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Comment by pronoiac | Hacker News Reader

Going back to the first article: it was around $300. But as a project for my home, the lack of wifi is more frustrating.

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Wtf. When I open the link or search alibaba, all of these mini computers is listed at $1300+ :S

realistically, what is the best option for adding wireless networking to this or any other setup based on a generic box? i assume one can build an access point with a typical wifi dongle but i am not aware of any of the software means required.

On Linux you can use hostapd and dhcpd.

Realistically, WiFi driver code sucks, and there is inherent tension between routing, which benefits from wires, and WiFi, which benefits from open space. See, for example, how the Google OnHubs have the minimum of just 1 LAN port.

You can add WiFi to a generic box, but the Ars Technica staff are promoting a consensus that it’s better to use a separate access point that is designed to be good as an access point.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/review-ubiquiti-unifi...

But this article is about building a router, not sure what wifi has to do with it.

I guess most people, when they hear the word Router, they think of their DSL-box. And those commonly have a WiFi access-point built in. (commonly also called CPE (customer premises equipment) by the telephone companies).

    $ ip route
    default via x.x.x.1 dev eno1  proto dhcp  src x.x.x.x  metric 1024 
    x.x.x.x/nn dev eno0  proto kernel  scope link  src x.x.x.x
    192.168.2.0/24 dev br0  proto kernel  scope link  src 192.168.2.114 
    192.168.2.1 dev br0  proto dhcp  scope link  src 192.168.2.114  metric 1024

    $ ip link
    (...)
    2: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> (...)

Network guys, when hearing the word Router think of something that holds a full BGP view...

    BGP router identifier 213.200.87.253, local AS number 65534
    BGP table version is 7863026, main routing table version 7863026
    578096 network entries using 58387696 bytes of memory
    578096 path entries using 27748608 bytes of memory
    344077 BGP path attribute entries using 20645160 bytes of memory
    129723 BGP AS-PATH entries using 3908750 bytes of memory
    1054 BGP community entries using 58126 bytes of memory
    4 BGP extended community entries using 96 bytes of memory
    0 BGP route-map cache entries using 0 bytes of memory
    0 BGP filter-list cache entries using 0 bytes of memory
    BGP using 110748436 total bytes of memory
    Dampening enabled. 145 history paths, 277 dampened paths
    BGP activity 730922/149406 prefixes, 731552/150036 paths, scan interval 60 secs
    
    Neighbor        V    AS MsgRcvd MsgSent   TblVer  InQ OutQ Up/Down  State/PfxRcd
    213.200.64.93   4  3257 2823796   74946  7863002    0    0 3w5d       577951

Woodworkers, when hearing the word Router think of something that can effortlessly carve a groove into wood.

So, who's right?

Well, all of them. A router in computing parlance is just any device that forwards packets between networks. So the first two examples are both routers.

I'm disappointed that you didn't show some text for your last example. I'll make a little marble run for you.

    __________
    ________  \
            \  \
             \  \
              | |
              | |
              \  \___
               \_____

Thanks, your help in visualizing woodwork is really appreciated ;-).

Old network guys remember when networks were not all IP, and there were Novell IPX routers, and AppleTalk routers, and DECnet Phase IV routers, and CLNP lived on for a while due to phone carriers and IS-IS. And even in IP, BGP is only the latest in a long, sad story of routing protocols, and other protocols are usually used inside networks… including IS-IS.

IS-IS (in a somewhat variant form) lives on in 802.1aq.

Why not just have GTT send you a default route if you're gonna run BGP at all?

Oops. While I know that wifi access points and routers can be separate, I'm used to people conversationally combining the two as "routers." Sorry about that!

Not only can they be separate, they should be separate.

Think of where you want to place your router ? (Usually in your server closet or close to where the fiber enters your house) Now think of where you want your access-point to be. Preferably somewhere central in your house, where it will give you the best coverage.

So the best place to put an AP is usually a shitty place to put a router and vice-versa. They have no business being in the same box.

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