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Open-Source router? Here I was expecting to see http://openwrt.org/. ;-) Granted, not exactly an enterprise solution, but runs on $100 off-the-shelf hardware, without the power consumptions, noise, and other disadvantages of a PC-based router. I'm surprised it hasn't even been mentioned in a comment yet...

Funny, I don't think my Linksys router running OpenWrt has any GNU software installed. It sure runs Linux though!

Start with the firewall.. I had a Dell server running linux and iptables, freeswan, traffic shaping etc. It rarely even broke a sweat as a firewall, although I really liked having a linux shell on my edge router for testing purposes.. nothing beats tcpdump for figuring out whats going on, and you can't get that type of functionality from even a fancy hardware firewall.

Or can you? Enter the linksys WRT54G. It's a tiny little box with no moving parts. It essentially has 5 nics which can be grouped into switches. It has a 802.11g interface and allows easy connection of big antennas. But most importantly, it runs linux. It runs linux, iptables, tc etc very well, and all the diagnostic tools I wanted to have are still available. This thing has easily paid for itself in power saved.

Next stop, the file server. We all need a box that runs 24/7 and stores massive amounts of files (read pr0n). Once again, I was able to replace a full server with a tiny box. This one is called the linksys NSLU2... a tiny box with two usb ports and a nic. It runs linux, actually it runs Debian which is incredible and kind of blows my mind. But anyways, now all my files are served up by this little thing. It also runs postfix and does some network monitoring for me. Another great feature is that since the drives are all USB, I can turn off the ones that have things I don't need all the time on them. When I need something off them, just turn the drive on and a few seconds later its available.

Third and final optimization was my combination of both a linux and a windows desktop. Todays PCs are really fast, kind of ridiculously fast if you arent playing the latest shoot em up. VMware is free now, and I have found that as long as you have plenty of ram, running linux on win or win on linux are both very usable. So two desktop machines have become one with an extra GB ram. Even better, I can fire up an extra windows box if I want to test something that I don't trust on my real machine (experimenting with WMF's and such) or an extra linux box to try out a new distro etc...

So I've gone from 4 PCs that ran 24/7 to one (and of course a laptop, and a hx4700 ppc, etc etc The small toys don't count ;). I originally thought that these little devices would be unreliable, after all they are pretty cheap. But, both currently have uptimes over 100 days. I even kept the firewall/wireless ap running during a hurricane here last year, they run forever on a ups that wouldn't keep a PC running 15 minutes. It's suprising how quiet the office has become. Over time you don't notice the noise that several PCs can make, but it's significant. I can watch TV in there and hear it without disturbing anyone late at night. The room used to be significantly hotter than all the other rooms in my house, now it's not noticable. I've reclaimed a huge amount of space in my office. Sure, visitors might not immediately realize that I am a total geek, but sometimes that's ok.

PS I don't mean to be advertising Linksys stuff.. you can get similar devices that run the same firmwares and linux distros from other vendors. Check out http://www.openwrt.org/ and http://www.nslu2-linux.org/ for more info.

OpenWRT is pretty sweet, and FON's concept is actually appealing. But as someone else said there's this nationwide free WiFi network with the ssid "linksys" that's free, anonymous and available in virtually every major metropolitan area - though mostly in the residential areas for some strange reason. :)

I dunno. The specs. are the same as the Linksys WRT54GS, only with 2 USB ports. I think that's 8Mb of flash RAM in total; but I'm fuzzy on all that.

Have a look over at OpenWRT.org, and check out the list of packages & requirements available in their distro. Their distro is quite nice, in that installation is absolutely minimal to what is required, saving the remaining space to install, oh, let's say the Asterisk PBX package for example. Even pptp is 'optional'.

OpenWRT has a great chart of which routers are supported, plus their specs.

The asterisk possibility got me really excited, but I haven't had the time to play further. Still I kinda think that while it is a great router plus NAS, the CPU is a wee bit underpowered for full Asterisk, for example. But so what?! Its still a heckuva little server for a neat price. If it can run Asterisk, it must be able to run your libraries, but I dunno.

Here's some related info too.

