[KLUG Members] Re: VoIP router choice

[Adam Tauno Williams]

> To clarify...are you including the Cisco-labelled Linksys
> products on store shelves?  um, yeah. those are _GREAT_ (and they _are_
cisco).
> Well, to add some more clarity, the WRT54G is both a Cisco product and a
> Linux product.

These may be great, but they aren't routers.  They may be partly routers but
really they are something else + some router functionality.

IBM makes PCs too, but I don't usually buy them.  PCs, like things like WAPs,
are just so much disposable crud, if it has a problem you junk it and swap in
another one.  Buy the cheapest you can find. But routers are like servers, they
have hundreds or thousans of people depending on them for everything they do, so
they need to quietly sit in a rack somewhere an hummmm away the years while
requiring the absolute minimum amount of attention.

> > We do VOIP between 14 sites on point to point circuits and frame and
> > ISDN.  For something like VOIP I wouldn't even THINK FOR ONE SECOND
> > about using something other than Cisco.  We started with Nortel and not
> > even the phone company could make it work (although that may not really
> > be saying much).  Swapped out and installed all Cisco gear.... works!
> > Sometimes you just have to spend the money.
> If you want to blow money, then you can read the InfoWorld article on VoIP
> friendly firewalls from Ingate, SonicWall (page24 of issue 47).

Firewalls and routers aren't the same thing.

> I wouldn't chalk up that Nortel issue to Nortel.  (incompetent or lazy
> techs).

Well, Notel flew out two of their own techs, and they spent a couple of days
playing with it... and it still didn't work.

> I used to manage by hand all the IOS rules and shaping.
> It is just so much easier to do that on the Linux box (out of familiarity
> and efficiency...I can apply that concept to the T1, wifi, Cable, DSL
business
> 'net connections I have)

All my firewalls are Linux boxes, for simple sites I like floppyfw
(http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw/), no moving parts so it is very router-like.  I
manage all my firewalls with fwbuilder
(http://www.fwbuilder.org/archives/cat_about.html) which is a fabulous app.