Be sure to look at the fine print. They are setting that router to work with a specific provider of what I think is dynamic DNS and offer special encryption at fee that can come to about $10/month. On Fri, Jul 6, 2012 at 10:34 AM, Mark Phillips wrote: > James, > > It sounds like a fun project! I am very tempted....... > > However, I found this one - > https://www.flashrouters.com/netgear-wnr3500l-ddwrt-router.php for $80. > It has wireless, but I can just turn it off. A 480 MHz processor, and > dd-wrt installed and tested with openvpn. I haven't priced out your parts > list, but I would be surprised if it comes to less than $80. Also, I think > the netgear router will consume less power and space in my crowded cable > "closet" (aka the top shelf in my cupboard). > > Answers to your questions - > I need a total of 20 gigabit LAN ports for my network. Currently, I have > two 8 port gigabit switches, and 4 10/100 ports on my current BEFSX41 > router. I want to upgrade the router for open vpn, and gigabit speeds. So > the router is also a switch. > > What is the advantage of running the whole thing virtualized? > > But still, the fun of building this little project may outweigh the high > costs ($ and amps)..... > > Mark > > > On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 11:10 PM, James Dugger wrote: > >> MSI Micro ATX board with Athlon II processor w/ 4 PCI slots (or 2 PCI and >> 2 PCIE) >> 2 GB RAM >> 4 gigabit NIC cards >> IDE or SATA to Compact Flash Adaptor >> Compact flash 2GB memory - install Linux or Router based distro on CF >> card or USB memory stick >> External power 120v to 12v transformer w/ mono power converter >> Small micro case >> Set BIOS to boot CF Card or USB Memory stick >> Ubuntu 10.04 or 12.04 LTS server minimum install >> - Install Openssh >> - Firewall >> - OpenVPN >> - iptables >> >> Basically you are building an edge router/vpnserver. There are a lot of >> instructions to build a high end router/openvpn system using a minimum box >> configuration. The mobo chip and RAM maybe overkill but smaller ATOM >> based boards probably won't have 4 PCI slots. you should be able to pick >> up these for very reasonable cost compared to a higher end router. Do you >> need all 4 - 1 gigabit connections to the router or can the connections to >> the VPN be shared off of one or two NICs? OpenVPN needs a minimum of 2 >> NIC's (Unless you have set up virtual network adaptors and bridged them >> together). Are you dedicating each user to a NIC for speed? If not you >> could allocate the 4 users to a NIC and connect the router/vpnserver to a 4 >> port gigabit switch. >> >> I'm sure there are a number of the ways to do this and there even might >> be fairly high end router for a good deal but most will also have built in >> wireless as well. to find a dedicated wired only higher end router you may >> pay as much as the system I just outlined and it would be no where near the >> capabilities of the above system unless it was a lot more expensive. >> >> I'm sure that there are others here with a lot more experience with >> consumer and enterprise level equipment then myself but I have had success >> with the above. Also keep in mind that the Athlon II is 64bit with SVM >> built in for virtualization. With additional memory you could run the >> whole thing virtualized using KVM or VMware. >> >> Good Luck! >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 7:53 PM, Mark Phillips > > wrote: >> >>> I am looking for a router with the following characteristics: >>> * No wifi >>> * 4 gigabit LAN ports >>> * 1 WAN port to connect to my Cox Cable Modem >>> * 400 MHZ+ processor so I can run OpenVPN SSL for a max of 4 remote >>> users to access the LAN at the same time. >>> >>> The last point comes from reading various forums about running openvpn >>> on the router, and they all say get the fastest possible cpu. I probably >>> have to run dd-wrt on the router to get openvpn running on the router, but >>> I am open to other options (most of the open source router packages support >>> openvpn, so anyone will do). >>> >>> Thanks! >>> >>> Mark >>> >>> --------------------------------------------------- >>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> James >> >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry Please protect my address like I protect yours. When sending messages to multiple recipients, always use the BCC: (Blind carbon copy) and not To: or CC:. Remove all addresses from the message body before sending a Forwarded message. This can prevent spy programs capturing addresses from the recipient list and message body.