Router - recommendations for FreeBSD?

[ClaptonOrient]

It's way past time that I got onto adsl - broadband, as we quaintly call it in the UK - and I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a router (with built-in modem, and wireless broadcast) that's not too fiddly with FreeBSD.

I've heard some routers need Internet Explorer to set them up ...

[Carpetsmoker]

I've heard some routers need Internet Explorer to set them up ...

Sound like an urban legend to me...

[hamba]

Not really, here at work I have two brand new netgear switches and to get into there web interface you have to use MS Internet explorer, firefox just hangs.

At home I have an asus router and its working very nicely with firefox.

[tuck]

The same problem with some routers from t-online. I don't know the exact name of the devices but my father bought two that refuse to respond to Firefox.

[anomie]

Originally Posted by ClaptonOrient

... I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a router (with built-in modem, and wireless broadcast) that's not too fiddly with FreeBSD.

I've been using a SpeedStream ethernet DSL modem / NAT device with FreeBSD for a couple years. (I can't seem to remove it from my wall at the moment to see the exact model number .) This was provided by my ISP for "free" as part of a DSL contract.

I don't have any experience with a single device that fulfills all of your requirements: modem + router + wireless AP. AFAIK it is more common for home users to attach a so-called SOHO wireless router to a DSL modem, and then attach the home PC(s) to the SOHO wireless router/switch.

[TerryP]

Any thing that needs IE for the setup, I'd through the F out...


The main reason why I would rather press my OpenBSD machine into service if I had the hardware, is so I don't need a *new* web interface every time we replace a router with a different brand :-(

[18Googol2]

Originally Posted by anomie

I've been using a SpeedStream ethernet DSL modem / NAT device with FreeBSD for a couple years. (I can't seem to remove it from my wall at the moment to see the exact model number .) This was provided by my ISP for "free" as part of a DSL contract.

Is it SpeedStream 4200? I got one, had used for months before moving to cable internet, and it served me very well.

To the OP: take a look at Netcomm NB6plus4w or Dynalink RTA1025W.

And yes, you guys remind me of my abandoned D-Link 320g. There are some settings which can only be changed in IE!

[anomie]

Originally Posted by 18Googol2

Is it SpeedStream 4200?

I'm not sure. Rather than breaking the plastic mounting, I've taken a photo of it and attached it here. Not sure if that helps identify it or not.

Anyway, it's been a nice modem (though I'm not thrilled that it acts as a NAT device).

[18Googol2]

Yes thats it. I still remember sometimes its uptime could reach a month easily

Small, doesnt look fancy but it does the job

[protologic]

You might be interested in monowall, http://www.m0n0.ch/wall, or pfsense, http://www.pfsense.org/

[mtx]

been using SpeedTouch v516 ADSL modem/router (running in bridge mode) and mpd4 on FreeBSD for almost an year and a half. Works well. Stay away from TP Link. At my first job i have bought one and it crashed serving 5 computers.

all the best,
v

[coppermine]

It, as always, depends where are you going to use this router. At home? Ok, such devices are good enough. But I wouldn't trust them at company level...
The price correlates very good in the case of router quality/capabilities!

[phoenix]

Check out the Linksys WRTG line of home routers. They run embedded Linux, and can be flashed with alternate firmware (like OpenWRT) that add a lot of features to them.

[18Googol2]

Originally Posted by phoenix

Check out the Linksys WRTG line of home routers. They run embedded Linux, and can be flashed with alternate firmware (like OpenWRT) that add a lot of features to them.

Not really, only WRT54L running stock Linux (L is short for Linux), all other running normal Linksys firmware. Also, not all WRT series routers can be flashed with 3rd party firmware (like the recent WRT54G version v7.0) or they only take the mini, not full version. Im pretty much familiar with WRT series since I own 2 of WRT54L atm

Btw, the OP asks for all in one device (modem, router, AP), not just router

[windependence]

I've been running an Actiontec and serving the web from it for over 5 years. Uptime has been several months unless I have to change hardware for some reason.

-Tim

[billtotman]

Originally Posted by Carpetsmoker

Sound like an urban legend to me...

I know SofaWare Edge devices use to require IE to initially log in. After that FireFox and even Konqueror worked just fine.

The 7.5.55 firmware version of their Safe@Office device did not need IE when I initialized mine about a month ago.

The funny thing about that is the Safe@Office is the 'lesser' of the two devices.

[mish]

Another vote for the Siemens Speedstream 4200 here. I've been using it for a small home network for two years now. It's one of those set it up and forget about it types. Really reliable.

It fronts for our network at home, but I've disabled almost all of its built-in features, preferring to let the OpenBSD machine behind it do all the work (packet filtering, NAT, DHCP, DNS, NTP, proxy, wireless AP, bandwidth-shaping, spam delaying, etc).

[harisman]

My recommendation is to buy:
a) a PC Engines miniITX (or other brand, lets say Soekris )
b) an Atheros cm9 minipci wifi card
c) one ethernet card
d) a cheap ethernet pppoe adsl modem
e) a cheap external wifi antenna
.... and install pfsence on it - as protologic already suggested.

You will end up having a little more expensive BUT powerfull router. Not many cheap commercial adsl routers offers the functionality and the capabilities compared to this setup.