Hardware

Greetings,

So my P2 300mhz finally bit the dust.  I want to get a fancy shmancy little monowall box working since I love it so much and could never see myself going back to a different firewall.

The soekris is too expensive.  I think I want to go with PC engines alix2c3.

My network is simple, I have a cable modem WAN connection (< 10mb), with 5 computers always on, and at most 10 computers on the network when I have a LAN at my house.

The specs on the alix2c3 = 3 LAN / 1 miniPCI / LX800 / 256 MB / USB

Part numbers    alix2c3 = 3 LAN / 1 miniPCI / LX800 / 256 MB / USB
Spec    CPU: 500 MHz AMD Geode LX800
DRAM: 256 MB DDR DRAM
Storage: CompactFlash socket
Power: DC jack or passive POE, min. 7V to max. 20V
Three front panel LEDs, pushbutton
Expansion: 1 miniPCI slot, LPC bus
Connectivity: 3 Ethernet channels (Via VT6105M 10/100)
I/O: DB9 serial port, dual USB port
Board size: 6 x 6" (152.4 x 152.4 mm) - same as WRAP.1E
Firmware: tinyBIOS

link http://www.pcengines.ch/alix2c3.htm

I live in the United States and it looks as though Netgate.com might be my best bet to purchase an "all in one" monowall box with compact flash card and power supply and all.

For $200 US dollars I get:

Appliance Features:

    * ALIX.2C3 System Board with
          o 500 MHz AMD Geode LX800 CPU
          o 3 10/100 Ethernet ports (VIA VT6105M 10/100)
          o 1 miniPCI slot for future expansion (VPN Acceleration, wireless, etc.)
          o 2 USB ports
          o 256 MB DDR DRAM
    * Aluminum ALIX case with Ethernet and USB cutouts
    * 512 CF Card pre-loaded with m0n0wall
    * US Plug Style 120 VAC/DC 12V 1.0A 20W Switching Power Supply
    * Assembled and tested

link http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php?cPath=60_85&products_id=209

My question is, has anyone used/bought from Netgate before?

Also, if I ordered directly from pc engines (after shipping costs and adding up all the items I would need), it seems as though the $200 that Netgate offers is the cheapest deal I can get.

What are your thoughts?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

A little late on the reply, but figured I'd throw in my 2 cents for anybody that runs into this in the future. 

I order all my ALIX hardware from Netgate, highly recommend them. Before the ALIX, I ordered all my WRAP hardware from them. Been doing business with them for several years.

I've also ordered from PC Engines directly on a couple of occasions and never had any problems with them either, but since I'm in the US and they ship from Switzerland, it takes a good 2-3 weeks for orders to arrive unless you want to pay quite a bit more for faster shipping. Other than that, which is unavoidable on their part, no problems with PC Engines either.

cool thanks for the reply.  anyone else?  I wish netgate would get the hardware in stock already... don't know why it takes so long.