router software

[jepetto]

Hello,

Maybe a stupid question...

pclinuxos as router of a Lan, it is possible? (My computer has 2xLan port)
I mean, a router with a (very) good statistical information. I have a Linksys router but the log information is poor. I would like to know the bandwidth, traffic, accessed sites (not just the ip), graphical presentation, etc.
I looked pfsense, but pclinuxos is my preference distro.

Sorry my English...

Thanks

[JohnW_57]

Hello,

Maybe a stupid question...

pclinuxos as router of a Lan, it is possible? (My computer has 2xLan port)
I mean, a router with a (very) good statistical information. I have a Linksys router but the log information is poor. I would like to know the bandwidth, traffic, accessed sites (not just the ip), graphical presentation, etc.
I looked pfsense, but pclinuxos is my preference distro.

Sorry my English...

Thanks

Welcome here on this forum!

It's not a stupid question.  

pfSense is a BSD distribution special build for a Lan/router system.
PCLinuxOS is a desktop distribution (like MS Windows).
It have some network applications in repositories but mostly for monitoring.
I guess there are no special applications in repositories to build a Lan/router system.

Maybe a PCLinuxOS network specialist have a another opinion?

Greetings; JohnW

[Hootiegibbon]

Another option would be to look at whether the linksys router is compatible with a third party router firmware like dd-wrt,or other firmware replacements

Jase

[jepetto]

Thank you.

I'll try third party router firmware...

anyway... pclinuxos: simply the best!

[JohnW_57]

Thank you.

I'll try third party router firmware...

anyway... pclinuxos: simply the best!

Just a warning!

Updating firmware is at your own risk!!
You loosing possible the warranty when doing it.
So the poster for this suggestion is not responsible for it or PCLinuxOS.

JohnW

[jepetto]

Thank you for the warning.

I know the risks of updating firmware: loosing warranty and the possibility of several damages in case of update failure or other problems.

thanks, once again
(sorry my English)

[T6]

it is not that dangerous, dd-wrt and other options are basically very secure, not 100% secure but very secure

i will eventually use one of those in my d-link router, routers now are so cheap and gives us so many benefits, any attempt on making them stronger and more useful is welcome

as always use a pc as router has benefits like more control and special options but also disadvantages like power consumption, space, noise, price and availability of hardware always makes more simple to use a cheap router

[horusfalcon]

Hello,

Maybe a stupid question...

Nah... but I might have a stupid answer for you...   (Or a question or two, myself, if you prefer.)

Searching Synaptic for the word "router", I discovered dynamips and dynagen.  It would seem, if I'm reading correctly, these would allow one to create a "virtual Cisco router"?  (That only looks to be useful for those who are studying for a CCNA, though... )

Searching for the word "network" finds a whole bunch of networking and network management tools, but it would be beyond my rudimentary networking skills to know how to set up an effective router with them.  (Maybe if I noodled on it in my copious free time?  (See definition no. 1, please.)

While it might be worth searching the fora to see if anyone else has done it already, probably the best, ahem, route to take to get there is to use a distro specifically set up for that purpose.  There's a nice list over on Wikipedia that seems like a good place to start.  (I remember playing with a few of the distros listed a while back...)  Maybe looking at how one of these does it might yield some insights into how PCLinuxOS could do it?

Just a few random thoughts from a mind recovering from jet lag (rotating shifts).

Later On,
D

[muungwana]

Hello,

Maybe a stupid question...

pclinuxos as router of a Lan, it is possible? (My computer has 2xLan port)

Its trivial actually, but then again, everything trivial after you get a hand of it,even brain surgery is trivial 

Do you still want to know how to set a linux box to be a router or have you settled with a suggested alternative?

