CHEAP Hardware firewall

[Jeffbx]

Centrix International (http://www.centrix-intl.com/) is selling Webramp 700s bare units (unit & power supply only) for $24 + shipping. This is the same unit as the SonicWall SOHO3 (http://www.sonicwall.com/products/soho3.html) which sells for $400 new. This is an actual hardware firewall, with stateful inspection & VPN capability (VPN license not included).

Webramp was bought by Nokia, and they've discontinued this product line, so you won't be able to get support. However, from what I've read the Sonicwall firmware works on this unit.

Here's the documentation (http://www.sonicwall.com/support/VPN_documentation.html), and some features & benefits (http://www.centrix-intl.com/700s/1_700s.htm), including a firmware upgrade.

This unit has a 5-user limitation, but can be upgraded to 10, 25 or unlimited licenses, and also has a VPN module that can be activated. E-mail me if you're interested in finding out how to get these upgrades.

I bought one & it just arrived yesterday... I haven't had a chance to plug it in yet, but I'll let you know how it goes if anyone's interested. Hell, it's cheaper than renewing the Norton Firewall every year!

[bugaboo]

how can you get these upgrades and keep up with firmware updates if they are discontinuing these?

[Realrammstein]

Could someone, please, explain what features (on this box) make it superior to a modern router from Linksys, D-link, etc?

[nhbilly]

whats the update to this jeffbx?

i might pick up one

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by bugaboo
how can you get these upgrades and keep up with firmware updates if they are discontinuing these?

Internally, it's running the same software as the SonicWall SOHO. Sonicwall updates & firmware work on this device. See here (http://www.rampnet.com/rampnet/support/700s/sonicupgrade.html) for details.

If you're interested in upgrading it beyond 5 users, send me an e-mail. I upgraded mine to unlimited users & turned on the VPN option, and it was very simple.


Originally posted by Realrammstein
Could someone, please, explain what features (on this box) make it superior to a modern router from Linksys, D-link, etc?

This is a true hardware firewall that uses stateful inspection (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/stateful_inspection.html) rather than packet filtering or NAT that most low end routers provide. It also has the option of acting as a VPN device (not a passthrough for VPN, but an actual VPN server) so you can securely access your network over the internet.

[topane]

Great deal, Jeffbx! I ordered mine yesterday.

[chadlnc]

I'm guessing that I was correct in reading that it does content filtering. If so then I think my boss will want to purchase one. Thanks for the deal.

[ender1598]

Can this box be used for bandwidth priority management based on IP addresss and/or the port that the traffic is on? By port I'm referring to 80 or 21 or other similar ports.

[Jeffbx]

That's a YES on the content management, but a NO on the bandwidth priority management, although it will perform a rolling analysis of the event log to show the top 25 most accessed Web sites, the top 25 users of bandwidth by IP address, and the top 25 users of bandwidth by service.

[SnowSurfer]

im thinking of replacing my linksys router with one of these...we'll see :)

[jamespf]

damn it! Price is now $35 each...

[nhbilly]

boycott these bastids?
i was gonna go pick it up....damn but i didn't pay online :(

[Tommy Boomfiger]

i just spoke with someone at centrix intl. they said that the reason for the price increase was due to the demand being so high and the fact that they have almost run out. i was trying to buy another one because i have already sold the one i bought for $120 and i wanted another one.

[Realrammstein]

I'm confused. How can this be the same as the soho3? it suuports:
10BaseT LAN Ethernet ports

while the soho one supports:
10/100Base-T Ports

[Showtime]

These guys always get a bunch and always "run low" and raise the prices. I was gonna post this deal a few times but they kept raising the price before I had a chance to order one myself or post here.

I've read good things about the unit and "updated" fw is floating around for these things so you can add more users etc.

Please post if the price drops again.

-jel:halo:

[blueindian]

Originally posted by Realrammstein
I'm confused. How can this be the same as the soho3? it suuports:
10BaseT LAN Ethernet ports

while the soho one supports:
10/100Base-T Ports

that's a good point. if you do get one, you'd want to use another router to connect any boxes on your network. if you use the built in hub on this one you'll limited to a 10mb connection.

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by Realrammstein
I'm confused. How can this be the same as the soho3? it suuports:
10BaseT LAN Ethernet ports

while the soho one supports:
10/100Base-T Ports

Oops, yes - sorry I forgot to mention that. You'll want to take that into consideration if you're thinking of using these to segment a LAN or if you're lucky enough to have an internet connection faster than 10Mbps.

For those that missed out on the $24 price, there seems to be a number of these on ebay that are going for about $25...

[chadlnc]

Mine came in at 11:00 this morning, I am posting using it right now. I think I have everything set the way I want it, including all the upgrades :D. I just need to go and setup the VPN now.

Thanks again Jeff!

[nhbilly]

what is the default ip to access this router and the login and password guys?

thanks,
nhbilly

[Jeffbx]

http://192.168.1.251
ID: admin
PW: password

[JoeZ34]

Does anyone have the security code to unlock the VPN and add additional users?
Its not really hacking.. they are out of biz and this stuff can not be purchased any longer.

Thanks:angel:

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by JoeZ34
Does anyone have the security code to unlock the VPN and add additional users?
Its not really hacking.. they are out of biz and this stuff can not be purchased any longer.

Thanks:angel:

Let's keep this thread clean.

You can still purchase upgrades for this unit from SonicWall - http://www.rampnet.com/rampnet/support/700s/sonicupgrade.html


Email me for details.

[nhbilly]

thanks alot jeff.

[925]

I bought some of these. I can't seem to connect to RampNet to register or to load the cybernot filter file.

Is there any way to perform either of these WITHOUT loading SonicWall firmware on top?

TIA

[BLC]

Thanks for the link Jeffbx. I look forward to receiving it and getting it set up.

