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Downgrading from pfSense... suggestions?

A

akwok

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2005
Messages
158
Hello!

I'm currently thinking of downgrading from pfSense to a Tomato/DD-WRT-based off-the-shelf router, since I could really use the pfSense box for other things (namely a secondary HTPC for the bedroom :p).

For someone who does heavy torrenting (50-100 active torrents at any given time), what router would be best suited for this? I don't really care about wireless -- it's pretty much an afterthought.

I have several WRT54GLs lying around but they've never been beefy enough, it seems.

I was thinking of picking up a WRT610N and flashing it with an experimental DD-WRT build, but I want to make sure the NAT table is sufficiently big enough and that its QoS capabilities aren't too shabby. Stability is a big thing for me. I was also thinking of picking up a WRT600N on eBay...

I am interested in Cisco routers but I do not have the slightest idea how to set one up, plus they're pretty pricey. My budget is < $150.

EDIT: Oh, and gigabit is a must!

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Your torrenting is what's going to dictate what you need I think.

I haven't kept up much on the Tomato/DD-WRT scene, but last I checked the configs required some low-level modification (dropping to a shell and editing the configs) and/or they recommended overclocking the routers themselves to alleviate issues with having so many connection open.

Perhaps there may be a "beefier" router out there now that handles things better?

Maybe try to stick with PfSense. I was just responding to a post earlier and had said that your NIC choice really dictates how well your PfSense box will run. Maybe check on Ebay for an older Via ITX board and also grab a dual-port Intel 10/100 NIC. That combo should easily handle 25Mbps and all the connections you need.

Riley
 
The problem with pretty much any consumer router, even the premium ones, is that there just isn't enough memory for a large state table.

Buy an ALIX 2D2 for pfSense. If you buy direct from the manufacturer you can do it for right around $150 shipped with a case, PSU and CF card. These can do pretty much wire speed 100mbit NAT throughput with any packet size, handle about 100,000 states with ease, and only consume about 3W or so.

Another interesting option is the Ubiquiti RouterStation Pro. Pretty powerful little board, but it's MIPS-based so you can't run pfSense, but it's about the most powerful hardware you can buy for *-wrt (ships with OpenWRT, not sure which other ones are supported). 680MHz, 128MB, GigE - I'm not sure if anyone's come up with a prefabbed case for it yet, it's a pretty new device.
 
Skud said:
Your torrenting is what's going to dictate what you need I think.

I haven't kept up much on the Tomato/DD-WRT scene, but last I checked the configs required some low-level modification (dropping to a shell and editing the configs) and/or they recommended overclocking the routers themselves to alleviate issues with having so many connection open.

Perhaps there may be a "beefier" router out there now that handles things better?

Maybe try to stick with PfSense. I was just responding to a post earlier and had said that your NIC choice really dictates how well your PfSense box will run. Maybe check on Ebay for an older Via ITX board and also grab a dual-port Intel 10/100 NIC. That combo should easily handle 25Mbps and all the connections you need.

Riley
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have a dual-port Intel PRO/1000 NIC right now, which works wonderfully. Don't get me wrong, my pfSense box is pretty much perfect for my needs right now, but it's also a high powered machine which can handle HD content, so I'd like to use it as an HTPC instead of wasting its resources with pfSense.


keenan said:
The problem with pretty much any consumer router, even the premium ones, is that there just isn't enough memory for a large state table.

Buy an ALIX 2D2 for pfSense. If you buy direct from the manufacturer you can do it for right around $150 shipped with a case, PSU and CF card. These can do pretty much wire speed 100mbit NAT throughput with any packet size, handle about 100,000 states with ease, and only consume about 3W or so.

Another interesting option is the Ubiquiti RouterStation Pro. Pretty powerful little board, but it's MIPS-based so you can't run pfSense, but it's about the most powerful hardware you can buy for *-wrt (ships with OpenWRT, not sure which other ones are supported). 680MHz, 128MB, GigE - I'm not sure if anyone's come up with a prefabbed case for it yet, it's a pretty new device.
Click to expand...

The RouterStation Pro looks awesome! Going to check it out and see whether it's suitable. I'm fine with *-wrt, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to work with Tomato (yet).

I'm interested in the ALIX but it's only 10/100. :(
 
I'm planning on putting in a NAS, so the gigabit really is a necessity for backing up, etc!
 
akwok said:
I'm planning on putting in a NAS, so the gigabit really is a necessity for backing up, etc!
Click to expand...

Gigabit switch for your LAN, PFSense with 2x ethernet ports, 1x for WAN, 1x for LAN to uplink to your switch. Thus 10/100 is not a bottleneck for your NAS and LAN transfers.
 
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