DIY - Revision history

Rpeters: moved to more specific page DIY_Firewall_Router

2016-02-20T00:52:18Z

moved to more specific page DIY_Firewall_Router

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:52, 20 February 2016
Line 1:		Line 1:
	== Getting Technical ==
	DIY routers overcome the support limitations of commercial units, although until recently this has been at a cost of:
	*acreage
	*wattage
	*additional terminology

	Most DIY units have been based on superceded PC
	*new mainboards now affordable - see below under "Hardware"

	Additional hardware will be required, whatever main board is used:
	*additional network cards
	**most USB-Ethernet devices supported
	**some USB modems will work in lieu one Ethernet card
	*modem (if not provided by ISP as modem or Set Top Box)
	*ethernet switch (unless only one computer will be accessing the Internet)
	*WiFi Access Point
	**if required
	**might be implemented as a PCI/PCIe WiFi card in the routing PC

	=== Hardware ===
	Minimum suggested specs are approximately
	*CPU - any X86 compatible of 333 Mhz or faster
	**ARM CPU may now be viable in lieu x86 compatible see "Strictly for Geeks" below
	*RAM - 256 MB
	**additional functions, particularly caching, require extra RAM
	*storage - 2 GB
	**effective caching requires several GB more disk space
	*network interfaces
	**PCI, PCIe or USB-Ethernet required
	**10 Mb/s suffice - unless running ADSL 2 or faster link
	**'''NB''' - speed of other devices on the LAN is irrelevant, LAN performance depends on the ethernet switch deployed

	Wattage for DIY has been somewhat higher than for commerical routers. A suitable objective, using 2010 or later componentry is 25 W. Lower wattage units are addressed under "Strictly for Geeks" below. CPU wattage is a poor indicator because other chips and peripherals consume somewhat more. Suggested basis for low wattage router:
	#HP Proliant Microserver
	#mainboards based on C50 CPU - which appears to have been used mainly in netbooks
	#mainboards based on E350 CPU
	#mainboards based on Atom CPU are something of an enigma
	#*can be the lowest cost available but
	#*wattage surprisingly high, because of associated chips
	#mainboards based on VIA CPU
	#*expensive unless s/hand
	#*not particularly low wattage
	#mainboards based on Pentium III CPU
	#*reliability might be reduced because of age
	#*zero cost & acceptable wattage

	=== Software ===
	Many Linux and BSD can be configured a gateway-router, but it is generally simpler and more watt efficient to use a specialised firewall/gateway distribution. Better known ones are listed in [[Linux_Distribution_Recommendations]] Although BSD based distributions such as Monowall are quite functional, their use would involve an additional learning curve for most people

	=== Zoning ===
	Software for DIY routers implements similar network zoning to that in commercial routers. An aspect that is different is the colour coding of zones:

	*<span style="color:#c93800">'''RED'''</span> for untrusted/unfiltered Internet
	*<span style="color:green">'''GREEN'''</span> for most trusted, '''wired''' LAN connections
	*<span style="color:blue">'''BLUE'''</span> for less trusted WiFi connections
	*<span style="color:#800080">'''PURPLE'''</span> for additional LAN zone
	*<span style="color:#FF8000">'''ORANGE'''</span> for Demilitarized Zone, (DMZ)
	**not required by most home users
	**typically used for stand-alone servers, to which access from the Internet is permitted

	== Strictly for Geeks ==

	Be aware that the following techniques can render commecial routers unusable and perhaps unrecoverable, if applied unsuccessfully.

	=== openWRT ===

	openWRT http://wiki.openwrt.org is a long standing project aimed initially at utilising improved software on commerical routers. More recently it has morphed to:
	*a more general embedded Linux distribution for compact devices
	*covering a much wider range of off-the-shelf devices

	One of the more popular devices to which openWRT it is currently applied is the TP-Link TL-703N
	*'''not''' sold on the Australian market
	*must be sourced from China
	*nearest equivalent on the Australian market appears to be the TP-Link TL-MR3020

	=== Developer Boards ===

	DIY routers based on bare boards utilising an ARM CPU have become viable during 2012.
	*have potential to match commerical routers in wattage and acreage
	**whilst maintaining advantage of frequent software updates
	*require more careful matching of hardware and software
	**ARM compilations are not as "portable" as x86 compilations
	***advisable to select hardware having an ARM CPU series matching the compilation
	*raspberry pi is best known hardware example - see [[Raspberry Pi]]
	**IPFire is the only well-known firewall/router that has reached '''released''' level for it
	**alternatively, raspbian could be adapted as a firewall/router for it

	Developer boards typically have more RAM & CPU resources than openWRT devices thus making print servers and caching routers more practical.

