#359999 - 21/10/2013 16:52
The best router
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
As sad as I am to admit it, I'm no longer using my beloved WRT54GL in any installations. The hardware is just too old and can't cut it anymore, especially now that products like Ubiquiti's Unifi system exist, bringing managed AP's to easily affordable levels.
What the APs won't do, however, is replace the router portion of that Linksys. Because of that, I'm looking for something that will make for a great router and nothing more. I don't care if it has 1 LAN port or 20 (unmanaged switches are easy to come by), I just care that it has a good UI for administration purposes, performs well, and gives me a good number of options (QoS would be nice).
Does anyone have a suggestion for a product like this in a similarly consumer-level price? $50-150 works for me. If it has to have wireless in it (seems like it has to these days) that's fine and I can just disable it. I just want to ferret out the product that does the best job at being a reliable router.
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360000 - 21/10/2013 17:04
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
|
The stock firmware on the Asus RT-N66U does all you want. I have the 802.11ac version, but I have told a bunch of people to get the 802.11n version when cost was an issue. Never had a complaint about either router. I've been using Asus routers for years with DD-WRT and the hardware seems solid. I've been running stock firmware on these two newer units for about a year now. It does all I want, so I'm fine with keeping it.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360001 - 21/10/2013 17:45
Re: The best router
[Re: robricc]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
|
We've had one of those at Electric Imp UK (the British Impire) for a year or so now. It runs decidedly warm -- so probably isn't the best choice for power efficiency -- but has been rock-solid. Peter
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360002 - 21/10/2013 18:28
Re: The best router
[Re: peter]
|
veteran
Registered: 21/03/2002
Posts: 1424
Loc: MA but Irish born
|
Ditto on the N66. I've had on for a month or so, so can't really comment on stability - though in that time it has worked fine. The Asus GUI I'm still getting used to, as a former Tomato user. It is not that it is good or bad, but different, and to quote tanstaafl "That must be bad".
I doubt you'll find a consumer grade router without wireless build in.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360003 - 21/10/2013 20:12
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
|
I've been pretty happy with my Netgear N600 (WNDR3700v2 and WNDR3800v1) routers, running OpenWRT. Yeah, the UI's not as polished as Tomato, but it will do the same sorts of things. It's got a 4 port Gigabit switch, which was the decider for me. As is usual with consumer routers, they change the chipset more often than the model number, so if you want to run OpenWRT or DD-WRT on it, check compatibility first.
And, yes, I do have 3 of them. One configured as a router/AP downstairs, one as an AP in the attic, and one waiting for me to run Ethernet to the kitchen.
_________________________
-- roger
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360004 - 21/10/2013 20:34
Re: The best router
[Re: Roger]
|
pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
|
On the recommendation of AndyM I run one of these at the moment... http://routerboard.com/RB450GTotally faultless performance, good power usage and loads of useful features. Nice to tinker with too, even I can figure out some of it !!! Cheers Cris
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360012 - 22/10/2013 12:10
Re: The best router
[Re: Cris]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
|
Wow, that RouterBoard hardware looks great and the price looks good too. Can you put OpenWRT or whatever else on it?
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360013 - 22/10/2013 12:31
Re: The best router
[Re: DWallach]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14491
Loc: Canada
|
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360014 - 22/10/2013 13:46
Re: The best router
[Re: mlord]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
|
My parents have a teeny tiny wiring closet in their laundry room, where they currently have an old, failing D-Link router, with two separate APs stationed in more reasonable locations. Small size, low power, heat tolerance, etc. is what they need, and this looks like exactly the right hardware.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360017 - 22/10/2013 16:18
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
|
The Netgear AC1900 (r7000) is about the fastest/most advanced router you can buy as a consumer today. It's a dual core router with a 1 Ghz CPU. The new Asus RT-AC68U uses the same CPU, but only clocks it up to 800 Mhz. (not that I believe you'll see the difference, but hey). The Netgear's firmware seems much more mature than the Asus' though. The Netgear can also be flashed with DD-WRT should you want to do this. There's already a version available (not sure about the Asus). What I like about it very much is that it is supposed to have superb range, and it supports dualband and it also features a VPN server (openVPN) This new Netgear router has been for sale for a while in the US now, but not yet in Europe and I'm really looking at the shops on a daily basis now because I really want to replace my ageing D-Link DIR-655.
