Home server for internet access and control

A place of buisness that has a computer network will usually have a firewall that is installed between the modem and router and one such device is something like this;

NETGEAR UTM5-100NAS ProSecure Unified Threat Management Appliance 8000 Simultaneous Sessions 90 Mbps
$225.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Or this one;

ZyXEL ZyWALL ZWUSG20 Internet Security Firewall with 4 Gigabit LAN / DMZ Ports, 2 IPSec VPN, SSL VPN , and 3G WAN Support
$150.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Hi and thanks for the links. They seem like good equipment but there is no way to install internet filtering software or anything else on them.

The purpose of those firewalls is access control and to get further control and added software you'll be spending a lot more money. Are you running a buisness from your home or what is the reason for the added protection?
At one time I had a setup where I was using a laptop for a sort of router/switch because the modem only had a usb connection and there were no routers with usb ports so this laptop was being used as a sort of go between that was between the modem and 8 port switch. With a laptop you can control everything and have the filtering software and antiviris software loaded onto it. You would need a laptop with two ethernet ports or one port and a usb to ethernet adaptor.

The reason for the extra protection is to keep the internet access "clean". I had been using OpenDNS but when I switched to the high speed service from Blue Sky (Exede) I lost the service due to the new modem having a built-in proxy server that can't be disabled. I need the filtering on a network wide basis to keep "youngsters" from going where they know they should not go. I don't want to have to put the software on all PC's plus I don't think the software can be installed on the wife's Nook Tablet.
The filtering software I want to use, or at least try is called K9. It is a free filter program but needs to be on each device.

Both untangle and pfSense are free software based firewalls/routers. You just need a PC you can dedicate to running them. An older system will usually work, I'm running untangle on my old build. They are both linux based builds.

Untangle works with "pluggins" and there are a number of free ones you can use with the basic install, including web filtering. There are also pluggins you can purchase for more advanced senarios, but i have never needed them.

Of course i don't have kids to worry about either so webfiltering hasn't really been my priority, but then, if they already know where they aren't supposed to go and you still need web filtering you have bigger issues.

http://www.untangle.com/

http://www.pfsense.org/

, but then, if they already know where they aren't supposed to go and you still need web filtering you have bigger issues.

http://www.untangle.com/

http://www.pfsense.org/[/quotemsg]


You got that right!

I will check out the links. Thanks

One more question on this.....could I go with 2 NIC's and get the results I am looking for? One NIC to the wireless router and the other to the modem.