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I have a rather large home network with many clients. Ive decided I want to build a Linux based router, I have an 1.6Ghz dual-core(atom) system kicking around which will be re-purposed.

So ive looked at a bunch of specific router distros but cant decide. I have also looked into taking a Ubuntu server or FreeBSD install and adding needed packages.

So question is, what is the best router-Linux or base Linux distro and why?

resources appreciated.

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2.0ghz dual-core system for a router... what an overkill. Your electricity bill for a year will be twice a cost of a good hardware router. – whitequark Nov 24 '10 at 6:43
Agreed, @whitequark. Unless you're also going to use the computer as a server for various other things, it's likely a waste of your time and money overall. – nhinkle♦ Nov 24 '10 at 6:47
Yes that is exactly what im planning on doing, I have a serverbackend to an RFID doorsystem i setup, which needs a 24/7 server deamon. currently running on my i7 system. so it will in the end also save me power – madmaze Nov 24 '10 at 15:11
Ahem... RFID doorsystem? By saying "exactly what I'm planning" do you mean "wasting time and money"? Such a system is perfectly handled by one 8-bit microcontroller, not to say a router with whole 200MHz of CPU power. – whitequark Nov 24 '10 at 17:33
point being itll be used for other things besides routing, the RFID door system has a remote front end and a DB. Im hosting a few other internal things. It will have plenty of uses. Also i think a dual-core intel atom is quite power efficient. – madmaze Nov 24 '10 at 18:06
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3 Answers

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ebox-platform/zentyal: multi wan support easy vpn setup very very easy install full ubuntu release to run any additional services

A great distro is www.zentyal.com. The current version is based on ubuntu 10.04. My only critique is that if you install from the iso, it will install a desktop for you to use if you have a mouse monitor and keyboard. a more efficient way would probably to be to install the server edition of ubuntu 10.04, add the repositories for ebox/zentyal and upgrade from there. If you want to install straight from the iso and if you're funny about wasting resources on gui stuff when there is no mouse and keyboard connected, you can always change the runlevel in the startup scripts.

Everything is managed from a very nice browser front end. It is a beautiful router that definitely completes with my sonicwall. Sonicwall and cisco are great, but I'll probably never buy one again unless a client wants one.

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I use Vyatta for one because out of the dozen or so I tried, their configuration syntax was the easiest to wrap my head around.

That and that it's features rival that of enterprise-grade Cisco gear, so I can grow into it.

An added plus is that their documentation is top-notch.

I can't afford support yet, but it's nice to know it's there for later.

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=vyatta

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hmm thanks, ill look into it as the turkey wears of from tomorrow =) – madmaze Nov 24 '10 at 15:11
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up vote 1 down vote

We used IPCop at the place I used to work at. Fully manageable through the web interface, nice to easy to use. It includes security stuff like Snort, and can easily be set up as a caching proxy (squid) to accelerate your browsing.

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