Looking for ADSL/Wireless Router recommendations

[Jamie Dobbs]

I am looking at replacing my Dick Smith ADSL router with a new one that
supports ADSL2 and wireless (so I can network the (modded) XBox from the
lounge using wireless so that I can access Samba shares etc).
I am considering either the Linksys WAG54G or Netgear DG834G and would
welcome feedback from people who have used either of these 2 units or who
can suggest any other alternatives.

Cheers

Jamie





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[Jared Yates]

Jamie,

to be honest, if i could, i would take my WAG54G v2 and throw it into
the biggest, deepest darkest hole I could find.

The firmware is crap. Half of the features do not work (ie. uPNP), I
could not get my PS2 to run online through it (had to drag the old
Dynalink RTA020 out of the closes) and as far as I am aware, none of
the problems have not been corrected as yet and I have had the router
for about 18 months.

[a quick google and whirlpool forum read later]

in fact... it would appear that development seems to be being driven
by some independent hacker called 'AdamK'

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/index.cfm?a=wiki&tag=WAG54G%20v2
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/index.cfm?a=wiki&tag=WAG54G_V2_unofficial_pluto

so i might have to try this firmware...

Also, I belive that people are working on an OpenWRT (www.openwrt.org)
build for this unit, but it requires a hardware hack to solder a cable
connector to the routers mainboard.

I bought the router thinking that as a 'Cisco Company', the Linksys
units should be fairly stable and well supported... BZZZZZZZZT WRONG!

Their tech support was next to useless (routed to some call centre in
the Phillipines I think) and the delay in fixing the issues was
unacceptable.

By the time I figured out that there were major issues (like the PS2
one), it was too late to take back to the store as I had had it for
around 4 or 5 weeks, so i had to suffer through the get new firmware,
find broken features now working but some working features now broken,
wait for new firmware cycle until I just gave up and found the
firmware that had the best combo of working features that I regularly
used.

My advice, stay away from the WAG54G v2.

cheers,
Jared

Post by Jamie Dobbs
I am looking at replacing my Dick Smith ADSL router with a new one that
supports ADSL2 and wireless (so I can network the (modded) XBox from the
lounge using wireless so that I can access Samba shares etc).
I am considering either the Linksys WAG54G or Netgear DG834G and would
welcome feedback from people who have used either of these 2 units or who
can suggest any other alternatives.
Cheers
Jamie
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see http://unixathome.org/adsl/ for archives, FAQ,
and various documents.
with "unsubscribe adsl" in the body of the message

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[Kim Shepherd]

Speedtouches (formerly Alcatel, now Thompson) are excellent, we have had a
99% success rate with them.

The newer wireless modems are all ADSL2 compatible, and there are "business"
units which can run VPN endpoints, etc.

The NZ supplier is ConnectPlay -- www.connectplay.co.nz

Kind Regards,

Kim.
--
Kim Shepherd - ***@igrin.co.nz
iGRIN Internet - http://www.igrin.co.nz
0800 2 IGRIN - 09 430 3540

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jared Yates" <***@gmail.com>
To: "Jamie Dobbs" <***@ihug.co.nz>
Cc: <***@lists.unixathome.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: Looking for ADSL/Wireless Router recommendations

Post by Jared Yates
Jamie,
to be honest, if i could, i would take my WAG54G v2 and throw it into
the biggest, deepest darkest hole I could find.
The firmware is crap. Half of the features do not work (ie. uPNP), I
could not get my PS2 to run online through it (had to drag the old
Dynalink RTA020 out of the closes) and as far as I am aware, none of
the problems have not been corrected as yet and I have had the router
for about 18 months.
[a quick google and whirlpool forum read later]
in fact... it would appear that development seems to be being driven
by some independent hacker called 'AdamK'
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/index.cfm?a=wiki&tag=WAG54G%20v2
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/index.cfm?a=wiki&tag=WAG54G_V2_unofficial_pluto
so i might have to try this firmware...
Also, I belive that people are working on an OpenWRT (www.openwrt.org)
build for this unit, but it requires a hardware hack to solder a cable
connector to the routers mainboard.
I bought the router thinking that as a 'Cisco Company', the Linksys
units should be fairly stable and well supported... BZZZZZZZZT WRONG!
Their tech support was next to useless (routed to some call centre in
the Phillipines I think) and the delay in fixing the issues was
unacceptable.
By the time I figured out that there were major issues (like the PS2
one), it was too late to take back to the store as I had had it for
around 4 or 5 weeks, so i had to suffer through the get new firmware,
find broken features now working but some working features now broken,
wait for new firmware cycle until I just gave up and found the
firmware that had the best combo of working features that I regularly
used.
My advice, stay away from the WAG54G v2.
cheers,
Jared

