smoothwall?

C

Carlosinfl

Loves the juice
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Sep 25, 2002
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I was told that smoothwall has a great fire wall program. What do you guys think? Has anyone ever tried it? Is it freeware? Must it run on a dedicated box or astandalone desktop pc?

Thanks for any info...
 
You know who has a great firewall? Satan. But I guess you knew that... Seriously how good of a firewall do you need? XP SP2 is going to have a built-in one that is awesome for free. Hell, I plan on using it. Are there better out there? Sure, but why not go with one that you know ill splice right into the OS perfectly? This man is in the know big time: http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_sp2.asp
 
I've heard that Smoothwall is an amazing firewall program. However, I think it requires a dedicated machine because it's actually a stripped down Linux distribution that's designed to be a stand alone firewall.

Also, @OldPueblo; Windows XP already has a firewall; in SP2 it'll have some better features as the current one is pretty braindead (like allowing all connections initiating from within the firewall to go out) and it'll be enabled by default (unlike now). Plus, Smoothwall is not for Windows.
 
OldPueblo said:
XP SP2 is going to have a built-in one that is awesome for free. Hell, I plan on using it. Are there better out there? Sure, but why not go with one that you know ill splice right into the OS perfectly? This man is in the know big time: http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_sp2.asp
Click to expand...

I am looking for a firewall that protects my Linux machines...

Have you tried the SP2 firewall - it is about as sad as their 1st enable/disbale firewall options with some advance options that will most likley be leaked out in 1-2 months followed by countless patches for security holes.
 
666, if you have a spare machine lying around (like a P1 133 or something), then Smoothwall is probably the best firewall choice you have.
 
Is it OS dependant? I wanted to throw this on a Fedora Core 2 distro...do you know if they have an RPM?
 
Like I said before, Smoothwall is actually a stripped down linux distribution that was specially designed to act as a firewall, so you're actually installing a kind of Linux distro.

http://www.smoothwall.org

The file is an ISO; burn the ISO to a cd and you can install it on a machine.
 
BillLeeLee said:
Like I said before, Smoothwall is actually a stripped down linux distribution that was specially designed to act as a firewall, so you're actually installing a kind of Linux distro.

http://www.smoothwall.org

The file is an ISO; burn the ISO to a cd and you can install it on a machine.
Click to expand...

another alternative would be clarkconnect
www.clarkconnect.org
 
ok, so I will just burn the ISO and then boot from disk to a blank HDD.

look at this picture

network2.jpg


He has smoothwall pointing to his modem and switch...does that mean its built in to the firmware or am I just missing something?
 
666 said:
He has smoothwall pointing to his modem and switch...does that mean its built in to the firmware or am I just missing something?
Click to expand...

When you "create" your Smoothwall system, you have an option to install one, two or three NICs.

You have to have at least one, that's the GREEN one that's see your system(s).

The RED one sees your modem, and thus the internet. This is assuming you're using an ethernet based, not USB based modem, dial up or ISDN.

The last one is optional the ORANGE one and that can be set up as a DMZ.

When you configure the system for the first time it can auto-locate your various NICs and thus allow you to assign them how you wish, but bascially the closest one to the CPU is green, then the next one is orange (if you use that), then the last one is red.
 
Don't forget to also look at m0n0wall, same general idea, but with BSD rather than linux. *Much* smaller, designed to run on slow hardware, supports multiple interfaces (including wireless) config'ed from a webgui, and can run from a CD, no HD needed.

I run (and have been) from a compact flash card with 6 wired interfaces (4 10/100 & 2 10/100/1000) and one wireless interface, in general, a very cool tool.
 
Not to thread hijack here but just a quick question.... i have a dlink router/firewall setup between my internal network and the cable modem. if I wanted to use smoothwall (is there a point?) would I put it before or after the dlink?
 
Kroz said:
Not to thread hijack here but just a quick question.... i have a dlink router/firewall setup between my internal network and the cable modem. if I wanted to use smoothwall (is there a point?) would I put it before or after the dlink?
Click to expand...
Running the Dlink is totally superfluous, there's no reason for it, unless you don't have a switch, then I suppose you would put it after the Smoothwall. I wouldn't try it, too many complications.

I'm currently translating from a Dlink Di604 to a Smoothwall based system because of problems with my Dlink.
 
I have a wireless laptop that i use around the house, a modded webplayer with a wireless card in the kitchen, and a computer in my car that has a wireless card in it (basically an mp3 server) so the dlink is great because its a wireless router. Do i have an option in the smoothwall/clarkconnect side of the fence?

Why is running the dlink totally superfluous? I have 128 bit WEP turned on AND i filter connections by mac address so only the computers in my WiFi setup and hard wired computers can access it... I am not using the DMZ and I think I have it setup right. I have dont port scans on it internally and found nothing and when I use web based tools they say that I am running in stealth....

Kroz
 
Kroz said:
I have a wireless laptop that i use around the house, a modded webplayer with a wireless card in the kitchen, and a computer in my car that has a wireless card in it (basically an mp3 server) so the dlink is great because its a wireless router. Do i have an option in the smoothwall/clarkconnect side of the fence?

Why is running the dlink totally superfluous? I have 128 bit WEP turned on AND i filter connections by mac address so only the computers in my WiFi setup and hard wired computers can access it... I am not using the DMZ and I think I have it setup right. I have dont port scans on it internally and found nothing and when I use web based tools they say that I am running in stealth....

Kroz
Click to expand...


You didn't mention it was wireless. See the above diagram, you'd set it up as a WAP.
 
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