[ale] The 12 Q's of Chrismas (Cable-DSL Modem Shopping)

[Jonathan Rickman]

On Thu, 19 Dec 2002, fgz wrote:

> 1). Quick poll: Linksys, Seimens, or...?

Netgear

>
> 2). VPNs come on some of these. Why should I care
> about VPN on a home LAN? Is there is a chance remote
> config of a SOHO LAN PC might get out on the internet?

???

> 3). Seimens mentioned 'VPN pass-through', for example,
> to my corporate VPN. What is that and why do I care
> since I run VPN client sw on my a local PC to get to
> the corp LAN from home now?

Handles passing VPN through NAT tables.

> 4). Do these distribute bandwidth fractionally to each
> device on the modem, or is it on-demand bandwidth? i.e.
> will the PC casually browsing the web get less overall
> bandwidth than the PC downing a 10MB file?

No. It's a shared pipe. Not that it's impossible, but at their
prices...unlikely.

> 5). Can you truly hang a hub, or maybe more properly,
> a switch (and maybe even a wireless 11MB hub), from
> one of the modem ports, and expect to get an IP
> properly assigned to each PC off the hub/switch? Does
> the bandwidth get horribly cut at the hub/switch by
> doing this?

Hub from the modem port???

> 6). Specific to Linksys: I saw four (4) 4-port models
> at $59-$99, some with firmware VPN, firewall, AV, etc.
> What do I really need for a SOHO LAN, since all PCs
> have at least AV anyway? Allegedly the modem firewalls
> allow port monitoring and blocking etc, but I'm skeptical.
> Is it best practice to run a f/w PC in front of the cable
> modem, then DHCP out to the cable modem itself?

I think you need the firewall. The rest...???

> 7). If these things are firmware (nobody knew), can
> they be flashed with an upgrade like a PC BIOS?

Yes and yes.

> 8). Which Linksys model(s) had the web-config utility
> vulnerability? Can it/those be flashed?

Damn near all of them. Yes.

> 9). What is UPnP? Sounds like a Windows thing.

Never understood it myself.

> 10). Some have PPPoE. Why, since dialup goes away? Or
> is this for direct serial connection over the internet?

PPPoE is an authentication method for DSL. There is also PPPoA (over ATM).
PPP isn't really dial-up, it's just the prefered method of dialing up.

> 11). Modem rent is $5.00/month, yet $99 purchases one.
> Payout is obvious, yet will purchasing yield a better
> quality product and if so, should I get it before the
> installer comes to avoid any MAC changing hassles later
> and billing snafu's when the cable co says I haven't
> returned their modem? Which brand?

No Clue.

> 12). Is there any chance that a purchased modem will
> be incompatible with their line sig? If so, what do I
> look for?

Ask them.

> All comments and suggestions appreciated, much
> thanks, and Merry Christmas!

Same to you...

--
Jonathan Rickman
X Corps Security
http://www.xcorps.net

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