[Gllug] ADSL recommendations

Richard Cottrill rcottril at tibco.com
Wed Oct 10 15:03:06 UTC 2001


Hello,

This is my inaugural posting to the GLLUG list so please excuse me if this
seems a bit off-topic.

I'm just getting hooked up to ADSL with BT and I'm planning to put together
a smoothwall router/firewall for the link using an old 486DX2/66 that's
kindly being given to me by a colleague.

First question - Is there anything about this plan that seems inherently
impossible (like BT have found a way to prevent a NAT firewall - God only
knows how)?

Second question - Like most 486s this one is pre-PCI; I'm going to try to
get a 486/PCI motherboard at the Queensway market next weekend (out of
London this weekend) and add a PCI-USB card. Does this seem silly? Is anyone
aware of an ISA-USB card? Where else can I look for antique hardware
(486/PCI boards were never very common)?

IMHO this all looks ok. The 486 should be sufficient for the mediocre job
I'm asking of it (fairly basic NAT firewall) and even an ISA bus should be
able to handle the modest throughput of an ADSL link. The problem for me
will be getting a USB modem to work with a 486 (and accompanying bits).

Suggestions welcome.

Richard


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