Re: [orca-list] Linux PC as a router

[Mike Gorse <mgorse alum wpi edu>]

It is certainly possible to turn that sort of computer into a router if 
you know what to do.  If I had an old machine that I only wanted to use as 
a router, then I probably wouldn't bother putting a GUI on it and might 
install grml or gentoo and set it up to do what I wanted (I believe both 
of those can be installed with Speakup).  There is a guide online for 
making a Gentoo system into a router.  I'd go this route because the 
system just wouldn't need a GUI, unless I wanted it to double as a 
desktop, but it would require you to generally feel comfortable doing 
things from the command line (www.linuxcommand.org might be a good place 
to start for this).  Setting up Vinux might also work, but I'm not sure 
what the memory requirements are for installation.  And Orca might be 
slow--you probably have a slow processor by today's standards--but it's 
hard for me to say how well it would work.

A simple router would draw less power and might be easier to set up, but, 
on the other hand, you'd learn a thing or two about the basics of system 
administration on Linux if you set up a router, and it might be a good 
idea if you decide that you want to run a web server or generally do 
anything advanced that you couldn't do with a traditional router, so in 
the end it depends what you want.

-Mike

On Thu, 9 Jun 2011, Richard wrote:

> Hi Glenn,
>
> I'd advise you move away from Ubuntu/Debian for the router/firewall. Also, do 
> make sure that the system has 2 different NiCS.  A NiC is network interface 
> card or ethernet jack.  It will be needed since the router will be pulling 
> double duty.  It will be connecting to the outside world with an external IP 
> address and assigning internal IPs to the other systems on your LAN.  It will 
> serve as a dhcp server.  If you decide to go this route, make sure that you 
> have a few 100-1000 mbps network switches if possible.
>
> The only 2 packages I've heard of that work for a router/firewall that are 
> usable more or less are Smoothwall and  IPCop.  I'm unsure how friendly the 
> browser interfaces are, but you will need sighted assistance to install 
> either of them.  I'd also advise you upgrade the ram to at least 512 or 768 
> mb to have either of the packages run well.
> Why not get an actual router such as a DLink, Linksys, or Netgear?  Do you 
> have enough LAN traffic to make it worth turning a pc system into your main 
> router?
>
> On 6/9/2011 18:18, Glenn wrote:
> > Hi All,
> > I have an old computer that has windows 98 on it now.
> > I can't remember if it has 128 or 256 MB of RAM, and I am not sure if that
> > difference will determine which flavor of Debian I run on it.
> > My plan is to try to make a router out of this old PC.
> > Although I have a DecTalk external synth that I could use, I would prefer 
> > to
> > use software speech (orca), at least at first, but not sure if it is
> > possible given this old of a computer.
> > I am most familiar with Ubuntu, and that is why I am wondering about Vinux
> > on this project.
> > So is Vinux a good way to go, or is there a small package of Ubuntu that
> > will work?
> > Also, I'm looking for any ideas on software for turning my PC into a 
> > router,
> > using packages like Network Manager or whatever is best here.
> > Thanks.
> > Glenn
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > orca-list mailing list
> > orca-list gnome org
> > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> > Visit http://live.gnome.org/Orca for more information on Orca.
> > The manual is at 
> > http://library.gnome.org/users/gnome-access-guide/nightly/ats-2.html
> > The FAQ is at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
> > Netiquette Guidelines are at 
> > http://live.gnome.org/Orca/FrequentlyAskedQuestions/NetiquetteGuidelines
> > Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org
> > Find out how to help at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/HowCanIHelp
> _______________________________________________
> orca-list mailing list
> orca-list gnome org
> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> Visit http://live.gnome.org/Orca for more information on Orca.
> The manual is at 
> http://library.gnome.org/users/gnome-access-guide/nightly/ats-2.html
> The FAQ is at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
> Netiquette Guidelines are at 
> http://live.gnome.org/Orca/FrequentlyAskedQuestions/NetiquetteGuidelines
> Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org
> Find out how to help at http://live.gnome.org/Orca/HowCanIHelp