DIY Network Firewall/Router using your Old PC

[_mordecai_]

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This is probably the cheapest and most effective way to Create a firewall for your home Network or even a small business that can`t afford to have a firewall built.


Things You'll Need:


An old computer with at least 900MHz CPU, 256MB of memory, should have at least 2GB Hard drive space (mas maau gamay kay sayang ang extra space sa hdd, will be used for caching lang and system logs and config), and at least 2 network cards/ports


CD with the firewall application or a USB Flash drive for advance users.


Step 1


Choose and download an ISO image of the firewall system that you think is best for you and burn it on a CD.


Examples of Linux-based firewall systems:


Smoothwall.org
http://www.pfsense.org/( this is the one i used )
pfSense Open Source Firewall Distribution - Home
IPCop.org :: The bad packets stop here! m0n0wall




Step 2


Plug one end of the Ethernet cable into one of your network ports on the back of the "firewall computer" and plug the other end into the network port on the Internet modem provided by your Internet Service Provider.


Step 3


Plug the second Ethernet cable into the second network port on the back of the "firewall computer" and plug the other end into your (good )home computer/laptop, or if you use a router/wireless router plug into one of the LAN ports on the router/wireless router. If you have a router in your installation, you should plug all your home computers into the LAN ports on the router.


Step 4


Skip this step if you don't use a router.


Disable DHCP server on the router and change the IP address of the router so it is on the same network as your firewall system. For example: if your firewall LAN interface is configured with 192.168.0.1 IP address, then change the router IP address to 192.168.0.2.


Step 5


Insert The firewall CD that you burned in Step 1 into a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive and boot the computer from the CD.
For advance users, plug in your USB-Stick into your pc and set it to first boot.


Step 6


Install the system from the CD by simply following the instructions on the screen.


Step 7


Using the computer that you connected to the second network port on the firewall computer or router in Step 3, go to the firewall administration website to make any changes to the network configuration.
If you don't have any previous experience with setting up network devices, refer to the firewall documentation on how to configure network settings.


Step 8


After making any necessary changes to the firewall configuration, you can disable/uninstall your software firewall application (for example: Windows Firewall) that you might have used on your computer/computers.




Tip
You can install additional network card and have it configured for a separate wireless router


If anybody here gets interested on this topic, I'll post another detailed info on PfSense.


Hope this helps mga techy brothers!

[trickynapzter]

nice thread bro... if you have time please post also some basics iptables

[_mordecai_]

nice thread bro... if you have time please post also some basics iptables

No prob bro, will do during my free time

[chill_angel25]

nice post sir!!!

[_mordecai_]

tnx bro! ingna ko ug success inyong box, will help you with full will.

- knowledge is power specially when shared. hehe

[technowar]

Salamat para ani boss. By the way, dli pde sa SD card lang ka mag install sa pfSense?

[_mordecai_]

HDD gyud boss, dili supported ang lain media sa iyang config

[simoncpu]

Yepp, pwede ra sa CF card (or SD? dunno, wala pa ko ka sulay) as long as you'll use the embedded image. Pwede sad ang LiveCD nga ISO kung wala kay HD, or kung ganahan nimo sulayan ang pfSense without installing it... =)

[_mordecai_]

tnx sa info bro.. will try some time soon

[tsunade]

bookmarked!!.. + subscribed..