Watchguard Firewall & Linksys Wireless Router

Greetings,

I am new to networking so forgive any ignorant questions. Is it possible to configure a Linksys WRT54g router with a Watchguard 6010tc firewall? If so, any thoughts on the best method? This is for a
home network sharing a cable connection w/a
desktop and a wireless laptop.

Thanks for your efforts! [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Flyer,

Welcome to the world of networking [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Can you give us a bit more information on what exactly a Watchguard 6010tc firewall is? The closest thing to it that I found was a compaq workstation model 6010tc, but I'm not sure if that's what you mean.

Also, where are you connecting your Linksys device? Since we can't see what current setup you have, it would be helpful to provide a rough diagram of what you have now and what you want to achive.

Thanks Admin for the reply,

Watchguard is a Firewall appliance that I would like to add to my current setup for further security (perhaps an overkill for a home network?)I am unsure of exactly how to achieve this or even if it is a good idea.

My current setup is :
internet <-> cable modem <-> linksys wrt54g router <-> PC/laptop.

Thanks again for any advice.

Regards

[ 13 July 2003: Message edited by: Flyer ]

[ 13 July 2003: Message edited by: Flyer ]
I was going to edit my last post here but didn't see the edit post option, sorry [img]images/smiles/icon_redface.gif[/img]

[ 13 July 2003: Message edited by: Flyer ]

Flyer,

Thanks for the information.
I checked the website you included and had a quick view of the product.

Even though it could possibly be considered an overkill, if you happen to have one of these boxes lying around, then use it. I'd do the same!

So the question is where would you place the box? I beleive the correct answer (without being 100% sure) would be between your linksys router and your home network:

Internet<----> Cable Modem<--->Linksys router<---->Watchguard<---LAN

The Firewall device has a WAN port and 4 switched 10/100 ports for your internal network. Your WAN port connects directly to your Linksys router, using a CAT5 UTP Crossover cable (if you have got one, you can check the relevant sections on this site for the wiring method) and the rest of the 4 ports to you internal LAN.

Now there is a small issue here. I am not sure if your Linksys router gives you a REAL IP address on the port that you are currently connecting your PC to. If it is, then the firewall device will nicely intergrate without any problem. If the Linksys router is giving you a private IP address e.g. 192.168.0.1, then you might have some small connectivity problems with a few programs.

Why?

Well if the router is providing you with a private IP Address, then it is performing NAT to allow your home network to access the Internet, this means that when you connect your Firewall device, it too will have to do the same, that is, perform NAT translation in order to allow your internal clients to connect to the Internet.

This is called 'Double NAT', which works fine most of the cases, I'm using it here in the office due to the fact we haven't got a permanent connection and I needed to install a Firewall.

The best thing to do is try the device and see what happens.

I'm sure though you shouldnt have many problems if you set it up correctly. There are documents available from the vendor to help you in the setup process. I suggest you read them if you get stuck.

Let us know how it went, ok ?

Cheers,

Admin,

Thanks for replying. Your suggestion about the placement of the Firewall makes sense, and your right about the NAT. My Linksys router does apply NAT to my internal LAN components, each receiving a private IP, e.g. 192.168.1.100.

However, my Linksys is configured to operate in Mixed Mode (802.11g & 802.11b), because one of my two LAN components is a laptop with a wireless pcmcia card. And considering the firewall doesn't support wireless technology,wouldn't the laptop have to communicate directly with the Linksys router?

That is:

internet <--> Modem <--> WatchGuard <--> Linksys <--> LAN

I did find another post with this suggestion:

"You can use the Linksys, and put the IP address of the watchguard as the "dmz" host so that all traffic gets forwarded to it. Turn off the DHCP server on the linksys.
You can put it into "router" mode vs "gateway" mode to turn off NAT if you want the Watchguard to that for you."

Well, I will certainly give it a shot and see what happens, like you say, and see how it goes.

Thanks again

Regards