Post by Jamie Dobbs
I am looking at replacing my Dick Smith ADSL router with a new one that
supports ADSL2 and wireless (so I can network the (modded) XBox from the
lounge using wireless so that I can access Samba shares etc).
I am considering either the Linksys WAG54G or Netgear DG834G and would
welcome feedback from people who have used either of these 2 units or who
can suggest any other alternatives.
Cheers
Jamie
--
This message is part of the NZ ADSL mailing list.
see http://unixathome.org/adsl/ for archives, FAQ,
and various documents.
with "unsubscribe adsl" in the body of the message

--
There are 10 types of people in this world.
1. Those who understand binary
2. Those who don't
--
This message is part of the NZ ADSL mailing list.
see http://unixathome.org/adsl/ for archives, FAQ,
and various documents.
with "unsubscribe adsl" in the body of the message

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see http://unixathome.org/adsl/ for archives, FAQ,
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[Nick MacKechnie (thenet)]

Hiya

I have been using a GPL firmware for my WAG54GV2 for a few months now with a
high degree of success (Firmware Version: 1.02.04 ). Anyone who's interested
in getting a copy, let me know.

Nick.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jared Yates" <***@gmail.com>
To: "Jamie Dobbs" <***@ihug.co.nz>
Cc: <***@lists.unixathome.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: Looking for ADSL/Wireless Router recommendations

Post by Jared Yates
Jamie,
to be honest, if i could, i would take my WAG54G v2 and throw it into
the biggest, deepest darkest hole I could find.
The firmware is crap. Half of the features do not work (ie. uPNP), I
could not get my PS2 to run online through it (had to drag the old
Dynalink RTA020 out of the closes) and as far as I am aware, none of
the problems have not been corrected as yet and I have had the router
for about 18 months.
[a quick google and whirlpool forum read later]
in fact... it would appear that development seems to be being driven
by some independent hacker called 'AdamK'
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/index.cfm?a=wiki&tag=WAG54G%20v2
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/index.cfm?a=wiki&tag=WAG54G_V2_unofficial_pluto
so i might have to try this firmware...
Also, I belive that people are working on an OpenWRT (www.openwrt.org)
build for this unit, but it requires a hardware hack to solder a cable
connector to the routers mainboard.
I bought the router thinking that as a 'Cisco Company', the Linksys
units should be fairly stable and well supported... BZZZZZZZZT WRONG!
Their tech support was next to useless (routed to some call centre in
the Phillipines I think) and the delay in fixing the issues was
unacceptable.
By the time I figured out that there were major issues (like the PS2
one), it was too late to take back to the store as I had had it for
around 4 or 5 weeks, so i had to suffer through the get new firmware,
find broken features now working but some working features now broken,
wait for new firmware cycle until I just gave up and found the
firmware that had the best combo of working features that I regularly
used.
My advice, stay away from the WAG54G v2.
cheers,
Jared

Post by Jamie Dobbs
I am looking at replacing my Dick Smith ADSL router with a new one that
supports ADSL2 and wireless (so I can network the (modded) XBox from the
lounge using wireless so that I can access Samba shares etc).
I am considering either the Linksys WAG54G or Netgear DG834G and would
welcome feedback from people who have used either of these 2 units or who
can suggest any other alternatives.
Cheers
Jamie
--
This message is part of the NZ ADSL mailing list.
see http://unixathome.org/adsl/ for archives, FAQ,
and various documents.
with "unsubscribe adsl" in the body of the message

--
There are 10 types of people in this world.
1. Those who understand binary
2. Those who don't
--
This message is part of the NZ ADSL mailing list.
see http://unixathome.org/adsl/ for archives, FAQ,
and various documents.
with "unsubscribe adsl" in the body of the message

--
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see http://unixathome.org/adsl/ for archives, FAQ,
and various documents.
To unsubscribe: send mail to ***@lists.unixathome.org
with "unsubscribe adsl" in the body of the message

[Steve Barr]

Hi,

I'm wondering if someone can tell me of a good network box to service the
following:

8 wired + 2 wireless LAN users at head office

3 remote branches (to be permanently connected to head office via VPN over
ADSL Internet (Win XP Pro or Win 2000 clients).

