[clug] Cheap Linux based routers

Neill Cox neill.cox at ingenious.com.au
Tue Jul 17 23:10:54 GMT 2007


These look interesting, and got me thinking.

I do IT support for a number of small businesses in the ACT and while it mainly involves dealing with Windows :( I try and get as much Linux/FOSS in as I can.  I'm also very distrustful of the firewalls that come on most ADSL modems/routers.

My usual approach is to stick a linux box as a firewall between the modem and the rest of the network.  This usually ends up being a full PC.  I keep looking for a cheaper/more power efficient way of doing this, but prices keep driving me back to the PC platform.

Does anyone on the list have some suggestions?  Requirements:

 - Two ethernet nics
 - Linux 2.4/2.6 (2.6 preferred)
 - Shell access via ethernet (bash for preference)
 - Iptables
 - OpenVPN

Would be nice to have shorewall as well (I can right iptables rules by hand, but I don't enjoy it).

I'm prepared to be told that I'm doing this all wrong, but I would really prefer a Linux solution over a *BSD solution.  I'm just not familiar enough with *BSD.

Cheers,
Neill


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