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I'm in the market for a new network appliance router that either has the following features, or can be modded to have the following features:
Do they make such a router?
leeand00
Posted 2011-03-03T23:15:52.587
Reputation: 14 882
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Most of the routers that can be re-flashed to DD-WRT or OpenWRT should meet your requirements. This may void your warranty. Something with 8MB or more flash, and 32MB more memory should work well. Currently Atheros Wifi cards are best supported.
At least one manufacturer is distributing DD-WRT firmware and is open to re-flashing with alternative software. See the OpenWRT Table of Hardware for options. I run an ASUS WL-500G Premium providing DNS, DHCP, IPv6, and firewalls for both IPv4 and IPv6.
Comcast appears to be one of the few North American IPSs that is working on IPv6. They have been working with the OpenWRT to release code for a dual stack home router. They have been testing implementation and deployment IPv6 using 6RD tunnels. This helps bypass problems with cable modems that don't yet or can not support dual stacks.
BillThor
Posted 2011-03-03T23:15:52.587
Reputation: 9 384
DNSMasq? Hmm, I was using bind9 on a Linux box, but I understand DNSMasq is easier to configure. – leeand00 – 2011-03-04T12:34:12.117
1@leeand00 DNSMasq is the default server. Bind versios 9.6.1 is available in the installable packages. There are a lot of packages available although for many of them I would want more flash and memory than I have. I counted 4772 lines in the package list. – BillThor – 2011-03-04T20:29:43.980
Thanks Bill, I think I'm gonna go the invalidate my warranty route. I just ordered one of these babies: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/buffalo/wzr-hp-g300h
– leeand00 – 2011-03-13T18:57:26.553@leeand00: That's one of the ones I have been looking at for a future replacement. – BillThor – 2011-03-13T22:54:29.043
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Currently the home LAN router industry seems to be completely ignoring IPv6, which is very disappointing.
The following web page seems to be keeping tabs on this:
Routers - SixXS Wiki
http://www.sixxs.net/wiki/Routers
Fortunately, there are some LinkSys and other home LAN routers that can take a customized firmware and there are some open source projects that will handle just that. I believe many of these projects focus on using Linux for this (I think OpenBSD would be an ideal fit as well given its excellent reputation for paranoid security), which could make it possible for you to include OpenVPN and other such technologies to better meet your needs. Additional research will be required on your part because you'll need to decide which hardware you're going to use, and then that would limit your selection of which custom firmware you may be able to use.
Randolf Richardson
Posted 2011-03-03T23:15:52.587
Reputation: 14 002
1It’s not just the networking manufacturers that are ignoring consumer IPv6; ISPs are also ignoring it! I’ve read that neither Comcast nor Cox in America, nor Rogers nor Bell in Canada have plans to support it anytime soon. (I bet that Korean, Japan, the UK, and and so on already do or will soon… :-|) – Synetech – 2011-03-04T03:32:26.813
...or do you have to build it? (it's for a home network). – leeand00 – 2011-03-03T23:19:39.793
2They do exist, just not on the budget of your typical home network router. Once the device exceeds the cost of a spare PC running a hand-tuned Linux, that hand-tuned Linux starts looking mighty attractive. – SysAdmin1138 – 2011-03-03T23:22:43.907
Unfortunately shopping recommendations are off topic. Check the FAQ
– ChrisF – 2011-03-03T23:28:34.163Agreed with @ChrisF - as written, this qualifies as shopping recommendation. I am sure you could reword the question to make it on topic though. – Shinrai – 2011-03-03T23:55:50.890
3Not really, the wording is fine; it asks if there exists a router with the specified features. There is a definitive answer, either yes (and make/model given), or no, no such router currently exists. – Synetech – 2011-03-04T03:27:27.177
1@SysAdmin1138, I think you are forgetting to factor in the cost of electricity to run that Linux box; it ain’t cheap and not everybody lives in an apartment where electric is included. – Synetech – 2011-03-04T03:28:09.717
@Synetech - the main problem is that what's true today won't be true tomorrow. – ChrisF – 2011-03-04T08:54:10.017
1@Syntech I agree this isn't a question of "which should I buy" it's a question of "what options do I have" given the criteria. Can four people please re-open my question? – leeand00 – 2011-03-04T12:29:42.370
@Synetech +1 for living in an apartment and electric costs. – leeand00 – 2011-03-04T12:33:14.270
@ChrisF, that’s technically true of pretty much every question because anything and everything can change tomorrow. You asked about good CAD programs. Tomorrow a better one could come out, making the answers to your question wrong (and “too localized”). You asked about getting a trojan from an image file, that answer is very likely to change quickly. Your question about ordering in Chrome can change easily since they update the app all the time. Even your question about the meaning of your modem’s error message could change because a new firmware could change the meaning of the error codes. – Synetech – 2011-03-04T19:02:01.840
@ChrisF, oh and if I ask if there is such thing as a 1THz processor, the correct answer would be no, but then what happens when someone goes and invents one? (I remember when 1GHz was sci-fi, and then IBM made the CopperMine and it blew our minds.) – Synetech – 2011-03-04T19:03:59.657
@Synetech - if that happens the previously correct answer becomes the wrong answer. – ChrisF – 2011-03-04T19:32:40.603
Right, so how is this different? If no such router exists, then the answer is ‘no’. If one comes out next week, then the answer changes. The question is fine; I think the problem is the word picking in the title. – Synetech – 2011-03-04T19:42:32.780