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slaroche

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Simple inexpensive router for a T1

I've got a client who has just acquired a new T1 line from the local tel co.  What is the cheapest way to get that T1 signal converted and connected to ethernet?  We've already got a simple Linksys Cable/DSL router in place to handle NAT, Firewall, DHCP, etc.  Do I need to buy a new router for this guy (with a T1 WIC DSU/CSU), or is there another device I just don't know about.  If I do need to buy a router with the T1 WIC, what is the best way to go (price is a big concern)?  Thanks for your help.

Steve
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Luc Franken
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the cheapest solution will probably be this one => http://www.freesco.org
It's a free Cisco router wich can run from only one 3.5 inch disk on an old 486 you might have somewhere standing collecting dust.
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slaroche

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What about the CSU/DSU to convert the T1 signal?
You now don't need to buy an expensive router, a T1 to Ethernet Bridge should be good enough, those things are much cheaper.
Any recommendations?  I did a google search for a T1 to Ethernet Bridge and didn't come up with anything that seemed right.  But I think you've got the solution.
To be honest, I don't have the solution. I'm using the freesco router at my work, but I connect it to an ADSL line. I don't really know wich T1 to Ethernet bridge is really worth buying, but I think if you wait about a day, other experts might be able to point you to the right one for your needs.

I've seen several, but I'm affraid of pointing you to the wrong one :-(
Get yourself a little shuttle computer, or MiniQ style computer. Shove 2 network cards in it, shove linux on it, and configure it as a router/gateway with IPTables...

Connect one end to T1, the other to a hub, and tada, you have a cute system :-)

P.S. please don't forget that linux can run on a 386 too ;-)
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chicagoan
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Look to Cyclades' PC300, Sangoma's Wanpipe S514 or SBE's wanADAPT-C1T1E1.  We're preparing to install our second P2P from one Wells Fargo office to another (a repeat of this: http://soloport.com/corp/wfhm/).

Our first installation used Cyclades cards.  Unfortunately they had poor support for Red Hat (only RH 8.0 or earlier) and only through a "tainted" kernel (i.e. not open source drivers).  Therefore we're looking to use (probably) the Sangoma cards.

If you order over the phone and tell Sangoma you're a reseller (which we are), they will give you a huge discount!  The nicest part about using any of the above cards is that, except for having to fold the drivers into the kernel, they JUST WORK!  A relatively inexpensive and very reliable solution, indeed.

We used all channels (full T1) and used ppp -- although the supported protocols are numerous -- for 1.5Mbps of throughput between offices.  All NAT, routing, firewalling (iptables) and packed logging occurs in Linux.  Load averages remain below 0.10 no matter the traffic.