[NTLUG:Discuss] OT- What DSL router do you recommend?

[Wayne Dahl]

On Sat, 2003-03-08 at 14:34, Rick Matthews wrote:
> > What DSL router do you recommend?
> 
> I use an old piece of hardware out of the closet running a downloaded
> copy of Linux.  I threw in two $10 nics, splurged on a $60 eight port
> switch and I'm in high cotton.
> 
> My "old piece of hardware" was a 486/66 for a couple of years, and
> it never broke a sweat while firewalling and masquerading for the
> handful of simultaneous users that I could throw at it, and we 
> were successfully saturating my DSL bandwidth. Don't try to run
> X! :)
> 
> I later "moved up" to a newer "old piece of hardware" (P200) so that 
> I could add some functionality to the box.
> 
> There were no inexpensive routers when I put this thing together,
> so I didn't really have a lot of choices.  On the other hand,
> One of my objectives was to learn and have hands-on experience
> with Linux.
> 
> For what it's worth...
> Rick

It's interesting that you mention this Rick.  I had been having thoughts
about converting an old PC I have into a firewall because I have an
inherent mistrust of NAT firewalls when it's possible that someone
inside the private network (my wife) can and has downloaded virii on the
M$ portion of the network.  The problem is, you never know what might
get downloaded that might start sending from within your
network...so...I'd thought about setting up something a little stronger
and more reliable anyway.

And that begs the question...will what I HAVE work?  I have an old
Compaq CDS-92 that is now a P120 with 56 Megs mem, CD-ROM with a total
of 1.6 Gigs of HD space on it.  It was originally a Win 3.1 box when I
bought it, promptly upgraded to Win 95 and now has RH 5.2 (I think)
loaded on it.  I wiped the Microsnot stuff off it and wanted to play
with Linux and had an old copy I'd gotten somewhere.  When I had
problems getting the CD player to work after I got the sound working on
it, the general consensus of the list was to upgrade to RH 7.2 which was
out at the time, but was unacceptable for that box.  

Sooo...since it's already got RH 5.2 on it...and running X already, can
I just blow away everything I don't need, and just leave the networking
stuff on it?

Also, since I'm running RH 8.0 on this machine and I'm a Linux neophyte,
what do I need to have running on the other machine to be able to
administer it from this workstation?  I'd kind of like to leave that
machine headless for the most part and do everything I need to on it
from here.

It only has 1 nic card in it now...another one is cheap...cheaper than
buying another DSL router.  But...the thing is like 6 years
old...granted, I've never had ANY trouble with it, but the memory is
almost that old...so are both the HD's in it.  It's probably due for
some trouble.  A DSL modem would definitely be easier since it would be
plug-and-play, but I should learn something in the process.  And I
guess, worst come to worst, I could always go buy another router later
if necessary.

Man, it's been a really bad month!  I've been fighting terrible
headaches caused by shingles on my face and head, taking hydrocodone for
them which turns me into a zombie and I'm trying to manage a small
WAN/LAN here at home!  LOL...then the router dies...it's been real...but
it hasn't been much fun.

Sorry for the bandwidth, but I *would* appreciate your opinion about
using the other box as a router/firewall in place of the one that has
just become a 10/100 BaseT hub.

Thanks again, 

Wayne