Dual WAN router suggestions?

[arias]

rvXXX

I too looked around a bit for alternative firmware for the RV0's - nothing. But there's maybe 1 RV0 in production for every 10,000 WRT's.

Kind of amazing stat. I suppose for all the internet cafes and business that would appeal to the wrt's as well as the home market, whereas a home based dual wan solution has more limited market share. But 1:10000 seems pretty one dimensional.

And besides, if you're spending 300 or 400 bucks buying a router like an RV0 just to put on alternative firmware, I don't know why you wouldn't just start looking towards something like pfsense anyway. You can buy a basic Athlon/Core2/Celeron box these days for about $300.

Well, essentially because pfsense is a relatively recent development over the last couple years whereas I've been hunting for an all in one hardware solution for far longer than that. Plus, I don't care to run an entire extra machine just to handle dual wan capabilities. I'd much rather do the embedded solution, which plan on going with perhaps soekris or something more OEM.

 

[arias]

Rock solid..stable...fast, very reliable PPTP VPN server, their software client IPSec "QuickVPN" client stinks, decent job at maintaining router to router VPN tunnels.

Hm, well if the IPSec VPN client stinks, since it does run linux and the source is GPL'd, assuming this feature is important to you, why not recompile an updated IPSec VPN client with the latest source to improve it yourself? I'm assuming that's why source is available, so you can add additional features by building your own tools for it and utterly customize it with additional security and features to your heart's content?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Hm, well if the IPSec VPN client stinks, since it does run linux and the source is GPL'd, assuming this feature is important to you, why not recompile an updated IPSec VPN client with the latest source to improve it yourself? I'm assuming that's why source is available, so you can add additional features by building your own tools for it and utterly customize it with additional security and features to your heart's content?

Because as a small business consultant....I owe it to my clients to use standardized setups..so that if I'm hit by a bus one day...some other propeller head can come and take over managing their network for them. Home grown cloner MacGuyver setups are frowned upon in this market.

And I'm not a programmer.

 

[vnangia]

Final configuration

After some thought - and it has been tough to rein in my "ooh shiny!" and Macgyver tendencies - I've decided that it's best to go with the following; I'd be interested in any thoughts you all have. I must also note with some amount of trepidation as I'm sure this will not last, that it appears that we have for the time being solved our storm-related disconnection issue; as I suspected, the local cable junction box was getting partially flooded, killing the internet connectivity portion, but not the TV portion - how this situation came to be, I've not a clue and it's not my department, anyway! More over, finding a cellular gateway has proved extremely frustrating - I have not been able to get an answer from nearly half of the dozen or so shops I asked after. So I'm going to build-in the ability to add the second connection, but stick with the cable connection for now.

So, I've decided to go with the following:
*Our ISP's cable modem. (We already have one.)
*Linksys RV042. (Should be about $150 or so.)
*Two D-Link gigabit switches, a DGS-2205 and a DGS-2208 to do our heavy data transfer lifting. (We have one, and the other will run us between $20-$50.)
*A Linksys WRT54G in AP mode to provide us with WLAN connectivity OR a Fonera running DD-WRT. We may replace the Fonera's antenna to ensure coverage through the apartment, but while using it earlier, I was surprised at the stability the unit, considering it was free. (We already have these.)

So the total cost of this will be around $200, which is well within the budget I had set out for this project at $500 including the cellular gateway. While I know I might have enjoyed building a router, this is quicker, and allows me much of the flexibility I sought - dual-WAN, gigabit wired connections, upgradeable WLAN to the final IEEE 802.11n standard, whenever it is released. It's also reasonably low power and not something my UPS should complain over. Sadly, I also think we're not anywhere close to saturating the 100Mbps WAN port, even with FiOS and the impending DOCSIS3.0 rollout here, so that router should last a good while yet.

Finally, I tried out a D-Link DIR-655 and while I was extremely, extremely pleased with the throughput, I realized that (a) I didn't have any 802.11n-gear right now, and will not in the immediate future; (b) the DIR-655 is both single-radio, and two 802.11n-drafts old. While the single radio portion doesn't bother me as much, having been bitten by the Draft-G craze about five years ago makes me wary of adopting an unfinished standard.

So I'll re-evaluate in a year or so; hopefully by then, not only will 802.11n be standardized, but gigabit ports will exist on every machine out of the box. In the meantime, I'd love to hear any of your stories with the bits and pieces I have - or any tweaks to improve speed.

Cheers!

