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How do you connect to the internet?
directly
4%
 4%  [ 4 ]
iptables w/ gentoo
21%
 21%  [ 19 ]
iptables w/ other linux distribution
9%
 9%  [ 8 ]
linksys or other home networking router
63%
 63%  [ 55 ]
commercial grade cisco router or other
1%
 1%  [ 1 ]
Total Votes : 87

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tuxamd
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:12 am    Post subject: Gentoo/Linux vs Linksys (or other home routers). Reply with quote

Anyone else notice that when going from a Linksys router to a Gentoo iptables box the internet works a bit faster?

It's not that Linksys was slow, but I notice the web page responce time is a bit faster. I asked soemeone else to confirm this and they also noted the difference.

Is this difference correct and do you also notice it if you did the same? Do you think this is because of the weak embedded linux hardware of the LInksys router? I know the linksys routers run linux, but so far with my experience with 3 (2 of which had problems) they aren't very impressive.
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kcy29581
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

From what I gather from my experience, Linksys has some fine products. I use the WAG54G modem/router/wireless access point and I haven't noticed any performance difference compared to Windows XP Professional on the same box. I actually once benchmarked them and they both showed very similar results. Also my pcmcia nic on my laptop is a linksys PCM200, uses the tulip module and has troubles with certain distros (my laptop has a motherboard password which I don't have and only Gentoo makes it use IRQ9 which seems to make it work) but on Gentoo works a charm.
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troth
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

it works even faster if I modify the routing tables (using the iptables script).
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tuxamd
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kcy29581 wrote:
From what I gather from my experience, Linksys has some fine products. I use the WAG54G modem/router/wireless access point and I haven't noticed any performance difference compared to Windows XP Professional on the same box. I actually once benchmarked them and they both showed very similar results. Also my pcmcia nic on my laptop is a linksys PCM200, uses the tulip module and has troubles with certain distros (my laptop has a motherboard password which I don't have and only Gentoo makes it use IRQ9 which seems to make it work) but on Gentoo works a charm.


Huh? I don't mean how the internet works on the actual OS, I meant that web pages actually seem to load faster on a descent gentoo box with iptables used as a router regardless of which client os uses it.

troth wrote:
it works even faster if I modify the routing tables (using the iptables script).

What do you mean? I don't understand how you can run iptables without modifying them :lol:


I'm not sure if there is some misunderstanding here but basically I'm saying that if you set up iptables on a gentoo box and use it as a router it seems to make the web page responce time a bit faster than a typical home router does it not?
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genblood
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you have a old pentuim system hanging around you might think
about trying Smoothwall. It uses ip tables and does alot more ....
Drop by there web site and check it out at http://www.smoothwall.org .
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tuxamd
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well that wasn't quite what I was asking, I just installed iptables and wanted to see if anyone else had noted the difference between a home router and an iptables box. Thanks for the info although I have heard and tried shorewall. Though from my understanding it's just another interface for iptables, so why not use iptables directly?
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kcy29581
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry that I couldn't help with my previous post... misunderstood. Can't say I've noticed any difference from what you say with iptables vs my linksys router, but that was a year ago...
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electrofreak
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

yes. Routers are sorta slow. I've found that even kinda old systems (like 300Mhz or so) tend to make a better router than the dedicated router boxes.
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John5788
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i have a freebsd router at home
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evan18h
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 3:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I personally use a gentoo box as my router because I need to ... even though I have a linksys WRT54GS sitting right on top of it basically acting as a wired/wireless switch
here's the layout
(internet) -->(wireless AP)-->(cantenna)-->(gentoo box)-->(WRT54GS)--->(local network)
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tkdfighter
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My dad has a netgear router and the damn thing crashes occasionally. He won't let me set up a linux or *bsd box as a router though. :(
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Naib
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

you cannot beat a hardware router, fast, low overhead...
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RoundsToZero
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

...and low power consumption.
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placeholder
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I use two "home networking routers". One is Belkin and it likes to crash, and the other is a wireless Netgear which likes to work perfectly.
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georwell
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 8:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
...and low power consumption.


2nd to this one. Computers can suck up a lot a of juice and really raise the ole power bill.
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QV
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 1:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Right now, I use a D-Link DI-604 router.

I can't stand Linksys...I've dealt with some Linksys horror stories...my parents bought one when they went to Cable), and it would die all the time and not be usable for hours. Before they bought it, I told them to buy D-Link, but they didn't listen--eventually, when they got sick of their crappy router crapping out, they got a D-Link.

However, I've been toying with the idea of building a mini-ITX routerbox, running Gentoo, of course. The main reasons why I'm using my D-Link is because I like its size and cost. A mini-ITX would be closest in size, but not quite (my D-Link is bloody tiny), and while a mini-ITX system wouldn't cost too much (I've priced it at $255 for a VIA C3-based barebones + whatever else I need to get it running), it's still far more expensive than my $20 D-Link. It's still something that would be fun to do for the hell of it, so I may very well go ahead with it anyway...
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PowerFactor
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 1:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My Linksys is a linux iptables box. :wink: A nice silent, small one with low power consumption too.
I've only had it for a few weeks but no problems so far.
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seank
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 2:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Smoothwall.
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tuxamd
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 2:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well the only negative thing about having a "real" linux router is the size. I don't think power consumption really matters. At the price of electricity and gasoline there are tons of things we do that don't even come close to what a small weak computer uses. Linksys or not linksys I don't like little home embedded linux routers because like people have said and like I experienced they crash quite often. However they are small, consume less power, and also are a bit easier to set up. Glad to hear the feedback, though some people haven't expressed tehmselves clearly as in which type of router they really use :)

Edit:
Cool, also is smoothwall basically just a simplified interface for iptables? Or what are some of your benefits of using it over the raw iptables configuration?
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seank
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Smoothwall is a minimal Linux distro designed specifically for being a router/firewall which makes it quite easy to setup and use. The installer is very simple and straightforward as is the web interface (which is basically just nice interface for the common tasks a sysadmin must do for a router/firewall -- much like linksys' web interfaces, but smoothwall's is better and has more features in it) Give it a try on an old junker box. http://www.smoothwall.org
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lamaistres
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I use a Lynksys router. At the time, the linksys cost only $20 used. The cost for memory and other pieces of hardware (used) I needed was far more expensive, something like $50. My plan was to use freesco on a P1. Nowadays, hardware isn't a problem because everyone's giving it away.
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truekaiser
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 5:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

tkdfighter wrote:
My dad has a netgear router and the damn thing crashes occasionally. He won't let me set up a linux or *bsd box as a router though. :(


i have a netgear one and it's very poorly made. it reset alot. i found out that the pos case it was in was the problem the thing was literally killing it's self with the amount of heat it puts out. i had to remove it from it's case, make a makeshift holder for it out of legos and attach chip set heat sinks to get it to be stable.
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emes
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My gentoo computer is a router, access point and desktop all in one :D
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tuxamd
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

emes wrote:
My gentoo computer is a router, access point and desktop all in one :D


Very nice :) By that you mean wifi? How do you make a linux box a wifi access point? Just curious because I don't know much about wifi and linux yet.

Yeah my friend had a netgear also and it kept crashing all the time. So did my Linksys, they felt a bit warm but I bet the actual chips inside were way overheated. The cooling they put on those is horrible, it's just a bunch of poked holes just like a child would make on a can with bugs in it. I head the new gigabit home switches they have are very loud from a tiny fan. They need to take learning examples from cooling hardware manufacturers.
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