Router Recomendations

[Robert McDonald]

Hi all,

Anyone got a router they can recomend it needs to be able to:

Get the IP onto a linux box
- PPPoE?
- PPTP?
- Nothing dodgey like DHCPing the public IP from the router.

Not be dodgey like those dlinks that can be hacked remotely using SNMP.

Must have a telnet interface that can be disabled/passworded. Not like
dynalink RTA020s or something.

Does anyone know of a router that can do all these things but is still
relativly cheap?

Cheers

Rob

[LEE Tet Yoon]

Post by Robert McDonald
Hi all,
Get the IP onto a linux box
- PPPoE?

You can use PPPoE with Telecom's form of ADSL. You could have the modem end the
PPPoE and initiate a PPPoA connection but the only one I know which does this is
the 3com DualLink and it doesn't use standard compliant PPPoE so I would not
recommend it. Also it's no longer available new.

Post by Robert McDonald
- PPTP?

Most Alcatel SpeedTouch routers do this. As does the M1122. I did not find any
others that could do this (at least that were available in NZ).

Er well ignoring things like Cisco that cost $600 or whatever

Post by Robert McDonald
- Nothing dodgey like DHCPing the public IP from the router.

Are you sure this is dodgy? I've heard before some firewalls don't like it but
I still haven't actually heard whether this is because it's dodgy or because
the firewalls are just too fussy...

In any case, the ones I found which could do this (in NZ) were the DSE ones
(half-bridge) and the Dynalink RTA230, RTA770 and RTA770W (IP extension). The
new Alcatel's support this as well if I'm not mistaken (DHCP spoofing). I was
told by Dlink that the 300g has a way of getting the IP to the computer and I
think they meant this but I'm not sure and the manual doesn't seem to mention
it. In any case, the 300g is not available here, only the 302g altho it might be
the same.

While looking up the Dlink 300g I came across info which suggest the Billion
5100 and 7100 series may also have it (half-bridge)

This feature is commonly poorly advertised. I generally looked in the manuals
but it can be difficult especially as the names vary.

Post by Robert McDonald
Not be dodgey like those dlinks that can be hacked remotely using SNMP.

Doesn't apply to any of the above I think...

Post by Robert McDonald
Must have a telnet interface that can be disabled/passworded. Not like
dynalink RTA020s or something.

Are you only worried about remote access? If not, you might want to cross the
M1122 out of your list since anyone with physical access should be able to get
access despite passwords.

Post by Robert McDonald
Does anyone know of a router that can do all these things but is still
relativly cheap?

Define cheap. Since you don't like DHCP, you only real choice (new) would be the
Alcatel Speedtouch 510 or 530. This will be around $250 at least. You could try
Trademe but Alcatel's aren't so easy to find. The M1122 is no longer available new
but they appear fairly regularly on TradeMe, usually for slightly less then $250.

You might want to look up and find out whether DHCPing the public IP is really dodgy.
I'm using the M1122 so I'm using PPTP. The way I see it, the primarily advantages of
PPTP is your username & password is stored in the computer not the router (may not
actually be an advantage) and you can easily disconnect/reconnect. Also, you should
be able to use the build in switch, if any, with any problem. Currently, it also
makes it easier to switch to the JSG realm but since that's dying, it isn't really
much of advantage IMHO. The way things are currently, I don't see there being any
need to switch accounts frequently in the future but who knows I suppose?

DHCP does have some advantages. Your modem/router maintains the PPP connection so
provided is isn't a piece of crap, your connection will not be affected by restarts
etc. You will maintain your IP, if it isn't static and any 'feature' that Telecom
implements that requires you to disconnect before it takes effect will not affect
you unless Telecom also implement a 'feature' to disconnect you. And the password &
user is stored in the modem/router (which may not always be an advantage). It'll
generally also be somewhat easier to set up. But one disadvantage is that it may take
a while for your computer to realise there is a new IP after the router establishes
a connection, unless you tell it to renew it's IP of course.

Having said that, the Alcatels (and maybe the M1122), at least the new ones, are
probably better pieces of hardware then the DSE, Dlink and Dynalinks. But then,
this is reflected in the price. You might want to consider factors other then
getting the IP to the local computer and security.

P.S. You could also consider a USB or internal modem altho Linux compatibility
is frequently uncertain