Newbie's Questions 1

[buffumjr]

I am a home user. I want to buy a Cisco router on Ebay, or refurb to use at home. I am really interested in its firewall features. I would need one with at least a lower level of the IOS. An older, honking monster, replaced by some business due to an upgrade, with the full IOS would be sweet. The Linksys Etherfast I have now just doesn't have the features to learn anything. The router MUST have two ethernet ports; one for the DSL, and one for the rest of the network. I can then use the etherfast as a switch. I am not made of money. If I can get away under $75, that would do it.

1. The possibilities are endless. What models should I be looking at?

2. What questions should I be asking the sellers?

3. What are negative discriminators I should look for, to narrow the field?

4. Buying from a certified Cisco reseller assumes I am heeled like Donald Trump. What is the best source for these routers?

5. Once I have it in, and wired, which of these forums is best for a newbie's questions?

I am willing to spend time with this thing, learning and poking around. I am willing to haunt the Cisco help PDF's.

 

[burtsbees]

Well, I don't know about $75, but the 837 is awesome for what you seek, and then some.

Burt

 

[buffumjr]

Great! There's an 830 series on Ebay, right now. Probably more to follow.

What questions should I be asking the seller?

 

[burtsbees]

Post the link and I'll let you know.

Burt

 

[burtsbees]

Actually, this is very close to what I have, and I paid $175 or so for it, so if you can get this for near that, I'd say it's a pretty good deal...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cisco-837-ADSL-...ryZ73321QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have almost that exact image, but I have 16MB flash in mine, same amount of DRAM...the image is inly 6.5MB though, so the 12MB flash is plenty.

I also have a 2503 and 3 2620's, and one is an XM. they are all maxed out as far as flash and DRAM go. I also have 2 2924 switches.

Burt

 

[burtsbees]

By the way, on the link that I posted, it looks good, so there is no need to ask the seller anything. Someone asked if the guy tested the router, and he says he did. He has a rating of like 430 or something, and received only 2 negative comments out of 430, so I'd trust him!

burt

 

[buffumjr]

Great stuff! I am indeed at the right place. Well, either an 831 or the 837, then. I'll let the other hardware go, as it has serial, AUI, and proprietary ports. Good for a mainframe shop, but not for a home (ab)user. Looks like the 837 advertised can be used as a cable modem, as well, thus reducing the box count at my computer desk. We'll see how pricing goes.

 

[burtsbees]

There are no coax inputs that I know of...

Burt

 

[buffumjr]

Oh. Pardon. I was looking at the older routers that are being aggressively dumped. 1600, 1700, 2500 series stuff. Does ANYONE use AUI, anymore?

 

[vipergg]

No AUI is dead , that is from the days of thickent ethernet .

 

[burtsbees]

The 1700 series will cost you a bit more, but it looks like you are looking for at least an 800 series, with an ethernet for the internet and one for the LAN. The WIC1-ADSL card is for dsl, and is a bit costly as an add-on for the internet. If you have a cable internet service, then you need something with a coax input, like your modem. the cable modem would do the PPPoA authentication (or PPPoE---don't know too much about cable, though my brother's been working for Charter for like 9 years...lol)...the router can, well, route...and handle other things, like VPN traffic, firewall features, AAA, logging, route maps, etc.

Burt