BLC

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by 925
I bought some of these. I can't seem to connect to RampNet to register or to load the cybernot filter file.

Is there any way to perform either of these WITHOUT loading SonicWall firmware on top?

TIA

I know you can't get the filter file loaded with the standard firmware, but I haven't tried upgrading to SonicWall, so I can't comment on that.

Send me an e-mail & I'll give you instructions on how to get the unit registered.

[chadlnc]

I upgraded to the SonicWall firmware but that didn't do it, you have to have a subscription with SonicWall and thy won't sell it to you if you have a RampNet. They will however try to get you to trade in your RampNet for a hefty sum of money. :bigmouth:

[jfwil]

I was really wanting to use the filter to make sure only 'family friendly' sites got through for my daughter's computer... For some reason "Drug Culture" filter blocked out CNN.COM. Do they know something I don't? ;-) Guess I won't be able to use it!

[BLC]

ALright bear with them. I am Very green. I got the webramp and flashed to the webramp flash that was given on centrix's website. I have my nic card set to IP address: 192.168.1.250 and subnet mask to 255.255.255.0. I am using a DSL modem hooked into the Webramp. I can get to 192.168.1.251 but I am unable to use the Internet. If anyone can walk me through on how to set up this router to be configured with the Internet I would appreciate it a ton. I have not made any changes to the configurations in the user interface and don't know where to start.

Thanks

BLC

[Jeffbx]

BLC -

Go to http://www.sonicwall.com/support/sonicwall_documentation.html and download the SonicWALL QuickStart Guide. Sounds like you just need to set up your PPPoE user ID & password.

[BLC]

Thanks for help. I flashed it with the Sonic Wall firmware and was up in a few minutes. Their interface is a lot better than webramps.

BLC

[Krakhed]

Check out these guys:
http://www.hornick.org/webrampsupport.php

Here is the reply I got when I emailed them about the VPN upgrade:

We sell an upgrade for the webramp 700s that enables VPN and allows unlimited user access to the webramp. The upgrade is $35.00/ea, and payments (including credit cards) can be made via paypal.com to '[email protected]', or if you prefer, check or moeny order to:
Computech Data Systems
333 Quebrada del Mar
Marina, CA 93933

Make sure to include your serial number(s) with your payment, and your activation codes will be e-mailed as soon as payment is received.

Thank you for your interest,
Tom Hornick

[Jeffbx]

Ooh - nice find! There's a copy of the VPN client software in their download section... anyone try that out yet?

[jpm]

since the webramp links are dead, are there any other places for info / updates etc. in addition to the sonicwall and computech sites?

[jpm]

just a heads up for anyone who has one of these, some poking around on google can lead to a keygen enabling unlimited users and VPN :)

[nhbilly]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh hush hush.............

u mean ways to test out the function of the webramp.

;)

[jpm]

... just to verify that you didn't get one of the faulty units floating around, since Webramp is not around to help any longer

[reycer94587]

GRRR!!! Can someone please help me? I just got my Webramp a few days ago. I set my NIC card IP address: 192.168.1.250 and subnet mask to 255.255.255.0. I then opened up my web browser and put in 192.168.1.251. All was great as it connected to the Webramp interface. I then proceeded to upgrade the firmware by downloading the update and then resetting the router. Now I can't even get to the login page. When I ping the router I get 50-100% loss. Can someone help. I have tried this on two different systems. Thanks!

[Jeffbx]

What firmware did you use - the Webramp, or the SonicWall?

[JoeZ34]

Sounds like the image is corrupt!

Try resetting the unit and trying again.
Hold the reset button while powering the webramp on.

Joe

[reycer94587]

Ok thanks for the help guys! I found out it was a bad cable... I was gonna curse Fry's for giving me another bad cable :mad4: when I found out it was one I crimped... OOPS! :laugh:

Anyways I am a Linux newbie, but after 2 days I finally was able to connect my Linux (redhat 8.0) Box to the router. I can ping the router and my XP machine. I can also ping the linux machine from the XP machine. Problem now is I can access the internet through the XP machine, but not in the Linux one. Please bare with me as I am very new to Linux but this is how my files look like. These are the only two files i've edited:

etc/sysconfig/network:
NETWORKING=yes
HOSTNAME=localhost.localdomain
GATEWAY=192.168.1.251

etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcg-eth0
DEVICE=eth0
BROADCAST=192.168.1.255
NETWORK=192.168.1.0
ONBOOT=yes
USERCTL=no
PEERDNS=no
TYPE=Ethernet
BOOTPROTO=none
IPADDR=192.168.1.1
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
GATEWAY=192.168.1.251


I am using the WebRamp Firmware under the DHCP:
I set the static IP entry for my Linux machine
192.168.1.1 and my ethernet address

The XP is a laptop so its running DHCP and the Internet works.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
:)

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by reycer94587
I am using the WebRamp Firmware under the DHCP:
I set the static IP entry for my Linux machine
192.168.1.1 and my ethernet address

The XP is a laptop so its running DHCP and the Internet works.



If you set a static address from a DHCP range, always set from the high end of the range; i.e., set your Linux box to 192.168.1.250. You may have an IP conflict because the first address in the DHCP pool (192.168.1.1) is probably assigned to the XP box already.

[reycer94587]

Thanks for all the help. My DHCP range for the router was 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.250, so that wasn't the problem. I gave up on running the Linux box in static for now. Someone mentioned that I have to set the DNS address on the Linux eth0 but I don't really know how. Oh well, all my computers are running and working under DHCP. Thanks alot everyone!

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by reycer94587
Someone mentioned that I have to set the DNS address on the Linux eth0 but I don't really know how.

Ah yes... that'll do it! If you don't have a DNS addresses set, you won't be doing much surfing.