[Gllug] MiniPC with 2x NIC

[Christian Smith]

On Tue, Apr 03, 2012 at 11:53:23PM +0100, Robert wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> A project I'm looking to do at home is to replace my broadband router
> with a "modem -> Linux box -> router" replacement for some fun and
> experience.
> 
> But I'm struggling to find the ideal, and cheap box that'll be my
> gateway. I'm ideally looking for something small (booksize), fanless
> (atom?), and with 2x NIC's built in rather than wifi+nic or USB-NIC
> hanging off. Optical devices not required as will install Linux via USB.
> 
> Something along the lines of an Aopen DE2700 for example. Is there
> something you have experience with and recommend please?
> 
> My usage will be to learn about firewalls, IPS/IDS, logging, general
> networking and such.


In my case, I've installed OpenWRT x86 on an old ASUS Eee PC 701,
using a USB NIC to talk to the cable modem, the on board NIC to
downlink to a wireless router, and the on board Wifi as another
an alternative Wifi network to the router.

The USB NIC was cheap as chips on ebay (<4 GBP IIRC), and performs
much better than I expected, and certainly fast enough to handle
my 10Mbps cable broadband.

The benefits of an old netbook are they are nice and cheap, have built
in UPS, built in console and low power.

I configured it at the time as I suspected the crappy Virgin Media
supplied netgear router was upsetting my bzflag gaming and would
regularly hang the wifi network, but since I've removed the VM
branded firmware, and installed the latest netgear generic firmware,
the router appears more reliable anyway.

Christian
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