sundance-communications.com/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX Networking Hub, Routers, Switches

I have a customer whose house is wire for 18 data wires ( 2 at each outlet). He wants 9 of the connected for internet access. What is the best router to use that will give me 9 connections and also easy to setup.
I was looking at the Linksys cable/dsl router w/4 port switch (model befsr41) and a Linksys 8-port workgroup switch (model ezxs88w). Any suggestions/comments? I guess a plain hub would be out of the questions. He will be running 4 or 5 laptops at a time on the internet.

the Linksys router will give you all the computers IP's while also protecting them from the internet. Linksys makes 1 single port router, then i would get a 16 port switch, remember you loose a port in the switch when you uplink the router to the switch.

i'd stay away from the hubs.

that setup would be ok

For security I would skip the router and get a firewall, if they plan on having that man similtaneous connections the network will be infected in no time at all, you could either go with a Sonic Wall TZW which will also provide you with a secure wireless signal or a TZ 170 sign them up with the various subscriptions for automatic protection, then drop down to the switch, I agree with Chris stay away from Hubs.

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One stop Voice and Data Solutions VoIP

The Linksys router also has a built-in firewall. Been using them for years without any problems or hacks.

I would have to recommend the Linksys router also. The hardware firewalls are overkill for a small network like that. The best thing to do is purchase yourself a linksys router, either 1 or 4 port, doesn't really matter and also a decent 10/100 mbps switch. That will serve the customer well and provide a little room for expansion. The Linksys router has what is known as NAT, network address translation, which allows outbond traffic to be transmitted from the local machines but does not allow inbound anonymous, so to say, traffic to be received. If needed the linksys router also provides port redirection if they have a VPN at a business and such. This is a great deal that will secure broadband access for under $100. If you need help with setup just let me know...

-Austin

Linksys routers are not a true firewall, they simply run NAT but each user is still broadcasting their current IP address everywhere they go and I strongly disagree that a hardware firewall is overkill in any enviroment, you most definitely get what you pay for and all you have to do is ask the thousands of people who thought that they were protected and lost everything on there HD.

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One stop Voice and Data Solutions VoIP

Let the flame wars begin...

Milestone, why don't you get a clue before you start acting like Mr. Know-it-all? Just because you're a Sonicwall distributor doesn't mean that hardware firewalls are the only thing that can protect a computer. Do some research and you'll find out that most if not all routers are classified as true firewalls, since they prevent anyone from getting into your network from the internet. True, Linksys does use NAT, but so does every other router and hardware firewall on the market. NAT does NOT broadcast the address of the computer to the internet, only the single public address of the WAN port. Private addresses such as 192.168.x.x do not exist on the internet and are not routed by the internet, so how can the address of my computer (192.168.1.77) be broadcast everywhere like you claim it is? Also, if you say that a device that "simply runs NAT" is not sufficient, why do you suggest Sonicwall TZW and TZ170 devices, which according to their web page also "simply run NAT"? You also said to "skip the router and get a firewall", but something that is just a firewall can only protect a single IP address. In order to have multiple devices using a single connection, a router is required, and the process of routing many private IP's to a single public IP implies at least basic firewall functionality. As for security, I've set up several Linksys routers (BEFSR41) that, unless they connect to you, simply don't exist (or don't appear to exist) to the public internet. They don't return a ping and they don't respond to port scans. If that doesn't classify as a "true firewall", then I can't comprehend what a "true firewall" is.

If what I said is wrong, show me how and why, and maybe together we can help others. Otherwise, get a clue.


P.S. I agree with Chris on the switch, a hub can actually slow down your network.


[This message has been edited by junkman (edited February 16, 2005).]

BAM!!! (ouch)

Let's go! I didn't call you names merely gave my opinion, though as we all know opinions are like assholes everybody has one. Firewalls offer many more services than "simply running NAT":
Firewalls offer subscription services that routers do not offer, this is why when we come in to trouble shoot networks we always find that people have gone out on the internet and filled their desktop with every available freeware to stop popups, spyware you name it it's on the desktop routers don't do anythiong to stop this kind of traffic, they do nothing for intrusion detection or virus protection. Go ahead o brilliant one

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One stop Voice and Data Solutions VoIP