Since upgrading my ADSL limk to the Internet, I have been hunting for a decent router to do the job. And have failed completely.
Personally I don’t think my requirements are that extreme :-
- Dual WAN links – ADSL and Ethernet (not to be used simultaneously; just allowing users to switch between different providers).
- 8 port gigabit switch
- 802.11n wireless
- Reasonably robust construction including an integrated power unit.
- Reliability; capable of running 24×7
- A decent command line interface connected to via ssh with the ability to upload an ssh key.
- The ability to save and load the configuration over tftp so the configuration can be kept in a subversion repository.
- A simple web interface.
- A decent on/off switch on the front. Actually I don’t need this myself, but I can think of a few people who would very much like them.
Anyone know of something like this ?
Probably not.
Oh, and it should be open source to allow third-parties to “fix” the firmware along the lines of what DD-WRT, OpenWRT, and Tomato all do for certain routers. In fact the manufacturers could do a lot worse than to contract someone to add their routers to the list of routers these alternative firmwares support and ship their produce with that firmware.
Just as long as certain people in the alternative firmware world get over the weird notion that “routers” does not include anything that allows connection to an ADSL WAN link. Routers are not limited to just shuffling packets between different Ethernet segments. In fact if you look at a list of interface modules for a Cisco 7600 router (definitely not “domestic”), the Ethernet modules are outnumbered by other network interfaces.