On December 5, 2014, Levi Pearson wrote: > Although DIY network router projects typically have more *features* > than you get on a commercial home network router product, they > certainly don't universally work *better* at the core networking > tasks. The open source alternatives on commercial router hardware > sometimes do *worse* at network throughput tests due to sub-optimal > configuration and handling of CPU-level processing of the network > protocols. Sometimes there's hardware to accelerate things that isn't > used optimally in the open source versions, etc.
Well, that may be the cast on high end routers. I've never been able to afford more than an entry level wireless router myself. I have had two of them, and one of them never supported open-source firmware (in fact, I went to the Tomato web page, and it specifically gave a "do not use" rating to my router). The other one did in fact support open source firmware (don't ask me what model it was, that was almost ten years ago) and it worked just as well with the open source firmware as it had with the factory firmware. It may have been a bit better, but even if it wasn't, it most certainly wasn't any noticeably worse. I will freely admit I didn't exactly run before/after benchmarks. But that doesn't change the fact that the router SEEMED to work a whole lot better with open source firmware. > But whatever you do, don't try to build a router out of an RPi. That's coming across loud and clear. Believe me, that particular project is crossed out. I think as far as the router goes, I'll just do as you said, get a cheap home router that's supported by one of the OS firmware distros. While not as educational, it will still be functional and will get the job done, plus I can still do some experiments with the configuration and such so as to get some education out of it. :) Any good recommendations for a Linux-compatible (DD-WRT or Tomato would be best) off-the-shelf router? I want it to be AC capable and have gigabit ethernet ports for the LAN. Wan could be Fast Ethernet or Gigabit, really doesn't matter. Either will more than suffice for my internet pipe. I imagine the other features I need (such as multi-address NAT) will be supported via the OS firmware. :) Thanks for the tips! --- Dan On Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 11:03 PM, Levi Pearson <levipear...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 12:45 AM, Dan Egli <ddavide...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On December 3, 2014, Barry Roberts wrote: > >> Less processor and RAM than a pi/beagle/cubie, but considering all the > >> stuff it includes (wirelss, GB switch, GB NICS, power supply, case, > >> etc.), for $78, you MIGHT be able to put together a pi or a beagle-based > >> option for a similiar price, but probably neither would be as good as a > >> router (pi definetly wouldn't), and the packaging and cabling would > >> be much uglier. > > > > Many home-brew/DIY projects lack the polished look of the commercial > > models. But they are fun to get assembled, and work better than a > > commercial model too. So looks are the least of my consern. However, I > can > > always look at other models to see what they have. As to BeagleBoard, the > > only project I've ever seen seems to indicate it's similiar to the > Arduino, > > but just more powerful. I don't know if that's right or not. I'd have to > > take a much closer look at it to see how compatable it is. I don't want > to > > build this on something so specialized that it wouldn't run a full O/S. > > That's why I was looking at the pi. It was the only full system in a > single > > board I was aware of. I _KNOW_ ardunio wouldn't work in that regard(and > > talk about slow if it did! The chip is less than 10MHz if memory > serves). I > > can take a closer look at beagle and/or cubie. Perhaps they'll work > better. > > Thanks for the tips! > > Although DIY network router projects typically have more *features* > than you get on a commercial home network router product, they > certainly don't universally work *better* at the core networking > tasks. The open source alternatives on commercial router hardware > sometimes do *worse* at network throughput tests due to sub-optimal > configuration and handling of CPU-level processing of the network > protocols. Sometimes there's hardware to accelerate things that isn't > used optimally in the open source versions, etc. > > When commercial products are designed, they tend to have processors in > them that are designed around their task and have specialized > peripherals embedded in them. Although the GPL compels the > manufacturers of the chips to release the source to Linux drivers for > them, it's not necessarily for an up-to-date kernel or even written > very well, and certainly is not likely to be well documented unless > you've got an NDA with the chip manufacturer and paid support for some > distributor for the chips. Even when you do, it can be difficult to > pry the information you need to configure things well out of them > (believe me, I am fighting this battle RIGHT NOW). > > So, you're going to be hard-pressed to make a network router that's > actually *better* at its core task than a cheap off-the-shelf model, > and to do so you're going to have to spend WAY more and be very > careful about the peripherals you choose so that you ensure they've > got well-supported drivers that perform well at the task you're trying > to accomplish. This is not something you're going to be able to > research effectively without unfettered internet access and a large > expense budget to buy and test various pieces of hardware/software > together. > > On the other hand, if you just want to tinker with an open source > router, grab a cheap home router that's supported by one of the open > source router firmware distributions and dig into that. Or buy one of > the significantly more expensive "open hardware" router platforms and > have a bit more freedom to tinker with the hardware in known-good > combinations. > > But whatever you do, don't try to build a router out of an RPi. > > --Levi > > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */ > /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
