Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:00a.m.
So you think you're a geek? But have you installed Linux on your Linksys router yet? Okay excellent! Continue reading then.
For years geeks everywhere have chaffed at the restrictions that current routers and WIFI devices have had, and many have gone out and bought the WR54G devices and whacked on Linux. Some did it for the functionality; some just did it for the street cred (or is that internet cred?). Either way it was something to brag about at the latest LAN party or LUG (Linux User Group) meeting.
Clearly Linksys picked up on the idea, and ran with it. Their newest offering is the Linksys WRT160NL. Its running a 400 MHz processor, 32 MB of RAM, and 8 MB of flash memory and its a fully Linux powered, 802.11n broadband router, with its own media server.
It’s fully backwards compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g, and comes equipped with 4 10/100MB Ethernet ports for printers or storage devices. Personally I would have expected Gigabit Ethernet ports on the back, however for the average household its probably not required.
It has great WIFI coverage due to 802.11n's MIMO (Multiple in, Multiple Out), approximately double the range of 802.11g (the current standard).
The WRT160NL has a USB plug so you can plug in FAT16, FAT32, NTFS formatted device and share it over the network or stream it with the built in media player. As a side note, being Linux based means it SHOULD be able to read EXT2 partitions, however it’s interesting to note the spec sheet does not mention it.
According to lots of reviews I've read it can apparently 'stream media', however the wording of this is somewhat deceptive because, in fact, it doesn't stream audio or movie as one would expect, it just opens up UPnP and allows other media players that can connect via that to play the media on the attached disk.
Somewhat like any other network storage system only on steroids. This means things on PS3, PSP, Myth and other usual geek household devices should be able to connect to it fine, and format support is pretty much limited to the device you connect to it. Ergo it will work with Windows, Mac and Linux.
The fact that its running Linux should enable you to SSH into it and change things and completely customize it yourself. Running a bittorrent client or LAMP instance, would only be limited by the lack of CPU and RAM.
Features: Firewall, PPTP, PPPoE, DDNS,
It has full users/groups functionality for both general useage, and management of media, internet, etc.
Internet Filter (Proxy) that blocks Java,Cookies, etc, Full User/Group Access.
VPN in the form of IPSec, L2TP, and PPTP for external access enables you to VPN from work, and watch your movies from the home router! Of course you will want a decent datacap and great link for this.
It can also be configured to use a Radius server for authentication which I can see being excellent for WIFI hot spots, it just annoying your kids by having their access limited to certain hours.
Excellent Access Restrictions based on services, websites during specific days and time and days of the week. If you have children or annoying flatmates, this is worth its weight in gold along with the QoS.
A Nifty QoS means that no P2P downloads will slow down your internet browsing or emails, or lagg out your SSH or Gaming.
If that isn't reason enough to buy it, then how about its looks? its sexy! its black sleek and comes with plenty of blue bling bling lights.
This lovely little gadet retails for about $109.99.USD currently, and should go for about $180-200NZD when its released in NZ. I've already ordered mine!