If the system is never used at ALL, it will probably not crash too much, but in Win98, Microsoft admits it becomes unstable after about 24 hours (or was it 48 ..) Either is really bad for a gateway machine. A router is much quicker, since the Router's processor is doing nothing but routing packets or (in some cases) figuring out how to better route packets in the future (i.e. generating/updating routing tables.) If you did set up a gateway machine, I'd recommend the following setup:
A linux box (an early PCI machine, i.e. something in the neighborhood of 90 MHz) is plenty fast for this purpose, as long as it's a small LAN) A floppy drive or small hard disk to boot from and run the routing daemons required 2 Network Cards (PCI, preferably, the ISA bus is as slow as frozen molasses on a snail's back) That would make for a cheap and stable system that could act as a router. But if you're not good with Linux, or don't want to spend the time to get it set up, you're better off with a router. Interesting factoid: Many Cisco Routers (very nice pieces of hardware, indeed) use 68030 Processors. I applaud their decision. -- Epicenter On 17 Dec 2002 at 13:12, Darren wrote: > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >Plus it's less noisy than a gateway computer > > > > Yes those PSU fans make a awful racket > > > doesn't crash or need to be rebooted > > > > A computer used as a router does stuff all so it shouldn't crash as is > the case with mine. > > >, and is considerably quicker than a Win98 box at routing packets. > > > > Ok, how much quicker. Linux on the same machine is quicker again. > Products like > http://www.ipcop.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/IPCop/WebHome make good (free) > use of old pc's which happily run withoutout mouse, monitor or keyboard > also allowing for (cheap)extra storage space for your macs, kinda hard > with a router. > > Buy a router, seems like major overkill for the setup in question. -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Vintage Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
