Using a computer as a router - is it worth the effor?

M

Murkon

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
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319
Subject says it all.

I've had a Netgear RP614 and Linksys BEFSR41 go bad on me and I am considering setting up a 2nd comp as a router rather than purchasing another router.

How hard is it to do so?

Also, what would you reccomend for doing this?

I still have the BEFSR41...while it doesn't hold my internet connection I use it just for a network between my comps - can I use this instead of buying 4 NICs?

All information/tips/linkage is greatly appreciated, thank you!
 
All you need is a pc with 2 NIC cards and your set, most of the Linux distro's geared for this purpose are very easy to install. I've personally been running ipcop for a few months now, you can find it at ipcop.org. You can also check out smoothwall.org which I ran for about a year and clarkconnect.org. There are many others out there I'm sure people would be happy to post here.
 
how would you use only 2 nics? one from internet, one out to computers...that would only be routing 1 comp...
 
Originally posted by gymboy689
how would you use only 2 nics? one from internet, one out to computers...that would only be routing 1 comp...
Click to expand...

The one out would hook to the router. Router would be used as a switch. Just use any port on the router except for the WAN port, 1-4 and the other PC's would use any of the 3 left over ports.
 
Originally posted by gymboy689
how would you use only 2 nics? one from internet, one out to computers...that would only be routing 1 comp...
Click to expand...

One goes to your cable/DSL, the other to your switch. Remember a switch is a seperate device then a router, just most of the SOHO routers out there have a 4 port switch built in.
 
It's worth it to me, but I use debian with Shorewall and don't mess with the distros that are setup out of the box for a firewall.
 
It's also worth it to me. I use OpenBSD, which is my favorite OS for a firewall/router. Having it allows me to do a lot of things that no single consumer grade router could.
 
Worth it to me -- my router's far more configurable than a standard consumer-grade router. Plus it's more customizable. :)
 
its very worth it, i had 2 soho's take a crap on me this year, that was it, since i already had a 2k3 file server, i just dropped in a spare pro100s card, and turned nat on, it was literly that simple.
 
I like the fact that FreeSCO needs just one FD and no HD.

After the Smoothwall installation on my previous router died for some reason I switched back to FreeSCO (which I had been using for a year or so before trying out Smoothwall). I find that FreeSCO feels far more responsive and less bloated than Smoothwall, and the installation is as easy as it can be.

Best thing about setting up a router in this way (using Linux, *BSD or other) is the extent to which you can configure and customize it. And because it's 100% free if you happen to have an old 486 and two NICs gathering dust :)
 
coyote linux also requires just 1 floppy, 2 isa nics, and min 486 with 12mb ram
"i ran on a dx25 and 12mb ram" for well over 3 yrs without any problems.
 
heres my 2 cents, take it for what its worth

save up 50-60 dollars and get a good router
 
my "good" smc router cost 300$(cdn) 2yrs ago cus it was a wifi router it lived 18months before goin AWOL,

a "good" router starts at rougly 2k for a nice cisco router
 
Until recently when I got my Cisco 2514 configured, I had used my Linksys BEFSR41 for several years. It worked great, and was a major improvement over using that stupid PPPoE software for my old DSL connection (on static's now).

I'd say the only time that using a computer as opposed to a small SOHO router is when you want to learn A LOT about Linux/BSD, and play with things like NAT and firewalls or if you're running a large home network with multiple servers, etc and want some versatility.

And even in the case of needing the versatility, a cheap Cisco off ebay would be cheaper than building a router computer unless you had all the parts just laying around.

Other than that, a SOHO router like a Linksys can keep your average people completely satisifed as far as features go. Just remember, [H] people arent average. ;)
 
I use a PC with two NICs for my firewall/gateway. Cost me $20 and a couple hours of reading some docs. It runs FreeBSD, and has for nearly three years without a single problem.
 
I use FreeBSD on a P Pro 200Mhz, and it works great. Much better than any SOHO router I've used.

I could do multi-nat, load balancing, proxy caching, etc. on it, if I felt like it.
 
Smoothwall running on a Pentium 2 300mhz sharing net to 8 machines. Best uptime I had was 80 odd days and that only ended because I wanted to switch what hard drive the router was using.
My friend uses those all in one switch/router/access point things and they regularly have to be power cycled because they start acting up. It's got to the stage where he just has it on a timer plug that goes off for 15 minutes every night at about 3am.
I would most definitely go with building your own router.
By the way, what does SOHO stand for?
 
a cheap Cisco off ebay would be cheaper than building a router computer unless you had all the parts just laying around.
Click to expand...

Can get a server from dell for under 300$, which could be much more than a router.



By the way, what does SOHO stand for?
Click to expand...

Small Office, Home Office.
 
The whole purpose of this is so I can quit spending $50-$60 on crappy routers that go bad. I'm sick of buying routers :)
 
$15 computer from thrift store + 2nd NIC and cheap switch + Smoothwall = Profit

it is much better than a linksys or dlink consumer router
 
There is no effort to it while using Smoothwall. I love it. AMD K-6 300, 128MB PC100 SDRAM, 4gig Quantum Fireball, 2 3COM NICS, old Gigabyte board. The PC was FREE and the OS (Smoothwall) was FREE. Can't beat that ;)
 
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