_________________________
Riocar 80gig S/N : 010101580 red
Riocar 80gig (010102106) - backup
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360018 - 22/10/2013 16:26
Re: The best router
[Re: BartDG]
|
veteran
Registered: 21/03/2002
Posts: 1424
Loc: MA but Irish born
|
Holy crap! A dual-core 1ghz CPU in a router???
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360019 - 22/10/2013 16:36
Re: The best router
[Re: Phoenix42]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
Does anyone have any experience with TP-Link? This looks like a good option based on price/features (I'd prefer to NOT have wireless built in). I don't know much about the company (though I might have bought a cheap switch from them before), or what the admin UI would look like. The products from that Routerboard company look good. The bare board doesn't appeal to me much, since I'd also have to get a case and power adapter, and the total cost would be around $120. That price isn't out of the realm, but I'd like something a little more "off the rack" so to speak. The Asus seems ok, but a still a little pricey at ~$150...
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360021 - 22/10/2013 17:05
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
|
I've used a TL-WR1043ND router before. It performed reasonably well and was pretty cheap (40 euro or something). Unfortunately I bricked it by doing a simple firmware update. In hindsight, the reason for this was that I changed the the standard IP range from 192.168.1.x to 192.168.0.x because that was the range I used before with my D-Link router. Now, it seems it's not a good idea to flash a router if you've changed the default IP range.  I could have saved it, but that would mean soldering some pins onto the motherboard and reflashing it using a USB to serial adapter. (which I didn't have and would cost me 20 euro or so to get). I ended up binning it.
_________________________
Riocar 80gig S/N : 010101580 red
Riocar 80gig (010102106) - backup
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360027 - 22/10/2013 19:30
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
|
The products from that Routerboard company look good. The bare board doesn't appeal to me much They seem to also offer them with cases (e.g., this is what I'd get for my parents). Notably absent are any price listings.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360033 - 22/10/2013 20:54
Re: The best router
[Re: DWallach]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
The products from that Routerboard company look good. The bare board doesn't appeal to me much They seem to also offer them with cases (e.g., this is what I'd get for my parents). Notably absent are any price listings. Ah, I didn't see that one. Their site isn't the greatest. The have a really nice product search tool, but it doesn't let you narrow by specific product category (like "routers"). That certainly is very inexpensive. Amazon has it for $55 plus $4 shipping, with great reviews (only three, but all glowing). I'll definitely go with this in the future. Thanks, I think I've found my router  *edit* I like that it shows that other people bought it with the Ubiquiti Unifi APs. That's exactly why I want this The Amazon product listing doesn't list what's included in the box. Does this come with the power adapter included? *edit 2* Also, it's a shame I can't use this in more situations. Sometimes it's a real PITA to put a lot of ISP's routers into bridge mode, if they even make it possible. It always involved a call to the ISP, which is a PITA in its own right. I'll probably continue to use the routers that most of my clients are set up with. At least I can usually order plain old modems for my small business clients with business cable contracts.
