[LUGSB] Next LUGSB Meeting: Custom Router Firmware Meeting (This Wednesday)

[James Crasta]

On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 5:08 PM, James Crasta <jcrasta at gmail.com> wrote:
> A bonus: I would like to give away to someone in LUGSB (or really
> anyone else who's really interested) a La Fonera router
> ( http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/LaFonera ) running dd-wrt.

Okay, so I discussed with Michael after the meeting, and it seems like
there's no stipulations on giving things away for free.

What I think is cool about the Fonera routers (and router hacking in
general) is it gives you a very low-cost entry (or free, in this case)
to embedded linux, as well as giving you fun and interesting projects
to work on. I think the fact that I was able to land a nice (not
linux-focused, but definitely linux involved) job is in no small part
to all the tinkering I did with various linux devices during my
freshman/sophomore years.

What I'm giving away is two(2) Fonera routers, with box and gadgets,
already modified for and running dd-wrt, but no hardware
modifications. The routers will be yours to keep, or if you're feeling
altruistic, you can pass them on to someone else when you're done with
them.

What I'm proposing for the giveaway that whoever is interested, come
up with a neat project idea to do something with these routers. And at
the next meeting, we can give them away to those with the.coolest
project ideas. It's not really that I'm expecting people to put out a
project / code, and actually none of my Fonera projects ended up being
used long-term. However, the things you learn in the process of
tinkering with things are the most valuable parts, not the end result.

Just some thoughts to get you started:

- They have 16mb of ram, approximately 11-12mb of which is available
to user applications (the rest is used by kernel and buffers)
- The default software has provisions for mounting a remote
Windows/Samba share, and running scripts on boot from that, which can
greatly increase the storage available to you.
- Otherwise, they are pretty much like any other linux systems, with a
selection of command-line tools, ssh support, and running enough to do
packet routing.

I've been able to get the fonera to successfully repeat wireless
networks as other names, and in conjunction with my laptop, be a very
effective honeypot. It also works as a great tool for connecting to
far-off networks that your laptop's wireless card can't reach. In
addition, it can act as a client bridge onto an existing wireless
network, to connect a wired device or devices onto an existing wifi
(like getting your xbox on wifi)

James