On Mon, Feb 16, 2004 at 10:49:14PM -0500, John Franklin wrote: > There's no network functionality that can't be duplicated by a *nix > box. I've been using an old P100 for years now as my NOC-in-a-box, but > I'm seriously considering getting a VPN Wireless Cable/DSL > router/switch. Netgear has a new one I've seen for between $135 > (outpost.com) and $190 (Amazon.) > > The advantages: > One electrical outlet instead of three (switch, wireless AP, *nix box > Lower power draw > Less real estate consumption > Quieter > Easier to set up VPN tunnels
At the time of my purchase, I was being supported by a corporate IT who allowed Linksys or Netgear. Support for any other VPN apparatus was nil. I decided to pay the $$$. I have no actual VPN requirements right now, but they might be around the corner. I wouldn't mind getting my hands dirty with IPsec at this stage of my development. > > Downsides: > Interfaces are often lacking. > Must port forward any inbound port you want to serve > Don't have complete control of the box > The more functionality they pack in, the higher the chance they > botched something. > > Cases in point with the last bullet: > > * The Cable/DSL router that set its time from a hard-coded IP, and had > a one-second timeout/retry. > > * Belkin's once-in-a-while-http-redirect/hijack. > > * http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AR8Z1/ & click > "Customer Reviews" Sounds like you talked yourself out of the appliance :-) Maybe I'm reading it the wrong way. I'm leaning toward the DIY *nix all-in-one router/firewall/VPN on an old Pentium approach. I'll keep the appliance router around for when/if I go back to plain-old Internet use. It'll also be a backup router. -- Mike Two hundred years ago, we note mischievously, the average American or European had a standard of living not very much superior to that of the average man in India or China. -- dailyreckoning.com -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ TriLUG PGP Keyring : http://trilug.org/~chrish/trilug.asc
