I got a new router

Well, I got sick of my Netgear WGT634U over heating.  I bought a Linksys WRT54G, unfortunately it's a new version 8 so there isn't anything cool I can do with it.  I have to test the QoS out some night, need to find some big torrents to download along with some ftps (multiple linux dvds should do the trick).

However, I will not let my wgt go to waste, it's too cool of a router.  I will mod it with a fan.  What's so cool about it?  At the time it was a tough to find router, it still has features modern routers don't have.  Mainly it has a usb port and mini-pci slot.  There is a third party linux based firmware that I put on it last night.  I put X-Wrt on it.  It's a moddified version of OpenWRT that includes a web interface.  This firmware rocks.  I will have complete control over QoS which is my main goal.  But I will also get a USB drive for it and it will end up running completely off that.  This means I can keep large log files and do some cool stuff.  One of the things I can do is hook up my usb printer to it and make it a print server.  My laptop and computer can then print without my computer always being on.  I can also hook up my extra 200 gig harddrive via a usb enclosure and store all my mp3s and media so all computers can access them.

So yeah, the wgt is overheats, weird huh?  It gets really hots.  X-Wrt shows with no connections it idles at 20% cpu usage.  I think a small fan will help.  I blew for a short while on the heatsink and that improved it immensely.  Luckily the power input is a 12vdc source so I can get a computer chipset fan and solder it to the power source.

I'll still keep the linksys though.  With openWRT you can configure your ports in many different ways.  Since the Nintendo DS only supports WEP I will set one of the ports on the netgear to it's own network and connect it to the linksys.  Then the linksys will just be an access point using wep.  Since the linksys boots quickly I will only turn it on when I want to use my DS on the internet.  This will keep it off of the house network so if someone does crack into the WEP all they can do is use up my bandwidth.  I can then use the QoS features of OpenWRT to limit the linksys port to 802.11b speeds.  Who's going to want to use a slow connection then, right?

I know, a geeky thing to blog about.  I've just been so upset at my router freezing up.  I assume it is over heating because when the air conditioning was on all summer I didn't have a problem.  The router sits near the a/c.  Now that I have turned the a/c off it's been freezing up and it feels hot.