	--[[User:Rpeters\|Rpeters]] 15:34, 1 September 2013 (EST)
	[[Category:Technical Info]]
	[[Category:Recommendations]]

Rpeters: added reference to openWRT

2013-09-01T05:34:54Z

added reference to openWRT

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 *additional terminology
-Most DIY units have been based on superceded PC. Additional hardware will be required:
+Most DIY units have been based on superceded PC
 *modem (if not provided  by ISP as modem or Set Top Box)
 *ethernet switch (unless only one computer will be accessing  the Internet)
@@ Line 27: / Line 33: @@
 Wattage for DIY has been somewhat higher than for commerical routers.   A suitable objective, using 2010 or later componentry is 25 W.  Lower wattage units are addressed under "Strictly for Geeks"  below.  CPU wattage is  a poor indicator because other chips and peripherals consume somewhat more.   Suggested basis for low wattage router:
 #HP Proliant Microserver
-#mainboards based on C50 CPU - which appears to have been used only in netbooks
+#mainboards based on C50 CPU - which appears to have been used mainly in netbooks
 #mainboards based on E350 CPU
 #mainboards based on Atom CPU are something of an enigma
@@ Line 52: / Line 58: @@
 **not required by most home users
 **typically used  for stand-alone servers, to which access from the Internet is permitted
 == Strictly for Geeks ==
 [[Category:Technical Info]]
 [[Category:Recommendations]]

Rpeters: added sections for "getting technical" & "strictly for geeks"

2012-09-23T07:48:02Z

added sections for "getting technical" & "strictly for geeks"

New page

== Getting Technical ==
DIY routers overcome the support limitations of commercial units, although until recently this has been at a cost of:
*acreage
*wattage
*additional terminology

Most DIY units have been based on superceded PC. Additional hardware will be required:
*modem (if not provided by ISP as modem or Set Top Box)
*ethernet switch (unless only one computer will be accessing the Internet)
*WiFi Access Point
**if required
**might be implemented as a PCI/PCIe WiFi card in the routing PC

=== Hardware ===
Minimum suggested specs are approximately
*CPU - any X86 compatible of 333 Mhz or faster
**ARM CPU may now be viable in lieu x86 compatible see "Strictly for Geeks" below
*RAM - 256 MB
**additional functions, particularly caching, require extra RAM
*storage - 2 GB
**effective caching requires several GB more disk space
*network interfaces
**PCI, PCIe or USB-Ethernet required
**10 Mb/s suffice - unless running ADSL 2 or faster link
**'''NB''' - speed of other devices on the LAN is irrelevant, LAN performance depends on the ethernet switch deployed

Wattage for DIY has been somewhat higher than for commerical routers. A suitable objective, using 2010 or later componentry is 25 W. Lower wattage units are addressed under "Strictly for Geeks" below. CPU wattage is a poor indicator because other chips and peripherals consume somewhat more. Suggested basis for low wattage router:
#HP Proliant Microserver
#mainboards based on C50 CPU - which appears to have been used only in netbooks
#mainboards based on E350 CPU
#mainboards based on Atom CPU are something of an enigma
#*can be the lowest cost available but
#*wattage surprisingly high, because of associated chips
#mainboards based on VIA CPU
#*expensive unless s/hand
#*not particularly low wattage
#mainboards based on Pentium III CPU
#*reliability might be reduced because of age
#*zero cost & acceptable wattage

=== Software ===
Many Linux and BSD can be configured a gateway-router, but it is generally simpler and more watt efficient to use a specialised firewall/gateway distribution. Better known ones are listed in [[Linux_Distribution_Recommendations]] Although BSD based distributions such as Monowall are quite functional, their use would involve an additional learning curve for most people

=== Zoning ===
Software for DIY routers implements similar network zoning to that in commercial routers. An aspect that is different is the colour coding of zones:

*'''RED''' for untrusted/unfiltered Internet
*'''GREEN''' for most trusted, '''wired''' LAN connections
*'''BLUE''' for less trusted WiFi connections
*'''PURPLE''' for additional LAN zone
*'''ORANGE''' for Demilitarized Zone, (DMZ)
**not required by most home users
**typically used for stand-alone servers, to which access from the Internet is permitted
== Strictly for Geeks ==
DIY routers based on ARM CPU have become viable during 2012.
#have potential to match commerical routers in wattage and acreage
#*whilst maintaining advantage of frequent software updates
#require more careful matching of hardware and software
#*ARM compilations are not as "portable" as x86 compilations
#**advisable to select hardware having an ARM CPU series matching the compilation
#raspberry pi is best known hardware example - see [[Raspberry Pi]]
#*IPFire is the only well-known firewall/router that has reached '''released''' level for it
#*alternatively, raspbian could be adapted as a firewall/router for it

[[User:Rpeters|Rpeters]]17:48, 23 September 2012 (EST)
[[Category:Technical Info]]
[[Category:Recommendations]]