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What is it?

PacketProtector is a Linux distribution for wireless routers, built on top of OpenWrt. The goal of this project is to transform the router into a unified threat management device.

Here's what you get-

  • a stateful firewall (iptables)
  • WPA/WPA2 Enterprise wireless (802.1X and PEAP with FreeRADIUS)
  • intrusion prevention (Snort-inline)
  • remote access VPN (OpenVPN)
  • content filtering/parental controls (DansGuardian)
  • web antivirus (DG + ClamAV)
  • a local certificate authority (OpenSSL)
  • secure management interfaces (SSH and HTTPS)
  • advanced firewall scripts for blocking IM and P2P apps
  • IP spoofing prevention (Linux rp_filter)
  • basic protocol anomaly detection (ipt_unclean)
  • anti-phishing (OpenDNS)
  • automatic signature/rule updates
Each of these services is automatically bootstrapped and configured with sensible defaults. A secure web interface makes common configuration tasks as simple as a point and click.

PacketProtector requires a compatible router (see below) and a USB 2.0 drive with 120MB of free space. More... 

Supported routers-

  • ASUS WL-500g Deluxe
  • ASUS WL-500g Premium
  • ASUS WL-500W
  • Linksys WRTSL54GS
  • Linksys WRT350N (version 1)
News:
07/11/12 Closing time.
04/16/11 End of line for 4.x.
12/30/10 PacketProtector 4.0 released!
06/30/10 PacketProtector 3.8 released!
04/01/10 PacketProtector 3.7 released!

Press:
"PacketProtector.Org is an example of all the things that are good about open source and free software." ~Linux.com

Where do I get it?

Visit the download page.

How do I install it?

WARNING- installing third party firmware (like PacketProtector) will void your warranty. But it's extremely unlikely that it'll irrevocably wreck your hardware.

** PacketProtector **

Part 1: the firmware-

NOTE- do not connect your USB drive to the router until after the new firmware is installed.

Linksys WRTSL54GS

  1. Download the PacketProtector firmware.
  2. Login to the Linksys web management interface.
  3. Go to 'Administration' and choose 'Firmware Upgrade'.
  4. Browse for the PacketProtector .bin file (e.g. pp-openwrt-linksys.bin), and click 'Upgrade'.
  5. When the upgrade completes the router will be accessible via SSH or HTTPS (user='root'; password='packetprotector').

ASUS WL-500g
Note- these instructions are for the Windows 2000/XP/Vista TFTP client. BSD, Linux, and OS X users click here.

  1. Download the PacketProtector firmware.
  2. Open a command prompt and 'cd' to the directory where you downloaded the firmware (.trx file).
  3. Type 'tftp -i 192.168.1.1 PUT pp-openwrt-asus.trx' but DO NOT HIT ENTER!
  4. Unplug the power to the router.
  5. Hold down the reset/restore button while reconnecting the power. Wait until the power light starts blinking before releasing the reset/restore button.
  6. Hit enter in your command prompt window (to run 'tftp -i 192.168.1.1 PUT pp-openwrt-asus.trx').
  7. Wait 15-30 seconds for the image to upload. If you receive a TFTP timeout message start the process over again (from step 3).
  8. Wait 4-5 minutes and power cycle the router.
  9. The router is now accessible via SSH or HTTPS (user='root'; password='packetprotector').

Part 2: the USB drive-

  1. Download the USB tarball (e.g. packetprotector.tar.gz), unzip it, and move it to your USB drive. The 'packetprotector' directory must be on the root of the USB drive.
  2. Connect the USB drive to the router.
  3. Reboot the router. Congratulations, you're done!

Default LAN/WLAN settings-
IP = 192.168.1.1 mask 255.255.255.0 (static)
wireless disabled

The default login is 'root' with the password 'packetprotector'.

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All contents and design are copyright © 2010 by PacketProtector.