Another solution is to buy an ethernet modem that supports 'Half Bridge
Mode'. I have two such units, an ADSL Nation X-Modem and a Zoom X4.
When operating in half bridge the modem does all the PPPoA negotiation
with the DSL provider to login and obtain and IP address. Once done it
acts as a DHCP server and leases out the IP address just obtained to the
connected host.
-----Private LAN---->(1st Eth Card)[OBSD FIREWALL](2nd Eth
Card)------>[ADSL Modem]-------PPPoA connection-----> Internet
Once the link is setup the modem becomes 'transparent' and the OBSD
see's all traffic from the NET, no reverse NAT, port forwarding or
anything and to make life even better the OBSD only needs an Ethernet
card with DHCP enabled!
I've got a little Nokia IP120 running 3.6 and a EPIAM9000 running 3.7
both running in this manner. The Nokia does IPsec with a Checkpoint box
and the EPIA Runs OpenVPN, sweet!
Simon Morgan wrote:
Hi,
I have a PPPoA ADSL connection and would like to use FreeBSD or OpenBSD
as a gateway/server and am looking for compatible hardware that would
facilitate this. I'm specifically looking to avoid combination modem
+ routers and NAT and port forwarding in particular. This will be
a pure routed IP setup. Obviously stability is very important (So
far I've been using a SpeedTouch 330 with Linux which hasn't been
fun).
Does anyone have any suggestions? Any advice is welcome.
Thanks.
Simon
