Router Software for Ubuntu (or other linux distro)

Question

I have a laptop with a WiFi card and a network card, and I'd like (for geek factor more than anything else) to run it my router. For sake of argument, lets assume I have good working drivers for my hardware on Ubuntu.

Can this be done on Ubuntu either natively and/or with a third party application? I've read about running Tomato(?) on existing Linksys hardware because it gives you some additional features multi-router hot-spots for extra coverage, bandwidth usage, static NATs. I'd like something that runs on x86 hardware, and as stated Ubuntu would be ideal, but I'm open to other distros that might do this better.

I've used m0n0wall before, and the web-interface on it is OK, but I'd like something that has a nice web interface, but also has the console access so I can get in and dig into config files myself with a text editor.

Answer 1

It can be done natively with Ubuntu (unless you need some crazy proxy setup) NAT etc will work OOB.

If you want a turnkey solution my favorites are pfSense and M0n0wall though I may be biased.

Edit:
This document from Ubuntu's site details a HostAP configuration.

Answer 2

The functionality is native. I use Shorewall to do routing. Look at their documentation for a two interface system. Most of the packages available for the Linux on Router implementations should available for Ubuntu.

Look at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/ChillispotHotspot for some hints on getting the hotspot running.

Answer 3

I prefer Untangle for ease of use, but it's just a very customized version of Debian. http://www.untangle.com/