[TriLUG] Slightly OT: AOL Cable Broadband & Linux

[Ilan Volow]

On Mon, 6 Jan 2003 12:42:50 -0500 (EST)
Andrew Perrin <clists at perrin.socsci.unc.edu> wrote:

> Folks,
> 
> My in-laws are moving into a new house in Carrboro, and they've asked
> me to help with computer stuff. Their criteria are:
> - Keep their AOL addresses;
> - Let both of them be online at once;
> - Have three computers on two floors share the internet connection,
> files,
> 	and the printer
> 
> My additional criterion is: 
> - Do (some) administrative tasks remotely
> 
> 
> What I would like to do is very much like what I have at home: a cable
> modem into a cheap linux computer acting as a router with IPTables,
> with a WAP providing wireless access to the three other computers,
> probably all windows running VNC servers.
> 
> Question for y'all: has anyone used AOL's cable broadband service w/
> linux? Any pitfalls I should beware of? 
> 
> Also: my plan is to use the linux box for the local routing both
> because it's cool and because it will allow for some remote
> administration. Is that stupid, i.e., should I just buy an
> out-of-the-box broadband router?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Andrew J Perrin - http://www.unc.edu/~aperrin
> Assistant Professor of Sociology, U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
> clists at perrin.socsci.unc.edu * andrew_perrin (at) unc.edu
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TriLUG mailing list
>     http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> TriLUG Organizational FAQ:
>     http://www.trilug.org/~lovelace/faq/TriLUG-faq.html
> 

I'm not anything resembling a sysadmin type, so take my advice with a
grain of salt. 

I've done both, setting up a box with iptables as a broadband/wireless
router and using one of those NetGear wireless/broadband routers.

Let me just say that in my experience, a the NetGear router appliance
has several things going for it:

1. No moving parts. On a box you use as a router several different
moving things could break, any of which might bring your box down. 
2. Easier setup. A few clicks here and there in a web browser and
everything "just works".  
3. Boots fast and no need to add UPS's for those one-second power
outages I have where I live.
4. Other LUG members might have had more success in this area, but for
me getting a plain vanilla wi-fi card + linux box to act as an wireless
access point (as opposed to ad-hoc peer-to-peer mode) was a real pain in
the a**. You have to find out which cards can support that behavior
and/or perform weird patches and/or skirt certain copyright issues by
'liberating' a few snippets of hex code that turn your card into an
access point (basically the manufacturers of wi-fi cards don't wants
linux geeks using a $99 wireless nic to avoid buying a $200 wireless
router). Technically, ad-hoc wireless mode worked on the box I was using
as a router. But when the orinoco card in the box went bad, I replaced
it with a nice new proxim card. Lo and behold, I discover that the
lucent orinoco card in my laptop and the proxim card in the linux box
spoke different dialects of ad-hoc wireless networking. By switching to
a router with real access point functionality built in, I've saved
myself a lot of grief. And at least one or two heart bypass operations
20 years from now.

--Ilan

-- 
My choice after I quit film school was either to be a script writer for
porno flicks or a linux UI designer. And to tell you the truth, there's
hardly any difference.