[K12OSN] Best solution for Internet access, control, and caching?

[Timothy Legge]

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 2:14 PM, Almquist Burke <burke at thealmquists.net> wrote:

>> 1) SMC 8013WG Gateway router
>> (http://www.speedguide.net/broadband-view.php?hw=139) for our net
>> connection
>> 2) D-Link 604 router 4-port router (http://www.d-link.ca/products/?pid=62)
>>
> With the SMC and the Squid box, why do you need the D-Link?

Depends on your level of paranoia.  The SMC seems to be a combo cable
modem and router.  If it is provided by the cable company I would not
trust the configuration.  Trusting them to be too busy to attack your
network is one thing but trusting that they will not accidentally
leave it wide open after some firmware update is quite another thing.

If you own the SMC and the configuration options he needs are there
(It does not seem that they are) then you would not need the D-Link.

My preference is to place my first line of defense in a router that I
own just to stop the majority of the dumb attacks.  The second line
would be a firewall/proxy machine.

It is important to note, that depending how the proxy is configured,
it may provide no network protection.  Without a hardened OS and
firewall on the proxy it may merely be doing content filtering of we
surfing.

Tim