On 10 Dec 2008, at 01:02, roguemoko@roguewrt.org wrote:

quoted text
> Stroller wrote:
>> For me, personally, a fully open-source ADSL router would be more
>> compelling. Whilst you can do just about anything you want with
>> iptables, most of us need a separate ADSL box of some sort [1]. Given
>> any arbitrary ADSL router I'm sure I could find something about it I
>> don't quite like, for some certain obscure configuration. The Wanadoo
>> Livebox has, for instance, a USB port, which would allow you to run a
>> print server on it or BitTorrent to an external hard-drive (like the
>> Asus WL-700gE). But you can't because it's bleedin' closed.
>
> Out of curiosity, what's the main benefit in having a hackable ADSL
> router? Outside of consolidating router and modem?

Consolidating router & modem is good enough for me.
:)

I don't want the extra box cluttering up my trendy designer apartment  
*cough*.

quoted text
> I've always bridged and considered an ADSL modem to be a transparent
> device whilst using OpenWRT on routers to perform all required
> networking and authentication.

I've never done that - it'll be the approach I take when I go ADSL2  
(hopefully soon), but wasn't the obvious way to do things when I got  
my last router (perhaps as much as 6 years ago, now).

I have to say, I don't entirely trust a cheap ADSL modem used in this  
way. I kinda feel that it adds another level of potential confusion &  
troubleshooting for me, as an administrator. There's a problem with  
incoming packets being dropped - is it in the modem or the router? And  
the ADSL router must, as things stand, be closed source.

I certainly see this as "flawed" compared to having the one device  
doing the whole job. And from a hardware point of view you're doubling  
everything in having separate ethernet router & ADSL "modem" - I put  
the last in quotes because all the external ethernet ADSL modems I've  
seen contain enough hardware to do routing, they just have a crippled  
firmware.

quoted text
> Now if Openmoko were to create an OpenWRT compatible router with  
> stupid
> amounts of storage space, awesome wireless range, a screaming CPU ...

I'm not an expert on home ethernet routers - from my naive point of  
view there's little very new about that.

quoted text
> ... currently consumer routers
> (I use the Asus WL-500GP and WL-500W) are less than optimal, but do  
> the
> job.

Out of curiosity, could you give me a quick run-down of their failings?

TIA,

Stroller.

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