x86-based, barebone router
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From: Miguel De Anda on 26 Mar 2007 10:04 lbrtchx(a)hotmail.com wrote: > I need kind of a programmable router running on Linux or FreeBSD > based on an x-86 arch-type box that should comsume the minimal amount > of power (like a basic router) ... > ~ > Ideally I shouldn't even need a fan. Just the most minimal hardware > to run networking, a firewall, rated DHCP (some internal ports get > more bandwidth than other), port redirection ... > ~ > The thing is that most routers come programmed with their software or > firmware and are hard to tinker with > ~ > How do you think I could/should go for it? > ~ > Do you know of people doing these kinds of things? > ~ > lbrtchx http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.19/.f -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
From: Steve Wolfe on 27 Mar 2007 17:20 >> As others have said, to get power levels much lower than those, you'll >> have to go to non-x86 hardware. One of the routers on which you can put >> Linux (and hence, customize to a great extent) will probably use 1/4 of >> that power. > > I put a meter on my WRTSL54G (or whatever alphabet soup Linksys came up > with) and it metered at a whopping 70 ma booting and about 140 ma when the > radio came on. > > I could be wrong on those numbers by a few ma, but work out the math: > > 140 ma @ 5v = .7W > > Whee! a 200 MHz MIPS chip is a nice thing. Take something that can measure AC power, and see what it actually draws from the wall. I'm sure you lose more in conversion, rectifying, and filtering than you actually use for the router! :-) steve
From: CptDondo on 27 Mar 2007 18:00 Steve Wolfe wrote: >> I put a meter on my WRTSL54G (or whatever alphabet soup Linksys came up >> with) and it metered at a whopping 70 ma booting and about 140 ma when the >> radio came on. >> >> I could be wrong on those numbers by a few ma, but work out the math: >> >> 140 ma @ 5v = .7W >> >> Whee! a 200 MHz MIPS chip is a nice thing. > > Take something that can measure AC power, and see what it actually draws > from the wall. I'm sure you lose more in conversion, rectifying, and > filtering than you actually use for the router! :-) No doubt, but this one is running off batteries. :-) That's why I had to measure it - to make sure it didn't kill the batteries too quick. --Yan
From: CptDondo on 27 Mar 2007 19:31 David M wrote: > On Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:55:01 -0800, CptDondo rearranged some electrons to > form: > >> Steve Wolfe wrote: >>> As others have said, to get power levels much lower than those, you'll >>> have to go to non-x86 hardware. One of the routers on which you can put >>> Linux (and hence, customize to a great extent) will probably use 1/4 of that >>> power. >>> >> I put a meter on my WRTSL54G (or whatever alphabet soup Linksys came up >> with) and it metered at a whopping 70 ma booting and about 140 ma when >> the radio came on. >> >> I could be wrong on those numbers by a few ma, but work out the math: >> >> 140 ma @ 5v = .7W >> >> Whee! a 200 MHz MIPS chip is a nice thing. >> >> --Yan > > The DC input voltage for a WRT54G is 12V, not 5V. > > 140ma @ 12V = 1.7W > > The power brick probably dissipates more than that in heat. > > > You could be right.... I'm going from memory. It's a wrtsl54gs; the one with the USB port. The setup has both 12V and 5V components on it. It's still just a little bit of power, though, compared to a full-size computer.
From: Steve Wolfe on 27 Mar 2007 23:51
> You could be right.... I'm going from memory. It's a wrtsl54gs; the one > with the USB port. The setup has both 12V and 5V components on it. > > It's still just a little bit of power, though, compared to a full-size > computer. That is pretty nice. Even if it's 1.7 watts, it wouldn't take much of a battery to keep that running for quite some time. The units from mini-box that someone pointed out look pretty sweet, too... I'll have to see if I can think up a use for one of those. steve |