Remote management access to 7100 via VPN

[Anonymous]

I am working on installing a 7100 at a remote mountain Boy Scout High Adventure Base.  First off I am a EE, not a networking professional, so this is a learning experience for me.  As everyone knows Boy Scouts runs on volunteers and I am stretching my knowledge of what I know.  Phones are all working, most over uWave links and using the FXO ports to connect to analog terminations for phone calls.

My current need at this time is I would like to be able to access the 7100 management remotely from in town.  So here are my questions:

1) Currently the 7100 sits behind a Ubiquiti Edge router the IT guy installed before the 7100 was donated.  Since the 7100 has what seems to be a sufficient router built into it, I would like to remove the Ubiquiti and configure the 7100 as the main camp router. Would this be considered a good idea?  Is the 7100 default config sufficient to act as a router/firewall for the camp?  Understand we only have a few computers and the phone system up there.  Internet access is via a 900E and a single T1.

2) Can I configure a VPN tunnel so that I can use something like 'openVPN' on my laptop to administer the 7100 and access the 10.10.10.x subnet.  It would be great if I can manage the few computers remotely also.

Thanks in advance

Dennis

Scout Volunteer

[Anonymous]

Dennis, technically speaking the 7100 can function as a router and firewall for your site, though if you aren't familiar with its operation I would suggest leaving everything in place the way it currently is. Regarding your VPN question, do you know if your current edge router supports VPN? Currently your two easiest options for management would be to terminate a VPN on the Ubiquiti router or to forward management ports through the Ubiquiti so that you can reach the 7100. Thanks