Edited by Dignan (22/10/2013 20:59)
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360039 - 23/10/2013 07:01
Re: The best router
[Re: mlord]
|
pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
|
WiFi can be added to some of their boards using expansion cards. I have another one running in our firework storage container, it runs 2 expansion cards, one for WiFi and one for the 3G connection. I then run a VPN back to home so I have check my IP cameras remotely. All this runs off a Solar system that also powers the lights and alarm system, so it's pretty frugal on the power use. This is the one that runs in the container... http://routerboard.com/RB411UThey are a great product and the idea is you pick the board with the features you want. They are used in mesh networks a lot, so WiFi is very much something they do. Cheers Cris
Edited by Cris (23/10/2013 07:05)
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360041 - 23/10/2013 09:10
Re: The best router
[Re: Roger]
|
old hand
Registered: 07/01/2005
Posts: 893
Loc: Sector ZZ9pZa
|
I've been pretty happy with my Netgear N600 (WNDR3700v2 and WNDR3800v1) routers, running OpenWRT. Roger, I have the same WNDR3700v2 running OpenWRT and works great for me apart from the range. How much range do you get out of yours? Mine gives me no reception in the far reaches of my tiny 2 bed London flat where the old WRT54G would have full reception everywhere. Tempted to swap it for something else, it is becoming a problem.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360054 - 24/10/2013 01:50
Re: The best router
[Re: Cris]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14491
Loc: Canada
|
WiFi can be added to some of their boards using expansion cards. Absolutely. Just not the board that was being discussed above. Cheers
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360056 - 24/10/2013 09:19
Re: The best router
[Re: mlord]
|
addict
Registered: 27/10/2002
Posts: 568
|
Absolutely. Just not the board that was being discussed above. But then again, dignan wasn't interested in a router with wifi either...
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360110 - 29/10/2013 19:05
Re: The best router
[Re: DWallach]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
|
Wow, that RouterBoard hardware looks great and the price looks good too. Can you put OpenWRT or whatever else on it? I think putting OpenWRT would actually be a retrograde step. It's a real double hit, great hardware matched to brilliant software.
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360111 - 29/10/2013 19:06
Re: The best router
[Re: mlord]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
|
WiFi can be added to some of their boards using expansion cards. Absolutely. Just not the board that was being discussed above. Cheers I see you haven't changed, Mark. BTW that's not meant as a compliment. Given he's looking for something to work with a Ubiquiti AP system, wifi on the router would be totally redundant.
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360117 - 30/10/2013 00:37
Re: The best router
[Re: andym]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14491
Loc: Canada
|
Ouch. Good to hear from you again, Andy!
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360129 - 30/10/2013 19:02
Re: The best router
[Re: andym]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
Wow, that RouterBoard hardware looks great and the price looks good too. Can you put OpenWRT or whatever else on it? I think putting OpenWRT would actually be a retrograde step. It's a real double hit, great hardware matched to brilliant software. That's great to hear. I can't wait to have a need for the hardware now But at least I'm prepared. I've already spec'ed out an install for a home user with one of those routerboard routers and a Unifi AP.
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360321 - 20/11/2013 03:38
Re: The best router
[Re: andym]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
Wow, that RouterBoard hardware looks great and the price looks good too. Can you put OpenWRT or whatever else on it? I think putting OpenWRT would actually be a retrograde step. It's a real double hit, great hardware matched to brilliant software. Andy, I need some clarification: is the software brilliant, or is designed for people who are brilliant? Holy cow! The software on this thing drove been freaking NUTS! I was only trying to do some very simple stuff, and I was losing my mind with how overly complicated they've made the interface and the setup in general! So here's the deal. I was setting this router up at a place that could only get DSL. They use PPPoE with a username and password and that's it. Pretty standard stuff, right? WRONG! I had no freaking clue how to set this up in the Routerboard UI. I was finally able to set up - in the PPP section - a "PPPoE client," and when I was finished I could see that this "client" (whatever that means in this UI), was actually able to get an IP from the ISP, so it was connected. But nothing worked! Then there's all this business about master and slave interfaces? Putting aside the issue that I thought the computer industry had moved past this terminology, there was absolutely no explaining what this meant or how to alter these settings. The experience was miserable, and I ended up having to swap it out for the only router I had in my car, a crappy Linksys E1200. I threw a compact version of DD-WRT on it and disabled the WiFi, but it was very disappointing to not be able to use the Routerboard router. The UI has a steep learning curve, to put it gently, and the documentation is almost nonexistent for the web interface.
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360322 - 20/11/2013 06:05
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
|
I think there are some pretty simple to follow example setups if you Google about.
Sure it's not the sort of system you can expect to rock up at your clients get it all out of the box and expect it to be working in 30 minutes. It's just a different way of doing things, that gives you greater flexibility in the long run.
I was able to figure it out, with a bit of prompting from AndyM and Google. Got quite a complex setup working pretty quickly.