What Linux package supports a webcam? The Asus stock firmware supports the webcam, but those bright purple gui colors just scream "void my warranty and flash me properly with a real Linux distro!"

I dunno. The specs. are the same as the Linksys WRT54GS, only with 2 USB ports. I think that's 8Mb of flash RAM in total; but I'm fuzzy on all that.

Have a look over at OpenWRT.org, and check out the list of packages & requirements available in their distro. Their distro is quite nice, in that installation is absolutely minimal to what is required, saving the remaining space to install, oh, let's say the Asterisk PBX package for example. Even pptp is 'optional'.

OpenWRT has a great chart of which routers are supported, plus their specs.

The asterisk possibility got me really excited, but I haven't had the time to play further. Still I kinda think that while it is a great router plus NAS, the CPU is a wee bit underpowered for full Asterisk, for example. But so what?! Its still a heckuva little server for a neat price. If it can run Asterisk, it must be able to run your libraries, but I dunno.

Here's some related info too.

What Linux package supports a webcam? The Asus stock firmware supports the webcam, but those bright purple gui colors just scream "void my warranty and flash me properly with a real Linux distro!"

the cheapest route will be a hackmeal of wireless gear.

The good news is the router. Small and prepackaged, wireless and good ole trusty 802.3 ethernet, 2-7 watts power, some have USB 2.0 connectivity. Most are 133-200 mhz, with the great mode being 200 mhz, however there are some faster. 200 mhz should be plenty for what you want; the routers all have excellent DMA capabilities for shuffling data around. No problems decoding a couple mp3's while doing some file access. As an interesting bonus, a number of the units will run off of basically any sort of voltage differential you can find; some of the Linksys's are reported good at 48v (although i cant imagine the voltage regulator onboard agrees with that statement). I cant remember, but there were a couple which seemed to run fine off of 4-6v. Almost every wall wart is a 12v supply, they just have flexible regulators.

The bad news is its basically a $60 CPU brick + wireless. Not bad at all the price, but you still need $20 USB hard drive enclosure, $100 hard drive (ahem, Seagate 7200.9; 5 year warranty & fast but noticably louder than fluid-bearings), and a usb sound card. I picked up a handful of C-Media 8 channel output cards which are, against all odds here, not entirely crap-- espsecially suprising at ~$20 a pop. So, really, the price isnt that bad. $100 basically for cpu & ram & wireless and the necessary peripherials, sans the HD itself. The suck is the stack of hard drive sound card and router, although I happen to like the modularity. Quite unexpectedly, I've found I'm usually using one or the other peripherial, oddly enough. Anyways, I personally feel it compares favorably to the mini-itx's which seem to run at truly inordate dollar sums, in complete spite of the inordately small ammounts of natural resources manufacturing required. And good luck finding boxes for em.

Carefully check out http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware for complete router specs. Since you're going to have a hard drive, you just need the 4mb flash, but the RAM should be at least 16, quite preferably 32 megs. Really, its enough. There are a couple 64meg ones. If you really want to get persnickety, consider one of the uber-fast USB flash sticks and set it up as swap space. ;) I should actually try that some day... Anyways, that awsome table will also tell you if a particular router supported by the best Linux for Routers distribution out there, OpenWrt. Sveasoft++ for actual linux users.

I'm having some issues with my USB drive right now, otherwise I'd run some NFS benches for you. I've always found it to be acceptable, but I've never really benched it. I'd suspect USB 2.0 as the primary bottleneck, ethernet as the second, router as the third.

I was going to mention the old DEC boxes with dual pcmcia, but mine are both dead,-- not a good sign-- I cant find the blasted name anywhere, and-- deathknell here-- you want a low power solution.

Good luck
Myren

Yeah eh ... who would want to do This on there cheap little router.

Research these things man they do way more then you could imagine. People have hacked frickin Sound or even a SD Card.

Sheesh research before you spew. A 200MHz Linux server that's your Router/Firewall/Ipv6 Gateway and a ton of other cool stuff all in one little box. I don't see why your bitchin.

Yeah eh ... who would want to do This on there cheap little router.

Research these things man they do way more then you could imagine. People have hacked frickin Sound or even a SD Card.