 

[jdabbs]

More over, finding a cellular gateway has proved extremely frustrating - I have not been able to get an answer from nearly half of the dozen or so shops I asked after. So I'm going to build-in the ability to add the second connection, but stick with the cable connection for now.

At work, we bring one of these with us on trips. Add a PCMCIA wireless broadband card (whatever carrier provides coverage in your area) and you're set. This unit worked acceptably, but we haven't really stressed it.

 

[vnangia]

At work, we bring one of these with us on trips. Add a PCMCIA wireless broadband card (whatever carrier provides coverage in your area) and you're set. This unit worked acceptably, but we haven't really stressed it.

Thanks for the suggestion. I did indeed consider G3Gs, but my concern so far had been one of being tied to one network. I've not met anyone with one of these so far, so I've not had a chance to determine whether I could use (hypothetically) a T-Mobile data card in there, or whether I can pick a AT&T version and install a Sprint card, or what have you. Would appreciate know if you have any experience with that - is the difference just in the marketing, or is there actually a software difference that makes it impossible to use one variant with another network's card.

 

[jdabbs]

We've been using Sprint almost exclusively for wireless service, so I'm unable to vouch for the interoperability of the units. Next time I'm down there (sometime this weekend) I'll check the model number of the unit. If it's an AT&T unit w/ a Sprint card, I think that's sufficient to base conclusions on.

Re: avoiding carrier lockdown
I don't know of any prepaid wireless data plans in the US. You'll probably have to buy service from someone, which will almost certainly require a contract. I'd find out which carriers provide adequate service in your area (I only have one, so much for "choice"), and go with the one the lowest price. I don't think there really is a way to ensure flexibility. It may be hard to justify committing to $50/mo for 2 years minimum; if that's the case I recommend just getting a phone w/ data plan that allows tethering.

 

[vnangia]

We've been using Sprint almost exclusively for wireless service, so I'm unable to vouch for the interoperability of the units. Next time I'm down there (sometime this weekend) I'll check the model number of the unit. If it's an AT&T unit w/ a Sprint card, I think that's sufficient to base conclusions on.

Re: avoiding carrier lockdown
I don't know of any prepaid wireless data plans in the US. You'll probably have to buy service from someone, which will almost certainly require a contract. I'd find out which carriers provide adequate service in your area (I only have one, so much for "choice"), and go with the one the lowest price. I don't think there really is a way to ensure flexibility. It may be hard to justify committing to $50/mo for 2 years minimum; if that's the case I recommend just getting a phone w/ data plan that allows tethering.

Thanks for looking into that - would love to know if these units do work across networks. That makes this option very much more appealing and provides us with some flexibility to choose providers depending on where we are and what kind of connection we get - I find that T-Mobile has the strongest coverage here most times, but the signal fades during a storm quite significantly.

As for prepaid wireless data plans - AT&T offers one for about $20/month; though I seem to be unable to find it on AT&T's website now, here's a link talking about it. I should point out that I'm very averse to AT&T, much like Michael Graves, but that's one option that does exist today.

 

[jdabbs]

I checked out the units at my workplace--they were -ST units, so there was a mismatch.

After comparing the models on Linksys's website, I get the impression that the difference between units is the included 3G card drivers. These drivers are part of the firmware. This guy, with a little bit of work, was able to reflash his unit with firmware from another variant. This should allow you to obtain compatibility with each network, though only one at a time.

 

[vnangia]

I checked out the units at my workplace--they were -ST units, so there was a mismatch.

After comparing the models on Linksys's website, I get the impression that the difference between units is the included 3G card drivers. These drivers are part of the firmware. This guy, with a little bit of work, was able to reflash his unit with firmware from another variant. This should allow you to obtain compatibility with each network, though only one at a time.

Hmmm, interesting. I guess I'm simply going to have to bite the bullet and try it. You wouldn't happen to have any experience with the DIR 450/451, would you? That seems to be more readily available than the WRT54G3Gs...

 

[jdabbs]

I skimmed through the dslreports forum for those models, and didn't find anything negative. Unfortunately, since 3G routers are a niche product, the user base is too small to really gauge quality via comments.

 

[vnangia]

I skimmed through the dslreports forum for those models, and didn't find anything negative. Unfortunately, since 3G routers are a niche product, the user base is too small to really gauge quality via comments.

Well, not entirely unexpected an outcome. I suppose my friend, Mr. American Express, will have to find out for me. I'll report back when I get a chance to try this out - it may be a while, though, until I can get the router; too much happening at work these days.