PC Routers

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: Christopher Browne <cbbrowne-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>
| Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:14:21 -0500

| Also rather interesting is the CeroWRT project:
| <http://www.bufferbloat.net/projects/cerowrt>   Note that the one
| model (Netlink WNDR3700) on which it runs is available for $99 at
| FutureShop/BestBuy: WNDR3700-100PAS

On the strength of that, I bought a WNDR3700v2 -- the Best Buy Boxing
Week(s) price is $79.00, but you have to kick up a fuss or get lucky
since they ran out of them online and didn't want to match their
online price for an in-store sale.  The sale ends very soon -- maybe
tomorrow.
  <http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/netgear-netgear-rangemax-dual-band-wireless-n-router-wndr3700-100pas-wndr3700-100pas/10146017.aspx?path=398a38841f060902be4c99b302c1bc8ben02>

Tiger Direct is selling refurbs for $69.xx, but they might well be V1
models which don't qualify -- half the flash memory on board (8MiB vs
16MiB).  Apparently the V1 has a better antenna.
  <http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7089722&CatId=2668>

The WNDR3800 is even better -- twice the RAM but similar enough to
have the same FCC ID.  But it is quite a bit more expensive ($129.97 at
Tiger Direct).
  <http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1177994>

If you can live with a Broadcom chipset (I cannot), then WNDR4500 has
more resources: 128MiB of flash and 128MiB of RAM.  Quite expensive
($179.69 from Direct Canada).
  <http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=16950NW0319&vpn=WNDR4500-100NAS&manufacture=Others>

(Atheros chipsets are better than broadcom chipsets because there is
an open source driver.  The Broadcom open source driver isn't suitable
for routers since it only supports STA mode (if I remember
correctly).)

As for Cerowrt, I'm not sure what shape the project is in.
The latest news on the front page is 3 months old and says that rc7
will slip a few weeks.  I think that is was supposed to ship on
Novenber 15 but has not yet been shipped.
  <http://www.bufferbloat.net/versions/show/14>

(Just for comparison, remember that I bought an AMD E-350 based nettop
for $99, added 4G of RAM for $20, and added 750G hard drive for $59.99
(all exceptional prices, I admit).  The result is as small as a
wireless router, takes more electrical power, but is way more
powerful.  Only one ethernet port though.)
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