[jepetto]

horusfalcon:
I have searched sinaptics before posting my questions. And funded no solutions...
My linux "know how" is not so good that I can set up a router in pclinuxos by "analogy" with other systems.
 
muungwana:
I realise that to make my pclinuxos act as a router I must buy a PCIe ADSL modem, so I can connect to my ISP provider. (As far as I know).
So, at the moment, the easy way points to install a third party firmware on my router (I didn't try, yet).
Any way, I would like to know how to set up the router on pclinuxos, because sooner or latter is the way to go. (I hope it has a minimum of shell commands...)
I'm searching for a low power and price system (below 15-20 W), but avoid the atom processors (I think they are not enough responsive).

Thanks

[pags]

horusfalcon:
I have searched sinaptics before posting my questions. And funded no solutions...
My linux "know how" is not so good that I can set up a router in pclinuxos by "analogy" with other systems.
 
muungwana:
I realise that to make my pclinuxos act as a router I must buy a PCIe ADSL modem, so I can connect to my ISP provider. (As far as I know).

Not necessarily.  If you can coonect your PC directly to the Internet, now (without your existing router, by itself), then all you need in the PC is another NIC (PCI, PCIe, USB, whatever)

So, at the moment, the easy way points to install a third party firmware on my router (I didn't try, yet).
Any way, I would like to know how to set up the router on pclinuxos, because sooner or latter is the way to go. (I hope it has a minimum of shell commands...)

Any method I would suggest would be heavy on the shell commands.  Perhaps muungwana has a GUI alternative...

I'm searching for a low power and price system (below 15-20 W), but avoid the atom processors (I think they are not enough responsive).

Thanks

I would guess the Atom processors are sufficient.  I once used a 486 with 24 MB RAM, booted from a floppy (and running in RAM) to route about six PCs in a home network to Internet traffic.  Routing is a very low resource task.  I would focus on the pwoer consumption (that old 486 was a pig on electricity).

[muungwana]

muungwana:
I realise that to make my pclinuxos act as a router I must buy a PCIe ADSL modem, so I can connect to my ISP provider. (As far as I know).

no,a router and a modem are two different things,they may be bundled together but they are different.

All you need to make a linux box a router is more than one network interface,you said you have two so your box can be used as a router. You will connect a modem(the one u r using to connect to your ISP) to one interface and set up a local area network on the other interface.

Any way, I would like to know how to set up the router on pclinuxos, because sooner or latter is the way to go. (I hope it has a minimum of shell commands...)

what is the output of this command?

ifconfig

there should be atleast 3 interfaces,one being "lo" interface,Identify an inerface that will be connecting to the modem

you will run two commands to set it up,you can make them survive reboots so they will be a one time investent for life time us 

[horusfalcon]

It sounds like I'll learn something here if I just keep reading.  That's a good thing.  Don't mind me, y'all.

If I may suggest, though, has the topic of using a PCLinuxOS box as a router already been submitted to the magazine?  It would make a great article.

[muungwana]

It sounds like I'll learn something here if I just keep reading.  That's a good thing.  Don't mind me, y'all.

If I may suggest, though, has the topic of using a PCLinuxOS box as a router already been submitted to the magazine?  It would make a great article.

I dont remember seeing it and people are starting to ask this question.Was thinking of writing an article about it but i couldnt make the article long enough in my head.

[horusfalcon]

It sounds like I'll learn something here if I just keep reading.  That's a good thing.  Don't mind me, y'all.

If I may suggest, though, has the topic of using a PCLinuxOS box as a router already been submitted to the magazine?  It would make a great article.

I dont remember seeing it and people are starting to ask this question.Was thinking of writing an article about it but i couldnt make the article long enough in my head.

Well, take your best swing at it anyhow. If it really is that trivial, do it in the form of a detailed, step-by-step example.  You'll be surprised, once you start writing and actually listing the steps, just how much there is to almost anything done to configure a system.  (I write a lot of IT documentation for work... my goal in writing procedures is to make them such that a non-IT person could sit down in front of a machine, read through the procedure once, and be able to complete it.  That way, if I get hit by a truck tomorrow, someone else will have half a chance of filling in for me with minimal disruption.)

Thanks for considering an article as an option.  It's a great way to give back to the community.

Later On,
D