Cheers
Cris
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360328 - 20/11/2013 15:19
Re: The best router
[Re: Cris]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
But that's the thing, this was NOT a complicated setup. It shouldn't have taken any time at all. It literally took me about five minutes on the POS Linksys router I resorted to using. And actually, there was no information I could find online that explained it. If you'd like to explain it now, I'm all ears
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#360329 - 20/11/2013 15:34
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5546
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
|
I was only trying to do some very simple stuff, and I was losing my mind with how overly complicated they've made the interface and the setup in general! That's odd... I had no trouble at all setting up my router, didn't even look at the instructions. tanstaafl.
_________________________
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360330 - 20/11/2013 16:19
Re: The best router
[Re: tanstaafl.]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
I was only trying to do some very simple stuff, and I was losing my mind with how overly complicated they've made the interface and the setup in general! That's odd... I had no trouble at all setting up my router, didn't even look at the instructions. I wish I had something like that After a little while with the Routerboad router, I would have taken that router to it!
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360331 - 20/11/2013 21:27
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
|
Did this not help...
http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Initial_Configuration
Cheers
Cris
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360332 - 20/11/2013 21:32
Re: The best router
[Re: Cris]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
It didn't get me set up for this installation. Maybe because it was DSL? I hate DSL. I'll again if I'm ever connected to a cable modem or something.
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360335 - 21/11/2013 09:04
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
|
Wow, that RouterBoard hardware looks great and the price looks good too. Can you put OpenWRT or whatever else on it? I think putting OpenWRT would actually be a retrograde step. It's a real double hit, great hardware matched to brilliant software. Andy, I need some clarification: is the software brilliant, or is designed for people who are brilliant? The latter, obviously!  Sorry you've had such a hard time with it, as you say there is a learning curve with the software. It's like configuring an HP ProCurve or Cisco device, it's not all wizards and stuff. Although the last time I bought one, it did have a basic config on that did NAT on a PPPoE connection, maybe they ship them completely blank now. So, for future reference, let's assume you're just setting up a plain ordinary internet connection for a house or small office. - DSL/Cable connection presented as PPPoE (plugged from the modem into Ether1)
- A private block of 192.168.x.x addresses (plugged from the switch into Ether2)
- An FTP server in the office that needs to be accessible externally
Do a factory reset on the modem to clear out any previous config. Plug your laptop/PC into the second ethernet interface (Ether2) and run up WinBox (a free application you can download from their website). From here you should be able to discover your unconfigured router and start setting it up. Once connected, click the 'New Terminal' button to open a command line interface. Have a look in at http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Winbox for further info. In your command window, start typing the following: Set a password for the admin user: /user set admin password=NEWPASSWORD Turn off most of your possible attack vectors: /ip service
set telnet disabled=yes
set ftp disabled=yes
set www disabled=yes
set ssh disabled=no port=22
set www-ssl disabled=yes
set api disabled=yes
set winbox disabled=no port=8291 ...and close off the ports on the firewall: /ip firewall service-port
set ftp disabled=yes
set tftp disabled=yes
set irc disabled=yes
set h323 disabled=yes
set sip disabled=yes
set pptp disabled=yes Set the router's IP address on the LAN: /ip address add \
address=192.168.0.1/24 \
broadcast=192.168.0.255 \
disabled=no \
interface=ether2 \
network=192.168.0.0 Lock down the firewall rules: /ip firewall filter
add action=accept chain=forward comment="LAN traffic can go anywhere" disabled=no in-interface=ether2
add action=accept chain=forward comment="Established traffic" connection-state=established disabled=no
add action=accept chain=forward comment="Related traffic" connection-state=related disabled=no
add action=accept chain=forward comment=ICMP disabled=no protocol=icmp
add action=drop chain=forward comment="Drop the rest" disabled=no
add action=accept chain=output disabled=no
