[Sussex] Cable modems etc.

[Steve Dobson]

Guys

On 03 March 2003 at 13:52 John Crowhurst
> > Hi Guys,
> >
> > Another request for your experiences/ideas.
> >
> > My son-in-law will be receiving a Linux firewall/gateway courtesy of me
> > for his forthcoming internet connexion. He may use BT (normal Hayes
> > modem - OK) or use cable telephony. Any ideas about which cable modems
> > work well with Linux or do they just use an ethernet hole?  Any problems
> > connecting, etc.
> 
> From what I can see, not having Cable but DSL, the routers are available
> in different forms.

You might not need a router.  If you already have a home network and a spare
computer then with two network cards you could insert the spare PC as a
firewall:


                              +-------+
                              |  Hub  |
    +-------+    +-------+    +-+-+-+-+   +-------+
    | Cable |    |  Old  |      | | |     |  PC 1 |
    | Modem +-x--+  PC   +------+ | +-----+-------+
    +-------+    +-------+        |
                              +---+---+
                              |  PC 2 |
                              +-------+

The cable between the modem and the firewall (marked with an x) needs to be
a crossover cable.  This would give you a very nice, secure network.  If you
have the PCs just lying around then picking up a second NIC would only 
cost ~£10 - much cheaper than a fire walling router.

If you want a network but don't want to run CAT5 all over the house then
why not go WiFi.  I got a nice little unit called a MeshAP [1].  Cost around
£250 (The same price as a Apple WiFi base station and this one runs Linux).

The unit I got was running ext3 on a FlashDisk!  This is not the correct
thing
to do.  Every 5 seconds ext3 flushes the journal which will life that part
of
the Flash.  You need to run JFFS2 which does journal but wares out the whole
of the Flash evenly.  Me - I added a disk to it and installed Debian.  Works
just fine.  This solution provides a much better network diagram:

                              +-------+
                              | PC 1  |
    +-------+    +-------+    +-------+   +-------+
    | Cable |    |MeshAP |                |  PC 3 |
    | Modem +-x--+       |                +-------+
    +-------+    +-------+         
                              +-------+
                              |  PC 2 |
                              +-------+

Of course this will require a few more WiFi ports for each PC; but it's a
lot
quicker to install than pulling up the carpet and floorboards and running
CAT5
to every room.

Steve

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