2 roaming users with remote access

There is no head office server, so the box must be able to act as the VPN
server (i.e. tunnel terminator). Head office Internet connection is
Paradise ADSL.

The Mako box seems good, but very expensive.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

[David Hawke]

Post by Steve Barr
Hi,
I'm wondering if someone can tell me of a good network box to service the
8 wired + 2 wireless LAN users at head office
3 remote branches (to be permanently connected to head office via VPN over
ADSL Internet (Win XP Pro or Win 2000 clients).
2 roaming users with remote access
There is no head office server, so the box must be able to act as the VPN
server (i.e. tunnel terminator). Head office Internet connection is
Paradise ADSL.
The Mako box seems good, but very expensive.

At the risk of sounding biased, why not put low to mid range linux boxes
in as firewall / VPN managers / routers.

PII 400 / 64Mb RAM / 10Gb disks with your favourite distribution ... or
possibly ipcop ... do marvellously. I'd favour gentoo or debian. Higher
spec machines will of course do just as well, but work even less.

If you have no other preference for VPN, I'd be looking at OpenVPN - its
a doddle to set up both for permanent links and for roaming links.

DavidH

Post by Steve Barr
Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve
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[Volker Kuhlmann]

Post by David Hawke
At the risk of sounding biased, why not put low to mid range linux boxes
in as firewall / VPN managers / routers.
PII 400 / 64Mb RAM / 10Gb disks with your favourite distribution ... or
possibly ipcop ... do marvellously.

A Linux distribution has the downside of needing a huge amount of time
to set up when compared to a ready-to-roll firewall application which
has its own Linux/BSD included. I advise against ipcop for anything
exceeding home use because of a lacking feature set (no outbound
filtering), confusing BUI, and instability (add-ons segfault, a
/dev/null for a security appliance as far as I am concerned). pfsense is
*much* niftier but doing everything means it's more difficult to set up.
Even Endian beats ipcop in design. Those are the 3 choices I could find
(let me know if I missed any pls). Any medium/low PC will do, and you
still need an adsl modem.

The advantage of a dedicated all-in-one hardware box is small size and
low power consumption, but you're subjecting yourself to the whims of
its firmware and there are basically no security updates available. I
don't believe these boxes never have bugs.

Volker

[David Hawke]

Post by Volker Kuhlmann

Post by David Hawke
At the risk of sounding biased, why not put low to mid range linux
boxes in as firewall / VPN managers / routers.
PII 400 / 64Mb RAM / 10Gb disks with your favourite distribution ...
or possibly ipcop ... do marvellously.

A Linux distribution has the downside of needing a huge amount of time
to set up when compared to a ready-to-roll firewall application which
has its own Linux/BSD included. I advise against ipcop for anything
exceeding home use because of a lacking feature set (no outbound
filtering), confusing BUI, and instability (add-ons segfault, a
/dev/null for a security appliance as far as I am concerned). pfsense is
*much* niftier but doing everything means it's more difficult to set up.
Even Endian beats ipcop in design. Those are the 3 choices I could find
(let me know if I missed any pls). Any medium/low PC will do, and you
still need an adsl modem.
The advantage of a dedicated all-in-one hardware box is small size and
low power consumption, but you're subjecting yourself to the whims of
its firmware and there are basically no security updates available. I
don't believe these boxes never have bugs.

All true - the most time consuming bit is getting iptables set up ...
but I guess I did that so long ago that different configs are really
just a tweak these days. I'm not keen on ipcop either.

Certainly the advantage of going down the Linux path is the flexibility
- for example to put squid / dansguardian in place to handle the web
content, add an mta / dspam /clamav to manage mail, and samba to manage
file print.

DavidH

[Volker Kuhlmann]

Post by David Hawke
All true - the most time consuming bit is getting iptables set up ...

