[Noisebridge-discuss] Looking for best home wifi router and open source firmware

Jonathan Lassoff jof at thejof.com
Mon Mar 11 21:13:55 UTC 2013


I'm not aware of per-user QoS for Ubiquiti. They make some nice, cheap
Linux wireless gear though.

Lee -- as for the per-user QoS, it's a little tricky to do, but it's
possible. This is likely why few polished platforms will have this
functionality. It all depends on what your idea of a "user" is. Is
that between classes of users like guest vs. a home user? Or are you
looking to make limits per-IP or per-MAC address?
The user class case is easy: just split out multiple internal
subnets/VLANs and put each user into the needed class.
The per-address case is harder: you need to add hooks that'll listen
for new users and dynamically make configurations for them.

As for software, hardware, etc.... I too really like using Linux or
OpenBSD as a router.

My home hardware:
- A Soekris net4801 (runs Debian)
- Sonic.net Fusion/ADSL2+ circuit with a free static IP
- A Ubiquiti Nanostation Loco M5 for 5 Ghz WiFi
- A Cisco Aironet AP1200 for 2.4 Ghz WiFi
and config:
- Linux box runs protocol 41 tunneling for IPv6
- NATs two internal subnets (guests and home users) to the one external IP
-- Hierarchical QoS rules are applied to allow my "home users" VLAN to
take precedence over guest / open WiFi users.
- dnsmasq for internal DNS zone (".flat") and DHCP serving.
- All other network config is stock Debian networking configuration files


The noisebridge network is awfully-similar to this (Soekris, Ubiquiti
/ Cisco APs, etc..), but uses Vyatta as the router/OS on the Soekris.


If you're interested in the OpenBSD route, check out flashrd:
http://www.nmedia.net/flashrd/

Also, it's possible to integrate WiFi into a Soekris with a USB or PCI
card. I believe the noisebridge soekris that SuperQ gave has an
example of a PCI card.

Cheers,
jof

On Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 1:37 PM, Sean Cusack <sean.p.cusack at gmail.com> wrote:
> I *think* the ubuquiti routers can do this for you. I have a couple if them
> and am thrilled with their performance...oh yeah, and they are only
> $40/each!
>
> Sean
>
> On Mar 8, 2013 9:32 PM, "Lee Sonko" <lee at lee.org> wrote:
>>
>> I run Tomato firmware on my WRT54GL router and I'm really happy with it.
>> I'd like to find a router and firmware that will give me per-user bandwidth
>> stats. I think that open-wrt and one of the bandwidth packages I can get
>> with it is the right thing to get. But I can't figure out which router to
>> get. I just want 4 ethernet ports and decent wifi at a decent price. This
>> seems like it would be a well trodden path but I'm not finding "the answer"
>> quickly. Some cite reliability problems with routers, I've seen a lot of
>> oddly qualified recommendations. Does anyone have any solid suggestions from
>> personal experience?
>>
>>
>> And it seems odd that the WRT54GL still might be the best choice after
>> being in production for some so many years.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>



More information about the Noisebridge-discuss mailing list