Router replacement - (fun stuff for geeks)

[Malk-a-mite]

http://www.freesco.org/

FREESCO (stands for FREE ciSCO) is a free replacement for commercial routers supporting up to 3 ethernet/arcnet/token_ring/arlan network cards and up to 2 modems.

Like most players in this field, it runs off one floppy
FreeSco runs in as little as 6 Mb RAM.
Unique Web Control Panel
Freesco is the easiest to use, one disk Linux system available.

For more, read the full overview.


Neat neat neat neat.....

{full geek mode on}
Can you tell I love this stuff?
{/geek}

[TankGirl]

Hi Malk

Thanks for the link, interesting...

A question:

Many people have small home networks equipped with some internet connection sharing software. Many also have outdated Pentiums hanging around unused. Would it be easy enough and feasible for home users to set up safer, corporate-style firewalls and routings with this software running on those old computers?

- tg

[Malk-a-mite]

Originally posted by TankGirl
A question:

Many people have small home networks equipped with some internet connection sharing software. Many also have outdated Pentiums hanging around unused. Would it be easy enough and feasible for home users to set up safer, corporate-style firewalls and routings with this software running on those old computers?

I have many friends running firewall software/OSes on old 386, 486, and P133 systems.

It was a fairly common thing before the days of broadband connections to the net.

The question as to if it's corporate-style is an interesting one.
Many home users don't have any need for a corperate firewall solution. The needs aren't the same as many corperate entites.

For most home users the products offered by Linksys and Netgear as well as other compinies offer the funcationally that is needed.

The projects like Linux Router Project, Coyote Linux, and the above mentioned Freesco, are useful for people with a desire to make use of old equipment they might have lying around and that enjoy the idea of building the router themselves.

It's not something I'd suggest to my Mom, but my sister might be up for the challege.

I haven't downloaded Freesco and tried it yet, but other versions of this type of software have required a bit of reading the FAQ and directions which is not something all users are up for doing.

And finally another advantage of moving the software designed to share the connection off your PC is that it frees up system resources for whatever you need (be it games, music, whatever).