[GTALUG] USB to Ethernet Dongles WAS: Debian Linux as-a-router Guide

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: Evan Leibovitch via talk <talk at gtalug.org>

| On Sat, Sep 9, 2023 at 9:56 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
| wrote:

| > Notebooks are almost supplanting "regular" PCs.
| >
| 
| IMO we're well beyond the "almost" in that statement.

I was thinking "almost completely", so I agree.  But my "data" is highly 
anecdotal.

| So I was able to do custom wiring.

We lived for decades with cables on the walls, not in the walls.
Perhaps a good thing: the technology changed.

After a renovation, we have decent wiring in the walls (until the
technology changes again).

Stewart Brand's "How buildings learn" is an excellent book about how
buildings evolve after they have been built.  He discusses the idea
that there are different layers of a house that evolve and different
rates and that architects don't often design for this.  For example

- furniture changes most quickly and easily

- wall covering (wall paper and paint) a little less so

- walls still less

- plumbing still less

(When I was young, many British houses had exterior plumbing added
after construction (you can see it in old movies).  Every once in a
while it would freeze.)

| I have three USB-to-Ethernet devices. One was supplied by Asus with the
| laptop. Another is a TP-Link UE300C That is used with other laptops. But
| the one I use the most is a $21 hub I bought on Aliexpress that also
| includes an HDMI port, an SD card reader, and some additional USB-A ports.
| All have worked well under both Windows and Linux (KDE Neon), though I
| haven't exactly stress-tested them. The hub is fussy about the order of
| plugging things in but it works.

I'm guessing that Giles is more stringent than you are.

| > Notebooks are a bargain compared with regular PCs.
| >
| This I won't agree with.

See for example:
<https://forums.redflagdeals.com/dell-inspiron-15-3520-fhd-laptop-i3-1215u-8-256gb-405-code-2639290/5/#p38040379>
I don't think that you are going to get a desktop with these features
for this price.  (This i3 processor is quite good, not like many
previous ones.)

| I've been able to easily assemble desktop PCs with
| off-the-shelf parts (providing the shelves are at Canada Computers) for
| less money than an equivalent laptop.

Not me.  I guess that part of the difference is I look for bargains.
There are a lot more laptop bargains than desktop bargains.

| Desktop RAM is usually cheaper than
| the laptop variety.  And of course you have the advantage of upgrading (or
| downgrading the screen, keyboard and pointing device to one of your
| choosing. Why pay for a touchpad if you're only going to plug a mouse in
| anyway?

Being able to use a discrete GPU is another reason.

| Most of the business users I know have a docking unit at home for their
| laptop, into which is plugged a mouse and keyboard as well as a second
| screen. This combo is never a bargain compared to a desktop PC that doesn't
| have redundant components. Also consider that at the low end, a mini PC
| capable of running most business apps can be had, with 12GB of RAM and
| Windows pre-loaded, for about $200
| <https://www.amazon.ca/ACEMAGICIAN-N5095-Desktop-Computer-Ethernet/dp/B0BPP33R3L/ref=sr_1_13>.

That is a good price.  It's not a great desktop, just like a netbook
isn't a great notebook.  It's a brand with no track record for support
in Canada.  The processor is obsolete and slow but not terrible.  12G
of RAM is odd.  That means it has mismatched SODIMMs: 4G and 8G.

| The evolution of the Intel NUC concept and its many competitors shows no
| sign of slowing.

I'm partial to the earlier ThinkCentre Tiny computers.  They are
designed for business so they are expensive and conservative.  I've
snagged a few, all but one used.

I used Zotac Zboxes for years before the NUC.  The ones I bought came
with two NICs.  Great for routers.

| > USB-ethernet problems will prevent using notebooks as servers.
| 
| A headless mini-PC as a server will be many times cheaper than a
| similarly-powered laptop and all of them come with at least one Ethernet,
| usually gigabit.

As discussed above, several of us use mini-PCs with multiple 2.5G
ethernet ports.

| They will also prevent most other computers from being used as routers.
| >
| 
| Not if they have a free PCI slot
| <https://www.amazon.ca/Gigabit-Ethernet-Express-Network-Controller/dp/B07XJ8CMQX/ref=sr_1_14>,
| and most full-chassis desktops do.

mini PC's tend not to have the ability to add ethernet ports.  Some
Lenovo, Dell, or HP tiny PCs can be optioned with a second NIC.

SFF PC's usually have room for a low-profile NIC, possibly requiring a
riser card.  That's what I used 25 years ago: DEC PCs with Pentium
60 (I had two: one with the FDIV bug and one without).

I'm very glad that my router is a mini PC: it is fanless, low power,
and low volume.