Kitz Forum
Chat => Tech Chat => Topic started by: burakkucat on March 25, 2014, 08:13:10 PM
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Rummaging around in the grotto, b*cat came across a small maroon-coloured box with an image of a dragon on its top.
The label on its underside reads:
WF1740 Firebrick 105 www.firebrick.co.uk
Watchfront Electronics Made in UK Andrews & Arnold
One day, I guess I will work out how to configure it to act as the PPP client and then test it conjunction with a Huawei HG612 on my ADSL2 line.
Although no longer a currently supplied model, refurbished ones can be obtained from the manufacturers at a price of £150. :o
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If anyone is interested, below is a photograph of the PCB (re-scaled to fit the 200 kB size limit).
So far, I have not had any success in tracking down information on the edge connector . . .
[Edit: A higher resolution image is available, upon request, which will allow all the chip markings to be read.]
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If only everything had metal RJ45 ports with two status LEDs each!
Ian
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If only everything had metal RJ45 ports with two status LEDs each!
I guess that is to be expected, what with A&A's involvement in the design and development. :)
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I mean, is it so much to ask for a network switch to indicate if a port is running at 100 or 1000? Maybe even 10 for compatibility? I just want to know. It should be a minimum, not an added bonus.
Ian
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A lot of kit still doesn't come with gigabit ports, now that should be a minimum spec nowadays.
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A lot of kit still doesn't come with gigabit ports, now that should be a minimum spec nowadays.
I totally agree and its been a major gripe of mine for years.
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I mean, is it so much to ask for a network switch to indicate if a port is running at 100 or 1000? Maybe even 10 for compatibility? I just want to know. It should be a minimum, not an added bonus.
Ian
A lot of network switches use just one led, but they are colour coded.
Netgear for years (> 8?) have been using the green = gigE orange = 10/100
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If anyone is interested, below is a photograph of the PCB (re-scaled to fit the 200 kB size limit).
So far, I have not had any success in tracking down information on the edge connector . . .
[Edit: A higher resolution image is available, upon request, which will allow all the chip markings to be read.]
Have you tried emailing the good Reverend?
http://revk.www.me.uk/
Pretty sure he'll sort you out with the info if you ask nicely. Doing whatever you're planning using open source s/w will help a lot ;)
Oh and for the people on about multiple GigE ports - still pretty hard to do in a box that size, given the major cpu usage is analysing traffic/terminating tunnels.
LinITX has other options worth exploring but RevK knows his stuff and has been building his own custom routers since the days BT had 34Mbps Cisco gateways for ADSL. Actually probably just after that :)
Firebricks just work, can't give them higher praise than that.
HTH.
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Oh and for the people on about multiple GigE ports - still pretty hard to do in a box that size, given the major cpu usage is analysing traffic/terminating tunnels.
Whilst I may have accepted that 10yrs ago and I did accept that reason until <2yrs ago...... but things have moved on, there are much better processors available and its no longer a valid excuse.
With FTTC speeds already nearing 100Mb, FTTH exceeding 100Mb and Virgin cable speeds far exceeding 100Mb, what use is a router with 10/100 ports?
We also have the laughable situation with many adsl/vdsl routers that have the ability to process wi-fi traffic at faster speeds than on the LAN. Any half decent PC for about the past 8yrs has been shipped with a GigE LAN card.
The HH4 (typical example of wifi faster than LAN) only lasted about 4 months before they brought out the HH5 which is practically the same aside from the fact it has a vdsl2 port and multiple GigE ports.
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Its not a router per se, its a firewall/VPN endpoint. Bit of a difference between that and consumer routers. The model in question is several years old and even now if you go shopping you won't get much change out of £500 for a decent firewall/endpoint capable of 200Mbps throughput.
Horses for courses.
There's also a world of difference between fibre, DOCSIS and vectoring but meh you know that anyway.
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Sounds like a nice thing to have. The value, for me at least, would be the benefit of a true standalone firewall, bringing with it the possibility of a real, physical, DMZ.
With such an enhancement to my own network I'd worry a little less about allowing visitors to use my internet connection. I'm usually too polite to refuse, but I do worry.
An extra firewall and DMZ would however address many of my concerns about whether their devices may contain malware that's about to trash my servers, or whether they may want to run applications and services that I would never trust myself, such as skype. :)
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My Netgear router (DGND3700) has a guest wi-fi network I can set up (with password), apparently they can only see the internet, and nothing on my network - we have a couple of students staying so have set this up for them. Of course I have no idea how robust it is.
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My Netgear router (DGND3700) has a guest wi-fi network I can set up (with password), apparently they can only see the internet, and nothing on my network - we have a couple of students staying so have set this up for them. Of course I have no idea how robust it is.
Sounds a lot better than nothing. In fact, I may look into it more deeply :)
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Now you mention it, my Billion 7800DXL has guest WiFi networks too, and there's a tickbox "Clients isolation" which sounds as though it may do the same thing.
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Sounds like it may be time to buy a new router, then. ???
How about wired 'guests', though?
I'd also like to be able to run a webserver for various reasons, which I'd also want to isolate, and for which wired LAN would have obvious appeal.
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I'd also like to be able to run a webserver for various reasons, which I'd also want to isolate, and for which wired LAN would have obvious appeal.
Ah, actually, a penny drops. A true DMZ for a web server requires not only that the attached server (or 'guests' device) is isolated from the 'secure' LAN, it also requires that incoming internet traffic can get no further than the DMZ.
So an extra question is... can these routers with 'guest WiFi' networks be so configured, such that firewall ports opened for the benefit of guests continue to be blocked as regards the 'secure' LAN?
I think I'm maybe back to being envious of the firebrick. :)
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b*cat returns from his night-time prowl around eBay (bins and back-portal duly sniffed :tongue: ) and reports that currently there is one WF1740 105 FireBrick (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301129999532) available as a "Buy it now" item.
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For anybody interested here's a link to the manual.
http://www.firebrick.co.uk/1740/manuals/intro.html
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So an extra question is... can these routers with 'guest WiFi' networks be so configured, such that firewall ports opened for the benefit of guests continue to be blocked as regards the 'secure' LAN?
I've never investigated the feature, so I can't answer the question, but here's a link to the 7800DXL spec, and there's a link to the full manual at the top right: http://www.billion.uk.com/product/wireless/7800dxl.htm
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So an extra question is... can these routers with 'guest WiFi' networks be so configured, such that firewall ports opened for the benefit of guests continue to be blocked as regards the 'secure' LAN?
I've never investigated the feature, so I can't answer the question, but here's a link to the 7800DXL spec, and there's a link to the full manual at the top right: http://www.billion.uk.com/product/wireless/7800dxl.htm
Thanks for that, I shall indeed sit back and have a browse at the manual. Shouldn't take long, it's only 270 pages. ::)
I've now remembered however that, even if the firebrick would do the job of creating a DMZ, on a home network you run into the problem of where to do the Nat, the router or the firebrick? ???
Many home routers, of course, offer a DMZ host to be configured, and specific port forwarding is also a related solution. But as far as I know such features fall far short of a true DMZ.
Maybe I should start a new thread on home DMZ though, or resurrect an old thread, I didn't mean to steal Burakkucat's 'grotto' thread. But I do love the look of that Billion user manual. I definitely now feel a burning need for both a firebrick and that billion router too. :blush: