I work for an ISP that sells broadband wireles. In designing our network, I chose to use almost the exactly same setup as you described. PPPoE gives us a lot more flexibility than any other access control method. You can back it with RADIUS for simple user management, and there are a lot more client solutions out there, ranging from free to licensed. We've been running with few problems for over 6 months now with our current hardware setup. I'd suggest checking out MikroTik RouterOS. It's a linux-based OS that supports everything mentioned thus-far in this thread.. from PPPoE to PPTP and even IPsec. You can even toss a pci/pcmcia card in it and make it an access point which removes another device from the network.
A local computer auction that I frequent sells the old-style IBM keyboards brand new in retail packages, with detachable cables, internal speaker on the bottom, etc. I just picked one up 2 days ago for $2. Seems that most people don't like them anymore. They dont know what they're missing! If youre in eastern PA, check out this page for a schedule of auctions.
If you're looking for a cheap way to get an LCD running on your system, check out the Sanyo DM016Z at this place (scroll down-near the bottom). It's a 2x16 character backlit LCD that uses the industry-standard Hitachi HD44780 controller for only USD $5.99 + S&H. You may also want to purchase the lcd cable for $0.99 if you want to make life easier. There are also links on the page to schematics to show you how to connect the device to a parallel port or serial port.
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I work for an ISP that sells broadband wireles. In designing our network, I chose to use almost the exactly same setup as you described. PPPoE gives us a lot more flexibility than any other access control method. You can back it with RADIUS for simple user management, and there are a lot more client solutions out there, ranging from free to licensed. We've been running with few problems for over 6 months now with our current hardware setup. I'd suggest checking out MikroTik RouterOS. It's a linux-based OS that supports everything mentioned thus-far in this thread.. from PPPoE to PPTP and even IPsec. You can even toss a pci/pcmcia card in it and make it an access point which removes another device from the network.
A local computer auction that I frequent sells the old-style IBM keyboards brand new in retail packages, with detachable cables, internal speaker on the bottom, etc. I just picked one up 2 days ago for $2. Seems that most people don't like them anymore. They dont know what they're missing!
If youre in eastern PA, check out this page for a schedule of auctions.
If you're looking for a cheap way to get an LCD running on your system, check out the Sanyo DM016Z at this place (scroll down-near the bottom). It's a 2x16 character backlit LCD that uses the industry-standard Hitachi HD44780 controller for only USD $5.99 + S&H. You may also want to purchase the lcd cable for $0.99 if you want to make life easier. There are also links on the page to schematics to show you how to connect the device to a parallel port or serial port.