budget firewall/router

[sathyan]

I use a cable modem for internet service (time warner isp; motorola cable modem). Currently using zone alarm as a software firewall, but I'd like to add another level of security including NAT. ZoneAlarm blocks about 60 hack attempts a day but with miscreants like the RIAA getting into the game I'd like more security .

Must work with both XP and Linux.

I see D-link, Linksys, Gigabyte & Netgear all have router products around $50. Will these do the job? Which of these would you choose?

thanks,
Sathyan

 

[ojai00]

I'm using an SMC Barricade 7004ABR and it works fine in XP and my brief testing with Mandrake Linux. Most routers will have NAT on it so it should be fine.

Belkin 4 Port Cable/DSL Gateway Router: $9.99 after rebate
SMC Barricade 11Mbps Wireless Cable/DSL Broadband Router with 4 Port Switch: $29.99 after rebate (if you want to upgrade to wireless in the future)

I'm not sure how the Belkin performs but my experience with SMC has been pretty good. After updating the firmware (experienced a lot of problems in the past with dropped connections), the router has been running solidly. Hope this helps.

 

[TheWart]

another very happy SMC Barricade 7004ABR user.

 

[sathyan]

Is there ANY reason not to get the wireless version? Does it perform as well as its wired counterpart for wired functions?

The SMC 7004VWBR looks like a great choice.

 

[ojai00]

I'm using the wireless (7004VWBR) in conjunction with the wired (7004ABR). The only drawback for the wireless is that it doesn't have a print server. If you want a print server, the other wireless SMC model (7004AWBR) has one.