newbie Q on DSL modem w/firewall appliance

Jan 16, 2005 3 Replies

Rate this thread:

Peter K. 21 years ago

Typical DSL firewall appliance has RJ45 ports on both WAN and LAN sides. I understand how to use this with a DSL modem that does not do NAT - that would have RJ11 input and RJ45 output but these seem non-existent.

All the DSL modems I can find are a combo with NAT router or USB connection to a computer.

So how do you guys with DSL and a firewall appliance get them to work together? Turn off NAT on the router (not always easy).

Could you just post which modem (or modem/router combo) and which firewall you are using and optionally any tips on setting them up to work together?

Thanks a lot,

Peter

Vote

Leythos 21 years ago

Don't get one of those combo units. Get a DSL modem or have the ISP provide one, and then get the firewall you want, or the NAT device you want - there is a difference between a NAT box and a Firewall.

If you use two devices you can change either one at any point to fix a fault, to get new features, to change your security model, etc... If you get a combo box you limit your choices.

Vote

E. 21 years ago

12 months ago I would have said 'buy an ethernet dsl modem', but as you have found they almost all have NAT functionality. The answer is to get a low end NAT unit and set it to bridge mode so it functions as a modem only. One unit that does this well is the D-Link DSL300G. You have to upgrade the firmware in most instances for bridging to work properly.

One downside is the low end models only support up to 1 or 1.5mbps speed so check the specs. E.

Vote