On Mon, 6 Jan 2003 12:42:50 -0500 (EST) Andrew Perrin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Folks, > > My in-laws are moving into a new house in Carrboro, and they've asked > me to help with computer stuff. Their criteria are: > - Keep their AOL addresses; > - Let both of them be online at once; > - Have three computers on two floors share the internet connection, > files, > and the printer > > My additional criterion is: > - Do (some) administrative tasks remotely > > > What I would like to do is very much like what I have at home: a cable > modem into a cheap linux computer acting as a router with IPTables, > with a WAP providing wireless access to the three other computers, > probably all windows running VNC servers. > > Question for y'all: has anyone used AOL's cable broadband service w/ > linux? Any pitfalls I should beware of? > > Also: my plan is to use the linux box for the local routing both > because it's cool and because it will allow for some remote > administration. Is that stupid, i.e., should I just buy an > out-of-the-box broadband router? > > Thanks. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > Andrew J Perrin - http://www.unc.edu/~aperrin > Assistant Professor of Sociology, U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill > [EMAIL PROTECTED] * andrew_perrin (at) unc.edu > > > _______________________________________________ > TriLUG mailing list > http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug > TriLUG Organizational FAQ: > http://www.trilug.org/~lovelace/faq/TriLUG-faq.html > I'm not anything resembling a sysadmin type, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I've done both, setting up a box with iptables as a broadband/wireless router and using one of those NetGear wireless/broadband routers. Let me just say that in my experience, a the NetGear router appliance has several things going for it: 1. No moving parts. On a box you use as a router several different moving things could break, any of which might bring your box down. 2. Easier setup. A few clicks here and there in a web browser and everything "just works". 3. Boots fast and no need to add UPS's for those one-second power outages I have where I live. 4. Other LUG members might have had more success in this area, but for me getting a plain vanilla wi-fi card + linux box to act as an wireless access point (as opposed to ad-hoc peer-to-peer mode) was a real pain in the a**. You have to find out which cards can support that behavior and/or perform weird patches and/or skirt certain copyright issues by 'liberating' a few snippets of hex code that turn your card into an access point (basically the manufacturers of wi-fi cards don't wants linux geeks using a $99 wireless nic to avoid buying a $200 wireless router). Technically, ad-hoc wireless mode worked on the box I was using as a router. But when the orinoco card in the box went bad, I replaced it with a nice new proxim card. Lo and behold, I discover that the lucent orinoco card in my laptop and the proxim card in the linux box spoke different dialects of ad-hoc wireless networking. By switching to a router with real access point functionality built in, I've saved myself a lot of grief. And at least one or two heart bypass operations 20 years from now. --Ilan -- My choice after I quit film school was either to be a script writer for porno flicks or a linux UI designer. And to tell you the truth, there's hardly any difference. _______________________________________________ TriLUG mailing list http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ: http://www.trilug.org/~lovelace/faq/TriLUG-faq.html
