VPN - What's the story with NETGEAR FVS328?

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What's the story with NETGEAR FVS328?

linuxlover992000@yahoo.com

2005-05-06, 2:45 am

I have been using the NETGEAR FVS328 for about 6 months now. It
connects a small and simple home network (a few Windows based PCs) to
the Internet.

I updated its firmware as soon as a stable version was released (first
1.0_09 and now I have 1.0_14).

Yeah, we have no problem connecting to the internet, but the question
is... is it safe enough? Does it really do the job of firewalling by
being hack-proof or is it as reliable as Microsoft Windows itself... ?

Points in question:
* Every once in a while, the logs email ceases to function - until I
reboot the unit. I don't mind rebooting every 6 months, but rebooting
once a week is really annoying. Previously I used to have a
Linux RedHat 6.2 based firewall (ipchains) and I rarely had to
reboot it.
* The DNS lookup function using the web interface simply doesn't work.
* Every once in a while (frequency not yet determined) I get an
"Administrator Interface Connecting" message logged, despite the fact
that no one in my home as attempted to connect to this router via the
web interface.

There are a few more problems that leave a lot to be desired (comparing
to my old Linux RedHat 6.2 based firewall), but the most troubling
problem is the feeling that my NETGEAR FVS328 has been
compromised/hacked by some external hacker, but I have no way of
knowing that since the logs of this thing are useless... (first, some
of them never being emailed, but even if I received all of them, the
logs are simply filled with irrelevant data witouth any way to filter
out unnecessary entries). I never had this problem with my no-cost
Linux RedHat 6.2 based firewall.

So, the obvious question is: did I buy a lemon?

If not, then how do I verify that this thing is not used to attack my
LAN from inside?

BTW, I contacted NETGEAR tech support back then when I first learned
about the scary "Administrator Interface Connecting" messages, but it
was completely useless as the only thing they were able to suggest was
upgrade my firmware from 1.0_09 to 1.0_13 BETA.

Any thoughts? Ideas? Similar experience?

Thanks,
Lynn

P.S. For those who are curious why I bought this firewall/router if my
Linux-based firewall was so good: I was simply trying to get rid of the
noise (HDD and other fans) and wasteful power consumption.

Terence Smith

2005-05-09, 7:45 am

have you changed the default password ? do this first
- stop response to pings on WAN side
- turn off remote management

<linuxlover992000@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1115347697.047543.208280@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>I have been using the NETGEAR FVS328 for about 6 months now. It
> connects a small and simple home network (a few Windows based PCs) to
> the Internet.
>
> I updated its firmware as soon as a stable version was released (first
> 1.0_09 and now I have 1.0_14).
>
> Yeah, we have no problem connecting to the internet, but the question
> is... is it safe enough? Does it really do the job of firewalling by
> being hack-proof or is it as reliable as Microsoft Windows itself... ?
>
> Points in question:
> * Every once in a while, the logs email ceases to function - until I
> reboot the unit. I don't mind rebooting every 6 months, but rebooting
> once a week is really annoying. Previously I used to have a
> Linux RedHat 6.2 based firewall (ipchains) and I rarely had to
> reboot it.
> * The DNS lookup function using the web interface simply doesn't work.
> * Every once in a while (frequency not yet determined) I get an
> "Administrator Interface Connecting" message logged, despite the fact
> that no one in my home as attempted to connect to this router via the
> web interface.
>
> There are a few more problems that leave a lot to be desired (comparing
> to my old Linux RedHat 6.2 based firewall), but the most troubling
> problem is the feeling that my NETGEAR FVS328 has been
> compromised/hacked by some external hacker, but I have no way of
> knowing that since the logs of this thing are useless... (first, some
> of them never being emailed, but even if I received all of them, the
> logs are simply filled with irrelevant data witouth any way to filter
> out unnecessary entries). I never had this problem with my no-cost
> Linux RedHat 6.2 based firewall.
>
> So, the obvious question is: did I buy a lemon?
>
> If not, then how do I verify that this thing is not used to attack my
> LAN from inside?
>
> BTW, I contacted NETGEAR tech support back then when I first learned
> about the scary "Administrator Interface Connecting" messages, but it
> was completely useless as the only thing they were able to suggest was
> upgrade my firmware from 1.0_09 to 1.0_13 BETA.
>
> Any thoughts? Ideas? Similar experience?
>
> Thanks,
> Lynn
>
> P.S. For those who are curious why I bought this firewall/router if my
> Linux-based firewall was so good: I was simply trying to get rid of the
> noise (HDD and other fans) and wasteful power consumption.
>

linuxlover992000@yahoo.com

2005-05-11, 2:45 am

Terence Smith wrote:
> have you changed the default password ? do this first
> - stop response to pings on WAN side
> - turn off remote management

Terence, thank you so much for answering my posting. Yes, of course I
changed the default password. I even changed the firewall rules from
the default configuration of "ALLOW all traffic except for the
explicitly listed services" to "BLOCK all traffic except for the
explicitly listed services". Thus, ping is blocked as well (except for
the very few PCs inside my home LAN).

I also turned off remote management from day one.

I also tested the "stealthness" of my connection through
http://www.grc.com - which returns with: "Your system has achieved a
perfect TruStealth rating."

However, the intermittent behavior of this product (NETGEAR FVS328),
along with those unexplained "Administrator Interface Connecting"
messages (which even NETGEAR tech support could not explain!) make me
feel a bit nervous... Is it possible that I traded my zero-cost,
primitive, power-hungry and noisy linux based (ipchain) homebuilt
firewall with an inferior product (that cost me almost $200) ?

Thanks,
Lynn