Gateway?

[Seth Dimbert]

I'd also point out that there are a number of router/switches available on
the market for less than $80. Now, I know that it's sacrilegious to suggest
that a Linux solution might not be the best one, but if you're talking about
only 4 PC's and your time and effort is worth more than $80 then the
solution is a no-brainer.

Head to MicroCenter/CompUSA and buy a 4-port Router/Switch. You plug the
modem into its WAN port and each PC into the 4 ports. You administer it via
a web browser on any machine on the network, it can handle PPoE and DHCP out
of the box and the firewall is reliable.

Or, if you want to get fancy, you can get a unit that supports 802.11b
wireless networking also (a solution that is tougher and much more
complicated in Linux) for a bit more cash.

What the decision boils down to is this. you can choose between:

 - Using a free solution on an old PC with 3 NICs that you administer, or
 - buying a cheap, reliable, specialized piece of hardware designed to do
just this one task. Set it and forget it.

Up to you.

-SD

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-kclug at marauder.illiana.net
[mailto:owner-kclug at marauder.illiana.net]On Behalf Of JD Runyan
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 10:16 AM
To: John O'Brien @itazuke.org
Cc: kclug at kclug.org
Subject: Re: Gateway?

On Wed, 2002-11-27 at 09:55, John O'Brien @itazuke.org wrote:
>
> I would like them to install a DSL or Cable modem
> in a linux box (a 486 I'm setting up with SuSe 8.1
> personal).  The supplier wants a lot of money for a
> router.  What I read says, install the modem in the
> linux box and let it be the router.  But never having
> actually done it, I'm not sure.
> Am I correct?
I would suggest getting the standard external modem with ethernet
connectivity.  Your Linux box would have 2-NICs, one for the internal
network, and one for the cable/dsl modem.  Set the linux system up to do
dhcp on the internal network, and NAT.  You then use private addressing
on the internal network.  You can then use the cheaper single dynamic IP
services from the provider.  You also have the flexibility to change
providers on the fly, if the one you choose isn't working out.  Just
change out the external modem for the new one, and plug the cable into
the linux box.  The only config that may have to be changed, is whether
or not the Linux box has to do PPOE.  SuSE's YAST makes it easy to
configure the NAT, and the dhcp client and server.
--
Jason D. Runyan
USDA NITC KC
Mid-Range Systems