So, okay, my DSL router is giving its lasts, the DNS resolution dies every time I have rtorrent open, from time to time it stops working for some minutes and then resumes, it’s annoying.
I’m forced at this point to replace it, and I’m thus looking for alternatives. I won’t return on D-Link again, not only for the bad experience with this router (that actually worked fine when I had a 800kbps or a 1.2Mbps DSL), but also because I don’t want to give them anymore credit after the bad thing happened with their routers and the Danish NTP server.
I’m not even actually that impressed by Linux-based routers, as their entropy is often limited, as they have no keyboard, no mouse, no harddisk and what remains is only networking, and bad randomness is not something I would get 🙂
What I was looking at after RockMan’s (the one of KMobileTools) suggestion are 3Com’s routers. I actually had good experiences with 3Com, not only with the hardware itself (my first modem was a 3Com), but also with their customer care and services. Looking at 3Com’s site, I found two models that are interesting. They are both ADSL Router/Modem (ADSL2+, but that should be backward compatible, I think, although please tell me if I’m wrong :)). The first is 3CRWDR100A-72, and the second is 3CRWDR100B-72 . They have similar features, with the only difference that the second also has Stateful Packet Inspection. I probably can do without, but if I get the difference of prices in €10, I would probably take the one with SPI.
But as now I have this opportunity, I’d like to ask suggestion to my readers about these routers and eventually other routers, too. My target price is about €100, not much more (no more than €150 for sure!) and it wouldn’t be bad if it’s less. I would just need a 1 port router with no wireless, although I can use one with router, as I would just recycle the current 11Mbit access point as a hotspot in the other floor, and it’s not bad if it has an integrated switch (as my 8 port is almost full).
I would have avoided this cost actually, but tonight the router annoyed me again and again. And I’m pissed off at it 😛
Oh, comments on the blog are still half broken, I’ve set up a cron job that every :30 makes them visible, so please feel free to comment on this entry to give me suggestion, I will see them 🙂
Meh… Here’s a suggestion: buy whatever cheap DSL modem w/ an Ethernet port that can be turned into a bridge. Rescue an old Pentium box from a dustbin. Stick at least two NICs in there, download something like http://www.ipcop.org/ or http://www.m0n0.ch/wall/ – wheee, it’s FBSD in there! 😛 Or, if you are really bored, you can even roll-out barebones Gentoo on it – and enjoy!If you need a new feature, download one of the many addons for the above, or produce your own. It’s Linux/BSD, you can do it easily, unlike w/ these “smart” routers. ‘k, just my €0.02 😉
Actually, I think you can keep your current Linksys router if you are willing to do a small bit of work.I sounds like you have one of the WRT54G(S) models, and they are quite notorious for doing bad things under load (they do not clean up the connections they are tracking, and at some point they run out of connections they can track, thus new connections cannot be established).I, and many others, solved this problem by upgrading to a third-party firmware (the beauty of it being a Linux-router :)), and thus solved all my problems.I would recommend trying HyperWRT with the Thibor patches: http://www.thibor.co.uk/If you’re happy about it, give the man a donation, I still need to get around to that myself ;)Good luck!
There’s one big disadvantage in the use of a normal Linux box: noise and heat. Embedded stuff is way better on that note, but I don’t have any embedded system, and they are all but cheap 😉
Heh, I told you I had to replace my router, it was some Thomson model which actually looked nice until it started to show quite the same symptoms you’re having. I replaced it with a 3com, the same model you’re considering, but ending in Y-72, because it’s a customized version for a local ISP here which belongs to T-Online. I think it’s just an A-72 renamed.I had to upgrade its firmware with a customized one from my ISP to get it to synch, as last version from 3com did not work. Now it works reasonably well, but it has kind of limited functionality.Hope that helps.
You could take a look at some DD-WRT or Open-WRT compatible Routers at 100€ you should find some decent routers with 5ghz Wireless and enough horsepower to run some services.
The TP-Link Archer C7 should be fine, and doesn’t cost much (~60€).
This is an awfully old post.
I’m using an UniFi Security Gateway for the last three years.