add action=accept chain=input comment="LAN traffic can go anywhere" disabled=no in-interface=ether2
add action=accept chain=input comment="Established traffic" connection-state=established disabled=no
add action=accept chain=input comment="Related traffic" connection-state=related disabled=no
add action=accept chain=input comment=ICMP disabled=no protocol=icmp
add action=drop chain=input comment="Drop the rest" disabled=no Create a PPPoE profile: /ppp profile add \
change-tcp-mss=yes \
name=dsl \
only-one=yes \
use-compression=default \
use-encryption=default \
use-ipv6=yes \
use-mpls=no \
use-vj-compression=default and create a PPPoE client account: /interface pppoe-client add \
ac-name="" \
add-default-route=yes \
allow=pap,chap,mschap1,mschap2 \
dial-on-demand=no \
disabled=no \
interface=ether1 \
max-mru=1492 \
max-mtu=1492 \
mrru=disabled \
name=DSL \
password=secret \
profile=dsl \
service-name="" \
use-peer-dns=yes \
user=abc@a.1 Add a masquerading rule: /ip firewall nat add chain=srcnat action=masquerade src-address=192.168.0.0/24 ...and finally, if you want to poke a hole in the firewall for your FTP server (which we'll assuming is running on 192.168.1.2): /ip firewall filter
add action=accept chain=forward comment="Access to FTP server from outside" protocol=tcp dst-address=192.168.1.2 dst-port=21 (OPTIONAL) Set up a DHCP server: When I said RouterOS didn't have wizards, I lied a little. /ip dhcp-server setup
Select interface to run DHCP server on
dhcp server interface: ether2
Select network for DHCP addresses
dhcp address space: 192.168.0.0/24
Select gateway for given network
gateway for dhcp network: 192.168.0.1
Select pool of ip addresses given out by DHCP server
addresses to give out: 192.168.0.10-192.168.0.254
Select DNS servers
dns servers: 192.168.0.1
Select lease time
lease time: 3d
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360338 - 21/11/2013 19:09
Re: The best router
[Re: andym]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
Thanks for the help! I'll think about this. I may need to look for another solution, though. Something in between this and your standard off-the-shelf Linksys. I'll try to get past the initial learning curve but it just might not be worth the time considering the places these routers will be used (mostly homes). These people need extremely basic stuff. BTW, what you call wizards I call a UI Also, what's this stuff about master interfaces? I couldn't tell why the router I was working on had the "master" itnerface set to to port 2...
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360342 - 21/11/2013 21:32
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
|
Once you have a basic config set you can use the UI to back it up and then copy it to another router.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360343 - 21/11/2013 23:38
Re: The best router
[Re: Cris]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
Once you have a basic config set you can use the UI to back it up and then copy it to another router. Good call. I'll give it another shot sometime
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360347 - 22/11/2013 01:58
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
addict
Registered: 02/04/2002
Posts: 691
|
What about the Ubiquiti EdgeMax router? I'm pretty happy with mine, $99 and a simple 3 port router, QoS isn't available yet in the UI, but you can activate it with the CLI or text configs.
I just picked up the PoE 5 port version, I want to move my VoIP phones over and remove the powerbricks, but I haven't had time to put it into action yet besides upgrading to the latest firmware.
_________________________
Oliver
mk1 30gb: 129 | mk2a 30gb: 040104126
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360348 - 22/11/2013 03:27
Re: The best router
[Re: oliver]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
Thanks for the mention, Oliver. I don't know how I missed that product, considering I've been looking at Ubiquiti's site a lot recently! From what I'm reading in the Amazon reviews, it sounds like it needs the same amount of setup But still, I really like Ubiquiti's other products, so I might give them a try next time.
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360351 - 22/11/2013 11:35
Re: The best router
[Re: andym]
|
old hand
Registered: 07/01/2005
Posts: 893
Loc: Sector ZZ9pZa
|
So, for future reference, let's assume you're just setting up a plain ordinary internet connection for a house or small office... Thanks for the post Andy, it'll be really handy when I get around to playing with one of these at home.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360352 - 22/11/2013 12:19
Re: The best router
[Re: sein]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
Andy,
Would you be so kind as to tell me how those instructions would differ if I were attaching this to a standard cable modem (one that's presumably already in bridge mode) that doesn't need to deal with PPPoE?