Sheesh research before you spew. A 200MHz Linux server that's your Router/Firewall/Ipv6 Gateway and a ton of other cool stuff all in one little box. I don't see why your bitchin.

Yeah eh ... who would want to do This on there cheap little router.

Research these things man they do way more then you could imagine. People have hacked frickin Sound or even a SD Card.

Sheesh research before you spew. A 200MHz Linux server that's your Router/Firewall/Ipv6 Gateway and a ton of other cool stuff all in one little box. I don't see why your bitchin.

I would have to say yes.

The deals are out there. You just have to know what you're looking for.

And because I'm dumb and don't preview, here's the fixed link....

This thing's a pretty versatile device for under $100. Load OpenWRT on it and you'll have a capable Linux machine/distro suitable for small-network routing and firewalling with iptables, vconfig and brcfg. The built-in Ethernet switch is 802.1q VLAN capable and configurable at the per-port level, so you can split the network in two and still have the 'router' connected to both and handling Internet traffic with some modifications to the startup scripts and dnsmasq config. Sounds like a fun project, in any case.

And because I'm dumb and don't preview, here's the fixed link....

This thing's a pretty versatile device for under $100. Load OpenWRT on it and you'll have a capable Linux machine/distro suitable for small-network routing and firewalling with iptables, vconfig and brcfg. The built-in Ethernet switch is 802.1q VLAN capable and configurable at the per-port level, so you can split the network in two and still have the 'router' connected to both and handling Internet traffic with some modifications to the startup scripts and dnsmasq config. Sounds like a fun project, in any case.

This thing's a pretty versatile device for under $100. Load OpenWRT on it and you'll have a capable Linux machine/distro suitable for small-network routing and firewalling with iptables, vconfig and brcfg. The ,a href="http://wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Configur ation#EthernetSwitch">built-in Ethernet switch is 802.1q VLAN capable and configurable at the per-port level, so you can split the network in two and still have the 'router' connected to both and handling Internet traffic with some modifications to the startup scripts and dnsmasq config. Sounds like a fun project, in any case.

The best G model you can buy (2.0 rev. XH) has 4megs flash and might have 32megs of ram enabled, though some of them only enable 16. All GS models except the new 4.0 have 8megs flash and 32megs of ram.

It looks like the 4.0 GS is "crippled" in the same way as the 5.0 G boxes. Half of each type of memory and it looks like it may use the new OS, too.

Reference:
http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware

Regarding OpenWRT, take your pick: OpenWRT TableOfHardware. I'm quite sure there are other projects out there also.

There are lots of alternatives to the Linksys routers. A detailed list of routers compatible with the OpenWrt firmware can be found here.

I have just bought a cheap ASUS WL-500g Deluxe router with two USB 2.0 ports, which can be used with storage devices, printers, webcams etc. With USB ports the possibilities are endless! Linksys seem to have been a bit slow to realise this anyway.

There are lots of alternatives to the Linksys routers. A detailed list of routers compatible with the OpenWrt firmware can be found here.

I have just bought a cheap ASUS WL-500g Deluxe router with two USB 2.0 ports, which can be used with storage devices, printers, webcams etc. With USB ports the possibilities are endless! Linksys seem to have been a bit slow to realise this anyway.

There are many manufacturers out there that sell linux enabled routers. Linksys might lose a lot of sales over this move.

Ndiswrapper is unfortunately a way to work around what is to all intents and purposes broken hardware. You were cheated when you bought that thing. It's always going to be an administration pain in the ass until the manufacturer co-operates with the developers by providing specs. I know you probably don't want to hear that having spent your money (and time) on whatever that card is, but my advice would be to sell it and get a fully supported one. (I actually had to do exactly the same thing).

W.r.t. NetworkManager in FedoraCore4 the developer (Christopher Aillon) says himself that the current incarnation sucks and he's released a new, better version that you might be interested in trying out. It's working like a champ for me, and I had resorted to doing all my wireless configuration on the commandline in FC4.

Hope you get your situation sorted out. I feel your pain, but if you spend another $40 on a card that's supported, use OpenVPN on the Linksys router (flash the router with OpenWRT, it's simple and gives you real encryption as opposed to the lame-ass WPA which is crackable), then you'll be in clover.

