29-Aug-2011 11:06

You can connect your TP Link TD-8840 to another device via half bridge (ip extension).

Pfsense is a good option.

You could also look at flashing open source third party firmware on a separate router.

The three most popular are DD-WRT, TomatoUSB and Gargoyle Router (OpenWRT).

http://tomatousb.org/
http://tomatousb.org/doc:build-types

http://www.dd-wrt.com
http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database

http://www.gargoyle-router.com/
http://www.gargoyle-router.com/wiki/doku.php?id=supported_routers_-_tested_routers

Ragnor

8085 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#513369 29-Aug-2011 11:32

thekiwi: Yea, whilst Ive got a Virtualised Server running and could setup a Linux box , really want a Modem/Router/Firewall which does it so as to minimise my "power usage", as well as less UPS's required to get me through power cuts.

My previous RTA1320 and even the old M1122 all allowed me to set up IP Filtering ... but this TD8840 just doesn't.

Can you list a couple of examples of what your ip filtering rules were? Were you blocking all access or just certain ports to the servers or what?

Standard NAT basically already stops all incoming traffic that was is not the result of an outbound initiation from the servers, except where you have setup port forwards.

thekiwi

295 posts

Ultimate Geek

#513371 29-Aug-2011 11:34

Ragnor:
thekiwi: Yea, whilst Ive got a Virtualised Server running and could setup a Linux box , really want a Modem/Router/Firewall which does it so as to minimise my "power usage", as well as less UPS's required to get me through power cuts.

My previous RTA1320 and even the old M1122 all allowed me to set up IP Filtering ... but this TD8840 just doesn't.

Can you list a couple of examples of what your ip filtering rules were? Were you blocking all access or just certain ports or what?

If I opened a port, say FTP, I could then even use IIS to deny all and allow specific address blocks.

From memory they both also allowed filtering certain IP/ranges at the router itself.

Ragnor

8085 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#513386 29-Aug-2011 12:00

Yeah you're right the Dynalink 1320 has an ip address filtering section and the TP Link TD-8840 doesn't. Quite weird since they are similar hardware and probably based on the same OEM linux based firmware from broadcom.

I guess Dynalink did more work on extra software features and TP link did more work on hardware. The Dynalink has a reputation of running super hot due to the case design and no heatsink on the main chip, hence the becoming unstable over time thing.

If you to run one device only that does modem/router/firewall with business/geek focused features I would recommend the Draytek Vigor 120

http://www.gearbot.co.nz/store_products/search/Draytek%20120/