router/printserver/printer recommendations

[Tim Writer]

Matt Price <matt.price-H217xnMUJC0sA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org> writes:

> On Thu, 2007-02-08 at 02:34 -0500, Tim Writer wrote:
> > lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org (Lennart Sorensen) writes:
> > 
> > > The WRT54G v5 and above, and I believe the WRT54GS v2 and above are both
> > > stripped down, and running vmworks, and according to reviews they are
> > > amazingly crappy routers compared to the linux based versions.
> > 
> > I agree about the WRT54G v5. The WRT54GS v1 through v3 all have 8MB RAM,
> > 32MB flash, and are supported by OpenWRT, i.e. can run Linux. I'm running
> > Asterisk with decent voice quality on my WRT54GS v2.
> 
> hmm, so I bought a wrt54gl and now I am wondering whether the fact it
> runs linux is a pandora's box.  Has anyone made a mod to this router
> that actually improves their quality of life?  I'm worried I'll be
> excoriated for my sdupidity when I start breaking up our internet
> access...

The original G and later the GS ran Linux. They used a captive interface
with minimal functionality that hid the power of Linux underneath. Cisco
came out with the L when they moved the GS (and later models) to
vxworks. I'm not sure why they did this but maybe they just wanted to keep
the hobbyists interested. Or, maybe they had a large contract with a
manufacturer.

In terms of hardware features, the L is very like the G and should run
OpenWRT without problems.

Will it improve the quality of your life? That depends on how you define
quality. The stock interface is easy to use but not very capable. For
example, the LAN and the wireless LAN are bridged and you can't firewall
the WLAN from the LAN. (This is like most low cost wireless routers, btw.) 
In order to secure your LAN, you have to use WPA etc. on the wireless side
which is a PITA. OpenWRT allows you to have separate interfaces for the
LAN, WLAN, and WAN, and to firewall them with iptables. In fact, you can
split the LAN ports into separate interfaces so you can have as many as 6
independent interfaces (including the WLAN). (This depends on the Ethernet
hardware and I'm not sure if it can be done on the L.)  You can also
install a VPN (OpenVPN), although performance isn't great, maxing out at
about 1MB/sec.

OpenWRT is like a mini Debian distro. If you're comfortable with the
command line, dpkg, and apt, OpenWRT will be no trouble.

Due to the limited RAM and flash available on the L, you'll be limited by
what you can do. For example, you won't be able to install
Asterisk. However, you will be able to build a capable little firewall
which uses a lot less power than a conventional PC.

If you like the idea, I stronly recommend you check out the OpenWRT pages
at http://www.openwrt.org.

-- 
tim writer <tim-s/rLXaiAEBtBDgjK7y7TUQ at public.gmane.org>                                  starnix inc.
647.722.5301                                      toronto, ontario, canada
http://www.starnix.com              professional linux services & products
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