annoyed with cheapo home routers

[nonsequitur]

as the subject line suggests, i'm pretty annoyed with the home routers i've purchased for my home cable modem connection.

i don't consider myself a power user, but it seems web surfing/ irc/ and occasional bit torrent usage (combined with my roommates occasional use on her own pc) brings my home router to it's knees on nearly a daily basis.

i am currently using a dlink-704p, and have used a smc xxxabr ( i can't remember the model number at the moment).

i'm seriously considering plunking down the $300 or so for a 'simple' cisco router to add to my network. i have no ccna or any cisco cert, but i'm fairly confident i can get it to work, once i figure out what the heck to get. ( what would the right model be? )

i'm also considering turning an old compaq into a router with one of the linux/bsd solutions out there. would that box need to be in between the cable modem and the first switch? (if so, i'll need to rewire a fair amount)

i might try out the linux router situation first just to see how clunky a solution it might be, though i'm concerned about the power usage from having that pc on 24/7.

would a competant computer trouble shooter be in over his head with cisco equipment, as it's an entirely different can of beans?

thanks to all who read this lengthy post...

 

[PHUNBALL]

In your situation you are much better off going the linux route. You can download Smoothwall from www.smoothwall.org, install it on an old PC with two NIC's, and be ready to roll in less than 30 minutes. With Cisco it is probably going to be a challenge every time you want to do something if you don't have the time to sit down and learn it.

Also, Linux is not at all Clunky when used as a firewall/router, all the best firewalls are based on some sort of *nix.

I personally use FreeBSD, but have used a Cisco router, smoothwall, Linux, and Checkpoint in the past...

 

[nonsequitur]

thanks for the quick reply. i suppose i meant clunky in the 're-arrange the wiring and pay the extra in electricity every month' way. i certainly should try that before spending a couple hundge on something i don't even know if i could maintain.

i appreciate the smoothwall suggestion. i may use that or upgrade my suse install that's already on that box.

now, does that box need to be connected in between the cable modem and the first switch? as it is now, my set up is:

cable modem
|
router - my computer
|
old router (as switch) - old compaq + roommates laptop

will automatic dhcp work if the compaq router isn't at the 'top' ?

 

[PHUNBALL]

Install it like this:

Cable Modem
|
|
|
Smoothwall
|
|
|
Router(as switch)----Roomate
|
|
You

Just make sure that all routing is disabled for the router being used as a switch to elliminate any confusion. Also, make sure that your PC, your roomates PC, and the Smoothwall's GREEN interface are all plugged into the switch ports of that router and not the WAN port.

 

[Snugglebear]

The extra electricity amounts to maybe a buck or two a month. Routers don't need much in the way of processing power or storage, so you can get away with old, cheap, and low-power solutions. The main consideration when working with them is ease of use; SOHO routers are simple because their users demand them to be.

EDIT: BT uses up a lot of resources very quickly. The sheer number of connections it makes in a few minutes of operation is enough to overwhelm most SOHO jobs.

 

[StickyLoad]

I use a webramp 700s for my firewall/router. Works great and I can run bit torrent with no problems. They are no longer in production, but can be easily found on ebay.

 

[nonsequitur]

thanks to all who replied. over the weekend i set up smoothwall on that pc and it was absurdly easy.

thanks a bunchles!

 

[ZenOps]

I always use routers if just for the electricity cost:

A <10 watt router might use up $6 worth of electricity a year if left on 24/7.

A 120watt computer sucking 200 watts because of the 60 percent efficiency powersupply may suck up $120 worth of electricity a year.

Its a no brainer for me... with the amount of electricity I save using a router, I'd rather put the $ towards a nicer computer.

 

[FLECOM]

the cisco you want is a 2514 with a pair of ethernet transievers...

you can get them for around $150~$250 on ebay

if you use a lot of bit torrent it can trash a crappy router... the sheer amount of connections bt opens and such is pretty nutty...