No, setting up iptables is very easy. In SuSEfirewall2 it amounts to
setting a number of variables to what you want the firewall to do. There
are other programs similar to SuSEfirewall2, but this is one of the best
I've seen. Chances of getting it right when starting iptables rules from
scratch are slim, for less than well-experienced iptables hackers. Even
then it may be of questionable economics.

The most time consuming bit of going the $DISTRO way is setting up
proxies, a dhcp server, a dns forwarder, linking the dhcp server with
the dns forwarder (on small LANs I find it by far the easiest to link a
few fixed desktops to fixed IPs in the dhcp server), traffic graphing
tools, log file handling, email filtering, you name it. A few clicks
away in pfsense, and no distracting distro clutter.

Post by David Hawke
Certainly the advantage of going down the Linux path is the flexibility

True! Although should you really be running the web proxy, mail
filtering etc on the firewall?? Or should that be on your file server?

Volker

PS Please refrain from CC'ing me on list postings, thanks.

[Volker Kuhlmann]

Post by David Hawke
All true - the most time consuming bit is getting iptables set up ...

No, setting up iptables is very easy. In SuSEfirewall2 it amounts to
setting a number of variables to what you want the firewall to do. There
are other programs similar to SuSEfirewall2, but this is one of the best
I've seen. Chances of getting it right when starting iptables rules from
scratch are slim, for less than well-experienced iptables hackers. Even
then it may be of questionable economics.

The most time consuming bit of going the $DISTRO way is setting up
proxies, a dhcp server, a dns forwarder, linking the dhcp server with
the dns forwarder (on small LANs I find it by far the easiest to link a
few fixed desktops to fixed IPs in the dhcp server), traffic graphing
tools, log file handling, email filtering, you name it. A few clicks
away in pfsense, and no distracting distro clutter.

Post by David Hawke
Certainly the advantage of going down the Linux path is the flexibility

True! Although should you really be running the web proxy, mail
filtering etc on the firewall?? Or should that be on your file server?

Volker

PS Please refrain from CC'ing me on list postings, thanks.

[David Hawke]

Post by Volker Kuhlmann

Post by David Hawke
All true - the most time consuming bit is getting iptables set up ...

No, setting up iptables is very easy. In SuSEfirewall2 it amounts to
setting a number of variables to what you want the firewall to do. There
are other programs similar to SuSEfirewall2, but this is one of the best
I've seen. Chances of getting it right when starting iptables rules from
scratch are slim, for less than well-experienced iptables hackers. Even
then it may be of questionable economics.

That was in fact the point - iptables can be daunting when starting out
from scratch but once you have a model, its easy to tweak. Haven't
looked at SUSEfirewall - obviously worth a look. In most cases though,
I've found that tweaking a model rule set becomes necessary.

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
The most time consuming bit of going the $DISTRO way is setting up
proxies, a dhcp server, a dns forwarder, linking the dhcp server with
the dns forwarder (on small LANs I find it by far the easiest to link a
few fixed desktops to fixed IPs in the dhcp server), traffic graphing
tools, log file handling, email filtering, you name it. A few clicks
away in pfsense, and no distracting distro clutter.

Interesting - most of those are the bits I've found the easiest. I
suspect that one of the reasons for that is that I went down the qmail
path a long time ago, and was also caught by the BIND exploit - so
swapped to djbdns. This makes the DNS side of things very easy, and its
a doddle to manage whatever fixed addressing is required for the local
network

Post by Volker Kuhlmann

Post by David Hawke
Certainly the advantage of going down the Linux path is the flexibility

True! Although should you really be running the web proxy, mail
filtering etc on the firewall?? Or should that be on your file server?

Depends on the site, the $$, and the security and grunt required. The
firewalling certainly doesn't make anything sweat.

Ultimately it is horses for courses - driven by preference and site
constraints.

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
Volker
PS Please refrain from CC'ing me on list postings, thanks.

Treat that as being bitten by the list reply-to :-(

David H

[Jason Chuang]

Steve,

Depending on your budget, I have had good experiences with the Netscreen 5GT
ADSL range of firewalls.

At about $700 per site (for the 10 user license model and supports up to 10
IPSec VPN's), full Firewall and VPN features (Point to Point and Roaming)
and is no bigger than a standard ADSL router.

Reasonably easy to setup - but would recommend getting someone who knows
about firewalls to get the most out of them.