This would be the most common scenario. Thankfully most of my customers don't have DSL (I'm thankful for their sake).
Edited by Dignan (22/11/2013 12:19)
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360353 - 22/11/2013 12:41
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
|
Thanks for the help! I'll think about this. I may need to look for another solution, though. Something in between this and your standard off-the-shelf Linksys. I'll try to get past the initial learning curve but it just might not be worth the time considering the places these routers will be used (mostly homes). These people need extremely basic stuff. Their wiki is very good, but it really does require a good working knowledge of network systems. The reason I like them is the power and flexibility they offer and the fact the bare minimum is hidden away from you. Once you know what you're doing, you can get one set up just as quickly as any other. Like Cris says, you could pretty much copy and paste what I've posted up there into a terminal window and get a router that was fresh out of the box working in seconds.
Also, what's this stuff about master interfaces? I couldn't tell why the router I was working on had the "master" itnerface set to to port 2...
This is really about the difference between Ethernet ports and network interfaces. On a device like the RB750, it has five ethernet ports and a switch chip. The ports can be used in a combination of ways with this switch chip. You can use each Ethernet port as an individual network interface (ie. you had a bunch of separate networks that you wanted to connect together and 'route' traffic in-between). In which case you have a network interface bound to each Ethernet port and not use the switch chip. You'd then need routes in your routing table to pass traffic between the physical ports. Or you could have 4 of the ports act like a switch and leave one port to act as the WAN port. This means you have 5 physical ports and 2 network interfaces. One interface is bound to the WAN port, and the other interface is bound to the switch chip which has the 4 other ports bound to it. Traffic will pass between the 4 other ports, but like the first example, you need stuff in your routing table to get stuff to go over the WAN port. So, you set Ether2 to be the switch 'Master' and then for each other port you want to be on the switch, you set that as a slave and point it to the 'Master' interface. You then set things like addresses for routing purposes on the 'Master' interface. From memory you have one switch per box.
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360355 - 22/11/2013 12:54
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
|
Andy,
Would you be so kind as to tell me how those instructions would differ if I were attaching this to a standard cable modem (one that's presumably already in bridge mode) that doesn't need to deal with PPPoE?
This would be the most common scenario. Thankfully most of my customers don't have DSL (I'm thankful for their sake). Okay, all you need to do in that instance is plug up the office side to Ether2 and connect the cable modem to Ether1. Then, instead of typing in the bits for the PPP profile and PPPoE client. You'd need to do something like:
/ip dhcp-client add interface=ether1 disabled=no You should be good to go. If you need to spoof your MAC address:
/interface ethernet set ether1 mac-address=XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360356 - 22/11/2013 13:44
Re: The best router
[Re: andym]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
Thanks! I'll give the Routerboard another go. I'll be fine if I can back up the settings and re-use them
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#360567 - 17/12/2013 03:51
Re: The best router
[Re: Dignan]
|
carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
|
Okay, so I'm playing around with the Ubiquiti Edgerouter now, and I like the interface a whole lot more. I found a SOHO configuration on their forums, so I was able to load that and pretty much get going right out of the gate. But... ...I want to set this up in an odd way that the folks over there aren't really getting. I believe the term is "cascading?" Basically, I want to be able to plug this router into another router, as in scenario #2 here. I know it's a silly setup, but you should see how difficult it is to set up some of these ISP-supplied routers in bridge mode. It's much easier to simply let the initial router think it's doing it's job, and just plug my router of choice into it, creating a new subnet, segregated from the initial router's traffic. This works with your standard off the shelf routers, but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right here. I have the settings described here, but I went with the simple config download they link to in the very beginning. The setup should be the same, though, except for the part where I reconfigured eth0 to be 192.168.3.1 instead of 1.1. I can see that eth2 is able to get DHCP from my router, but I couldn't get an internet connection through either of the other interfaces. I decided to set a manual IP for the WAN on eth2 to 192.168.1.2, which isn't used and is outside DHCP on my main router, but it still isn't giving me an internet connection. Any ideas? Thanks for your help.
_________________________
Matt
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
Previous Topic
Index