Re: [gentoo-user] To all IPv6-slackers among the Gentoo community

[Dale]

Rich Freeman wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 12:36 PM Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com> wrote:
>> I've found that asking here is best.  If it wasn't for my post here, I
>> would have stuck with Linksys because it is what I've used in the past.
>> Thing is, a post here lead me to a better product, even tho it wasn't a
>> Linksys product.  It's one reason I post questions here quite often.  I
>> get more info from here than I could likely ever find elsewhere because
>> most people here post about their own experience not some theory.  You
>> should know, you post about yours quite often and it's generally a good
>> idea to give it some weight when deciding something.
>>
> Linksys had that one router eons ago that was capable of running linux
> (might have run it out of the box - I forget).  Back in the day there
> weren't many options and they were one of the better ones.
>
> They only got worse, and a lot of much better options have come out
> since then.  LOTS of better options.  There are ARM-based PCs designed
> to run pfsense and so on with multiple NICs.  Buffalo makes routers
> with DD-WRT pre-installed, and while I'd double check in the past they
> could all be trivially flashed to OpenWRT.
>
> I'd also seriously consider Ubiquiti.  An ER-X can be found in the $60
> range and supports routing at gigabit speeds.  It runs linux already
> out of the box with ssh/etc and a CLI, or a nice web GUI.  It looks
> like it isn't hard to flash OpenWRT on it as well though there seem to
> be some caveats (disclaimer: I've never tried it).
>
> There are a couple of good options.
>
> I'd seriously consider using something that does what you want out of
> the box before going the OpenWRT route.  I don't think EdgeOS is
> actually FOSS, but it is largely built on FOSS, so if it does what you
> want out of the box and is easy to maintain that is a win, and if at
> any point it doesn't get support you can then go the OpenWRT route.
>
> That said, I've run a router on OpenWRT for ages as well.  I think
> that is a bit more work without much gain, but you can do it.
>
> Oh, one thing I would avoid doing is running a bazillion services on
> your router.  Yes, if it is a linux/bsd box you can run whatever you
> want on it.  Yes, a lot of that stuff is already packaged and easy to
> install.  Just consider why you have a firewall in the first place (ie
> another layer of isolation), and that this is likely a device with
> minimum CPU/RAM/etc and whether you REALLY want to be hosting all this
> stuff on a box that is a serious PITA to backup/image or rescue if it
> doesn't boot up right.  Generally I don't host anything on a router
> that isn't directly related to its mission, so that could include
> updating a dynamic DNS address, serving DHCP, or maybe serving DNS.
> I've tried running OpenVPN and such on them and have found performance
> generally suffers for it.
>


Someone mentioned the Linksys I have is a somewhat crippled version or
something like that.  Still, it has worked for ages with zero problems. 
I think I had to reset it once to fix something.  Thing is, I've had to
reset my modem a couple times too.  I think during storms some noise
gets on the phone line, DSL here, and it screws it up somehow.  It's
rare tho.  Still, I've been happy with the thing even tho it is crippled
or something.

One thing I've learned in electronics, what is good this year may be
awful the next.  My First rig had a Abit mobo.  Shortly after that they
seem to have went downhill and then went out of business it seems.  My
current rig has a Gigabyte mobo, was a good board and brand when I
bought it.  Thing is, Gigabyte, the newer stuff, may be crap nowadays. 
Who knows.  Same with hard drives, one batch may be awesome, the next
may be a total disaster.  As you said, Linksys used to be a good brand. 
It seems TP-Link may have took a little out of that.  Likely some others
as well.  It's just the way it is nowadays with fast production and
lower quality.  One doesn't know tho until one asks.  ;-)

Given what I have now and that what I'm looking into seems to be a
better router, it will likely be a plug-n-play for me.  Once TP-Link
stops supporting it, then I may have to use Openwrt or something.  At
least I have some options and it will support the IPv6 stuff out of the
box.  I'm still not sure about my modem yet.  Either bridged mode or a
new one of those to I guess. 

Thanks for all the info. 

Dale

:-)  :-)