For people who have some Linux knowledge, I'd suggest looking into OpenWRT with Chilispot.

It basicly provides you with all you need for running a hotspot without bothering your users with new software or different settings. User connects, is directed to a webpage where they have to login, and everything works..

Once I get a spare WRT54G I'll install an open hotspot using OpenWRT and meshdog. You can set up OpenWRT in a snap (the Wiki was *very* useful) and the packages are installed using a debian-like tool aptly named ipkg.

Once I get a spare WRT54G I'll install an open hotspot using OpenWRT and meshdog. You can set up OpenWRT in a snap (the Wiki was *very* useful) and the packages are installed using a debian-like tool aptly named ipkg.

yes a few have been made to run unofficial firmware unfortunately they don't seem to be the ones with built in dsl modems...

This is true, but they're getting close...

ditto! wrt54gs for me with openwrt http://www.openwrt.org/ I'm happy.

Linksys WRT54GS http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?childpage name=US%2FLayout&packedargs=c%3DL_Product_C2%26cid %3D1126536698937&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisit orWrapper + OpenWRT http://www.openwrt.org/ = < $100

What about OpenWRT http://openwrt.org/, it runs on several consumer grade DSL routers http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware and supports IPv6 http://wiki.openwrt.org/IPv6_howto?highlight=(ipv6 )?

With nice Web frontends it's as easy to use (when successfully installed) as e.g. the Linksys Web frontend. Freifunk http://www.freifunk.net/ has a nice customized OpenWRT version (sorry, homepage is in German only).

What about OpenWRT http://openwrt.org/, it runs on several consumer grade DSL routers http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware and supports IPv6 http://wiki.openwrt.org/IPv6_howto?highlight=(ipv6 )?

With nice Web frontends it's as easy to use (when successfully installed) as e.g. the Linksys Web frontend. Freifunk http://www.freifunk.net/ has a nice customized OpenWRT version (sorry, homepage is in German only).

What about OpenWRT http://openwrt.org/, it runs on several consumer grade DSL routers http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware and supports IPv6 http://wiki.openwrt.org/IPv6_howto?highlight=(ipv6 )?

With nice Web frontends it's as easy to use (when successfully installed) as e.g. the Linksys Web frontend. Freifunk http://www.freifunk.net/ has a nice customized OpenWRT version (sorry, homepage is in German only).

That's strange - it took less than a week to get one here in Austria a few weeks ago...

Then again, an ASUS WL-500G Deluxe might also be interesting; it's only got 4 MB of flash and just a 200 MHz CPU (as oposed to the NSLU2's 266MHz CPU once you de-underclock it), but it's also got a 4-port switch and wireless access point in addition to 2 USB 2.0 ports, and you can run OpenWRT on it

Well, at those prices getting both is definitely an option... :)

np: Auch - Forever After (Kiss Tomorow Goodbye)

gives a home wireless SIP telephone.
There is currently development going on for the access point distribution OpenWRT to build a SIP phone on it.
The access point with USB (e.g. Asus Wl-500g(x)) is running asterisk and bluez and has a Bluetooth dongle connected. It is paired with a Headset and a Mobile. The Mobile is used for typing in the numbers, the headset for the call.
See this thread: http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=2187
Any help is highly appreciated.

But in the past year, the only complaint has been one time when I happen to be downloading some large torrents and the wife was unhappy about her phone conversation quality.

Get a QoS-enabled router. If you buy a Linksys WRT54G, you can install OpenWrt on it. OpenWrt basically turns it into a linux box, and gives you full control over the QoS characteristics, etc etc. Pretty cool stuff.

Pick yourself up the following:

1x Asus WL-500g Wireless Broadband Router
1x USB HD Chassis
1x Hard Drive (Old/New, as long as it goes in chassis)
Visit: http://openwrt.org/

Assemble the USB HD chassis, Re-Flash the Asus router to run Linux using OpenWRT, attach the storage to one of the two USB ports on the router platform, configure the Linux platform to be whatever type of fileserver/access-point/bridge/nfs/cifs/web server you want it to be....

