My knowledge about how routers and firewalls work is limited. Currently on my home network (with 3 PCs) I am using a LinkSys BEFSR41 4 Port Cable / DSL router. Here's my question--can I eliminate the router? Am I able to take an ethernet cable from my cable modem to my public ethernet port on my Astaro box and then an ethernet cable from the private ethernet port right up to a switch where I also have my home PC's hooked up? Can an Astaro box replace my router and the functions it performs (currently, it does port forwarding outside of normal stuff, and that's about all I need out of it)? I'm gathering the firewall can take care of port forwarding and access, etc...
Please fill me in on this as I have the opportunity to get rid of the router and replace it with a Linksys Switch. I figure there's no use in having too many hops to get out to the internet (PC to switch to firewall to router to internet if I do keep the Linksys Router)
