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WARNING! Linksys routers infected with self-replicating worm/malware.

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Innuendo:
For those who don't have the time to re-purpose a an old PC for router duties (or the money....PCs use a lot more electricity than those little router boxes), buy a router that supports open source firmware like OpenWRT, Tomato, and DD-WRT. You'll get a lot more powerful routing options in your router's UI and generally, much more secure code that will be updated long after your router has been taken off store shelves due to it being discontinued.

Lastly, don't look for any fixes from Cisco. They recently sold off their Linksys line to Belkin. Just in case some of you aren't in the know, Belkin proudly manufactures some of the worst routers on the planet with a level of customer service & firmware support to match.

40hz:
PCs use a lot more electricity than those little router boxes)
-Innuendo (February 15, 2014, 11:48 AM)
--- End quote ---

A very real consideration.. You need to balance the hardware savings (if any) against the additional power consumption. And if you use air conditioning, the extra heat generated.

For scratch building, there's  a number of reasonably priced fanless mini-ITX motherboards that can work as excellent starting points for router/firewall projects. Some even come with dual gigabit ethernet ports, which make them ideal for network appliances and mini-servers. But that's a lot of work for most people and may require more technical knowledge than the average person has time to acquire. And it definitely won't be less expensive than repurposing a commercial home router with DD-WRT or Tomato firmware, as Innuendo suggests, even if it won't be (technically) 'as secure' or configurable as a pfSense box would be.

That said, it's very gratifying to do up an inexpensive or 'free' homebrew project that blows the doors off most commercial offerings.



So ok...time for a reality check:

It all comes down to what you need, are able to afford - and have the time to learn about and mess with. I'm in the 'biz' so to speak. So I can more easily justify time spent acquiring technical skills and knowledge. But for people with real jobs (and lives) it doesn't always make sense to build from scratch - unless you value your personal time at less than minimum wage - and have a closet full of junk parts to play with.

At least so it seems to me. 8)

Innuendo:
40hz, well said. Some people just want something they can plug in that has no moving parts that will work quietly for years with no attention needed.

Others of us just love to build something from nothing just to see what we can accomplish.

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