Now, all you need is a method of powering this on the road. The router platform requires 12VDC 1000mA, and the USB HD chassis vary, but are usually in the range of 5VDC 2A + 12VDC 2A. The easiest out is to use a power inverter to ramp your cars output up to 120VAC, and then use the transformer bricks from the equipment to convert it back down, but then you'd just be a lazy twat wasting your money. Pick up a book on electricity and visit an electronics component store, and build yourself some power conversion circuitry. You'll be much prouder when you don't spend $40 on an inverter, and can prove you know sort of what is going on.

Voila. You've got yourself

For Slashdotters, the fancy stuff that can be done with the WRT54G ought to be common knowledge considering how many stories there've been about it. The quick summary (since despite your ID#, you must be new here) is that it can basically do anything that Linux can do and that can fit on the flash memory. In fact, it can use all ths software listed here.

http://www.openwrt.org/

It's the most open of the alternativesd, last I looked. Not necessarily great for the lazy, though, since it will want some hand-configuring.

I was basicaly doing this on a 486 33Mhz pc using shorewall and a tc script, untill i replaced it with a linksys wrt54G running openwrt, shorewall and wondershaper.
the openwrt handle everything i throw at it. on my 5/5Mbit link, with low cpu consumption (10-30% depending on load). and the pingtimes are lovely with wondershaper.
the linksys isn't a powerhouse exactly, and a shorewall restart akes about 90 seconds. but with iptables save/restore, this is a nonissue. Boottimes are quite acceptable compared to all semiadvancved routers out there. Not that you ever reboot the thing...

I Admit that it do takes quite a beating to saturate my 5/5 in the first place, but it happened frequently enoughf to be worth the 30 minutes it took to setup shorewall and wondershaper on the router.

the wrt54g+opwnwrt have lower power consumption then a full pc, and very low noise compared to a pc. But still remain a full linux with the ipkg package management, allowing you the usualy freedom you experience in linux. Something you dont get from all the custom firmwares out there.

And It's dead easy to install for even the least technical inclined gamer out there. But it do require the use of ssh and reading skills, so it's a notch harder then custom firmware's that use the webinterface only.

sepski

The best way to build a WISP with a WRT54G is using the Freifunk Firmware (based on openwrt.org) which builds a routed mesh network with any WRT54G flashed with the same firmware. It is really simple and totally open and free - unlike the Sveasoft weenies. Some howtos on my blog:

How to setup OLSR (a mesh protocol) with Freifunk firmware on a WRT54G
Sharing broadband with a WRT54G
Really simple antennas for the WRT54G

You get a Linksys WRT54G (or other hackable) router and put openwrt on it, put it in "client" mode (so it acts like a client) add an external antenna if needed so you can pick up some open wifi hotspot out there (left open for others to use of course) or starbucks etc... You can get up to 2 miles easy outdoors.

Then on the other end, you plug in a normal router, just pretend that the WRT54GS is a cable modem (it supplies the internet, DHCP and all that on it's ethernet ports).

Everyone logs into the normal router and off you go!

If you have a system that gets internet in the boonies, like satellite internet or something, just turn on connection sharing and connect a normal router to your ethernet. It should all run on a car battery without running it down for weeks so don't wory about solar.

The linksys and other router really don't take much power so you could run them off a large solar panel for 24/7 access.

Here's some links for lazy people:
http://openwrt.org/ClientModeHowto
http://wiki.openwrt.org/ClientModeHowto
http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000690043237/

You get a Linksys WRT54G (or other hackable) router and put openwrt on it, put it in "client" mode (so it acts like a client) add an external antenna if needed so you can pick up some open wifi hotspot out there (left open for others to use of course) or starbucks etc... You can get up to 2 miles easy outdoors.

Then on the other end, you plug in a normal router, just pretend that the WRT54GS is a cable modem (it supplies the internet, DHCP and all that on it's ethernet ports).

Everyone logs into the normal router and off you go!

If you have a system that gets internet in the boonies, like satellite internet or something, just turn on connection sharing and connect a normal router to your ethernet. It should all run on a car battery without running it down for weeks so don't wory about solar.