Alternativly I have heard that there is a Linksys ADSL router model that is
slightly cheaper and also supports site to site VPN's (not sure how many you
can set up).

With either solution I would stick a $150 Wireless AP behind it.

Jason

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Barr" <***@xtra.co.nz>
To: <***@lists.unixathome.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 5:29 PM
Subject: [adsl] Looking for ADSL VPN Router recommendations

Post by Steve Barr
Hi,
I'm wondering if someone can tell me of a good network box to service the
8 wired + 2 wireless LAN users at head office
3 remote branches (to be permanently connected to head office via VPN over
ADSL Internet (Win XP Pro or Win 2000 clients).
2 roaming users with remote access
There is no head office server, so the box must be able to act as the VPN
server (i.e. tunnel terminator). Head office Internet connection is
Paradise ADSL.
The Mako box seems good, but very expensive.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve
_______________________________________________
adsl mailing list
http://lists.unixathome.org/mailman/listinfo/adsl

[Mark Foster]

I've had a play with the Netscreen 5GT. Theyre not too hard to sort once
you've done it a couple of times, but theres little or no useful
troubleshooting should you have problems sorting the VPN out! (You
basically need to analyse your configs each-end with a fine tooth comb).

But theyre fairly bulletproof from what i've seen. Another thumbs up. And
agreed your WAP should be seperate. (The difficulty in having all in one
box is when your box dies...)

Post by Jason Chuang
Steve,
Depending on your budget, I have had good experiences with the Netscreen 5GT
ADSL range of firewalls.
At about $700 per site (for the 10 user license model and supports up to 10
IPSec VPN's), full Firewall and VPN features (Point to Point and Roaming)
and is no bigger than a standard ADSL router.
Reasonably easy to setup - but would recommend getting someone who knows
about firewalls to get the most out of them.
Alternativly I have heard that there is a Linksys ADSL router model that is
slightly cheaper and also supports site to site VPN's (not sure how many you
can set up).
With either solution I would stick a $150 Wireless AP behind it.

*snip*

[Steve Barr]

Thanks for all the suggestions - obviously need to consider a few options.

Steve

[Jason Chuang]

Mark,

Fully agree with your comments on the VPN - but if all the boxes are
Netscreens (regardless of model) it is not too bad. Just set them all up
using the prebuilt standard VPN settings (just make sure you choose the same
"default" Auth/Encryption at each end)

Steve,

Also note, the head office DSL connection will need a static IP for IPSec to
work, the remote offices won't need a static IP for the VPN (set up using
Agressive mode), but if the link goes down for any reason, the remote will
have to re-initiate the tunnel by sending some traffic (Main mode VPN can be
initiated from either end - but all ends will need static IP)

Cheers

Jason

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Foster" <***@blakjak.net>
To: "Jason Chuang" <***@xtra.co.nz>
Cc: "Steve Barr" <***@xtra.co.nz>; <***@lists.unixathome.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 8:32 PM
Subject: Re: [adsl] Looking for ADSL VPN Router recommendations

Post by Mark Foster
I've had a play with the Netscreen 5GT. Theyre not too hard to sort once
you've done it a couple of times, but theres little or no useful
troubleshooting should you have problems sorting the VPN out! (You
basically need to analyse your configs each-end with a fine tooth comb).
But theyre fairly bulletproof from what i've seen. Another thumbs up. And
agreed your WAP should be seperate. (The difficulty in having all in one
box is when your box dies...)

Post by Jason Chuang
Steve,
Depending on your budget, I have had good experiences with the Netscreen 5GT
ADSL range of firewalls.
At about $700 per site (for the 10 user license model and supports up to 10
IPSec VPN's), full Firewall and VPN features (Point to Point and Roaming)
and is no bigger than a standard ADSL router.
Reasonably easy to setup - but would recommend getting someone who knows
about firewalls to get the most out of them.
Alternativly I have heard that there is a Linksys ADSL router model that is
slightly cheaper and also supports site to site VPN's (not sure how many you
can set up).
With either solution I would stick a $150 Wireless AP behind it.

*snip*

[David McNeill]

Hi,

I'm wondering if someone can tell me of a good network box to service the
following:




Zyxel 661HW

It has VPN, wireless, 4 port switch, ADSL etc for around $220


David