main June 2019

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8 participants
5 discussions

firewall hardware recommendations
by mick 03 Jul '19

03 Jul '19

This is (slightly) off topic because I am after advice for hardware to run pfsense/opnsense router/firewall software (which is BSD based, not linux) but I hope you will forgive me. I have been running openvpn on a SOHO router for a while now (so that all my internet traffic goes over a VPN tunnel to one of several VMs I have dotted about). That has worked fine and I saw little in the way of speed degradation over my ADSL line (I got around 8-10 Megabits/s over the tunnel when my ADSL speed was around 11-12), But I have recently upgraded my broadband to FTTC and get around 30 Megabits/s over the WAN. However, my openvpn tunnel speed has stayed at the 8-10 mark. Not good. At first I thought that the problem lay with openvpn itself, but of course I then twigged that my router was probably the culprit because it can't hanndle the encryption load. Sure enough, testing connections to my VPN endpoints whilst running openvpn directly from my i7 desktop showed that I could get the full 30 Meg. So I now need to ditch the router and get something a bit beefier. I would also like to run another firewall between my two internal Lans - hence the interest in opnsense or pfsense (though additionally I am open to recommendations for alternative F/W software so long as it includes openvpn capability). I could simply re-purpose an old desktop (I have a couple lying around, including an old i5 with 8 gig of RAM) but that strikes ma as too much of a power hog when something much smalller would probably do. So - does anyone out there have any recommendations? The CPU must have AES-NI to help with the crypto load (that is probably what is killing my current router setup), but I don't need much in the way of storage so some small fanless device would probably do fine. Cheers Mick --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mick Morgan gpg fingerprint: FC23 3338 F664 5E66 876B 72C0 0A1F E60B 5BAD D312 https://baldric.net/about-trivia ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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T-O-T!
by Ted Harding 19 Jun '19

19 Jun '19

Totally-Off-Topic! But you are the one bunch I know likely to be amply knowledgeable regarding what I want to find out. This is to do with wgat happens when the time comes (if it comes) to replace the battery of a mobile phone. The discharge/recharge cycle with rechargeable batteries leads in the end (but slowly) to loss of rechargeability, at which pointhe battery needs to be replad. I basically have a couple of questions: 1: If say 40-80% of the capacity is used each day, with full rechaging at the end of each day (phonr switched off at nght), how long is the battery likely to last until it needs replacenent? 2: During replacement, the phone is presumably totally without power for a short prtiod of time. Can this lead to information stored on the phone being lost? Specifically, my phone is a fairly basic mobile, a DORO 6520. (And it has so far been running happily for about 2 years). With thanks in advance for any info (and apologies for ny B-O-T), Best wishes to all, Ted.

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Webmail Server
by steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk 17 Jun '19

17 Jun '19

I was happily using Squirrelmail as a webserver inside my network, firewalled so it couldn't be accessed by the big-bad internet. This seems to have been removed from the *Buntu distros because it had security issues that weren't fixed. I've looked at various alternatives but each time I look at the requirements, they all seem a bit heavy for my extremely occasional use requirements. I don't need spell checking & fancy graphics. I don't need all the mail to be loaded into a database for fast response and searching. I just need: To be able to login as any valid email user to access those emails. To access via a web browser Simple configuration Minimal processor load when not in use sending/reading emails Is there a leightweight equivalent to squirrelmail that anyone uses? Advice gratefully accepted. Cheers Steve

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T-o-T - phone battery
by Christopher Dawkins 16 Jun '19

16 Jun '19

> Message: 2 > Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:17:36 +0100 > From: Ted Harding <ted.harding(a)wlandres.net> > Subject: [ALUG] T-O-T! > > This is to do with what happens when the time comes (if it comes) to > replace the battery of a mobile phone. > > The discharge/recharge cycle with rechargeable batteries leads in the end > (but slowly) to loss of rechargeability, > at which point the battery needs to be replaced. > > I basically have a couple of questions: > > 1: If say 40-80% of the capacity is used each day, with full recharging at > the end of each day (phone switched off at night), > how long is the battery likely to last until it needs replacement? > Varies widely. I find most modern batteries last a lot longer than they used to, and I can keep phones for four years or more. Though since I have been buying Chinese ones from geekbuying.com I can afford a new one every three years. My Elephone 8000 had the problem of compulsory diagnostics in Chinese, where I had to guess by bitter experience which symbol meant 'OK' and which meant 'try again', the worst problem being the 'make emergency call' function on which I had to give a fast apology. But then I got a Xiaomi A1 M1 with 'World' ROM, which is all in English and doing very well indeed. I did get a new second battery for my Samsung 3 many years ago, and within a few years found both old and new batteries equally good (both Samsung 3 and Elephone are still in action). The nice thing about Chinese phones is that they all take two SIM cards, very useful when travelling and inded also in the UK when in bad reception areas, so long as they are completely different. > 2: During replacement, the phone is presumably totally without power for a short period of time. Can this lead > to information stored on the phone being lost? > Never been a problem for me. > Specifically, my phone is a fairly basic mobile, a DORO 6520. (And it has > so far > been running happily for about 2 years). > Goole it. New batteries seem to be available for under £20. (Though googling DORO 6520 battery returns at first hit an amazingly useless official 7-item help page) -- Christopher Dawkins, Archivist, Felsted school Garnetts Corner, Jollyboys Lane North, Felsted, Dynmow, Essex CM6 3DU 07816 821659

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Reformatting a PDF
by Mark Rogers 03 Jun '19

03 Jun '19

On the Royal Mail website is a "handy" price guide available as a PDF: http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/Royal-Mail-Our-Prices-March-20… It's only actually "handy" if you have a weird printer (or at least very unusual sized paper). I'm not sure what size/shape you'd call it but it would go into a DL envelope without folding... What I'd like to do is split the individual pages out and merge them to get three (maybe four) "pages" per A4 sheet so that I can print it on my very normal A4 printer. Suggestions? This is an annual headache and I'm fed up with a different manual solution every year. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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