The linksys and other router really don't take much power so you could run them off a large solar panel for 24/7 access.

Here's some links for lazy people:
http://openwrt.org/ClientModeHowto
http://wiki.openwrt.org/ClientModeHowto
http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000690043237/

How about OpenWRT? OpenWRT is a linux distribtion (complete with iptables) that runs on an inexpensive (less then $70), off the shelf wireless access point. No fan, hard drive, or moving parts. Configuration stored in NVRAM. Wireless can be turned off if you only want routing.

They seem to be referring to software to put on existing servers. It would be hard to build a decent OpenBSD machine for under $100 US.

Of course if they DID want additional hardware, the absolute cheapest general-purpose linux box is the Linksys WRT54G. At least, it becomes a general purpose box as soon as you throw OpenWRT on it. Just set up the iptables rules however you like. You may want to disable the wireless functionality.

I've seen the WRT54G selling for as little as $50 CDN, which is probably about $40 US. It doesn't get much cheaper than that for a linux box.

Still, I think he meant more software-wise.

I'm always considering WL-500G or WRT54GS for modest routers: drop openwrt and standart linux system is ready for use.

Granted, they can't push more than 4-6MB/s, but you've got 5-ports + wifi [+ usb + lpt] in small box.

I'm always considering WL-500G or WRT54GS for modest routers: drop openwrt and standart linux system is ready for use.

Granted, they can't push more than 4-6MB/s, but you've got 5-ports + wifi [+ usb + lpt] in small box.

If you can handle losing the (lame, in my opinion) Linksys web configuration interface, OpenWRT is probably a better choice. I've had it running for about 6 months here with no problems, and it's a real OSS project, with anoymous CVS access and all. If you do need the web interface, there's a couple of different add-on packages that provide one, or you could use the Freifunk Firmware, which I understand is based on OpenWRT and includes one (I haven't used it mysef).

The Linksys does VPN :) Sveasoft has a VPN server in it. OpenWRT uses OpenVPN.
(Here is a list of some firmwares)

I'm more hoping to get the ipkg package system working on that thing, being able to install additional software would be extremely cool. Consider how many custom packages there are for iPAQ/Familiar or Linksys WRT54G/OpenWRT (uses ipkg as well) devices, Nokia should be interested in getting a huge boost in application availability through the big OSS community.

My brother has been using sat for internet 3 hours from nearest paved road for last year or so. It works great! I took a grandstream budget-tone(preconfigured to connect to my asterisk server) with me last summer when I went down there to visit. It blew them away when I called time and temperature at a local bank and the audio was crystal clear. They laughed at me when I tried to call my wife and all she heard was strange noises-lol Oddly enough we could hear her fine. Very weird to hear a perfectly clear voice that far out in the middle of no where. The radio phone going to a little town 80km away sounds ok, but you can tell its over a radio.

My brother has started using skype and its bearable. You almost have to say over at the end of each sentence.

I set up a wrt54g running http://www.openwrt.org/ and it acts as a little ap there for them. The really cool thing is, I left it running openvpn, so when ever they fire up the generator it will connect up to my server. I thought using putty over a dial up was bad, this is around 800ms-1000ms, still very cool to be able to ssh into a router in the middle of the amazon. Ya, I know I'm a nerd....

the only bummer about the sat service is you have to use a windows pc for the connector. It has some client software that runs to connect it..

here's their website if anyone know someone that needs internet in south america for $65 a month

http://www.gilat.com/

If you do not want anything do not compile it. simple

http://openwrt.org/
http://www.uclinux.org/
http://www.lynuxworks.com/
http://www.windriver.com/

I think what might make it special (and worth $120 perhaps) is the 4 Ports of GigEthernet, WPA Personal/WPA Enterprise, SPI firewall, QoS with apps predefined. It's a lot out of the box, and probably worth it to a lot of people. I am guessing that you won't find comparable features (hardware especially) in anything under $100.

Me personally, I am happier with a $70 Linksys WRT54GS running OpenWRT http://www.openwrt.org/ I can load QoS, VPN, different firewall options, VoIP, ....... as needed. It's probably not for the home user though.