| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 133089 | 2013-05-27 04:37:00 | Geekzone Crowdsourcing Project | johcar (6283) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1343619 | 2013-05-27 09:01:00 | Still, posting on Geekzone, gives me the heebie jeebies... Can't stand their supreme dictator, so brash and confrontational he makes even the Dutch look polite. :lol: I like the idea of OpenWRT etc but the product briefing didn't read like that would be likely to happen. Though if they use decent hardware it'll probably end up with a version that works on it anyway |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1343620 | 2013-05-27 09:42:00 | Dear I say if you want a simple interface for a router, can't get much simpler then apples No WebUI? :D I like the idea of OpenWRT etc but the product briefing didn't read like that would be likely to happen. Though if they use decent hardware it'll probably end up with a version that works on it anyway Many routers these days are based off it in some form or another. Even the newer DrayTek routers are... Hell I'd happily take a DrayTek with a slightly better WebUI (Such as Gargoyle) and I'd be *set*! Looking through the thread, this was doomed to failure before it even started... |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 1343621 | 2013-05-27 10:34:00 | Looking through the thread, this was doomed to failure before it even started... This thread or the one on Geekzone? Why? |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1343622 | 2013-05-27 11:25:00 | Looking through the thread, this was doomed to failure before it even started... Just give it a chance, not all the ideas in there are overly silly. |
Alex B (15479) | ||
| 1343623 | 2013-05-27 12:05:00 | Nah the one on Geekzone... He's like "Suggest a feature" when in reality that kind of a router *shouldn't* have a ton of features. That's not what the market needs, that's not what consumers want, it's what power-users want and they can already get it with minimal work. Here's what it needs hardware wise 1x WAN port (For UFB) 1x ADSL2+ / VDSL2 port 4x Gigabit LAN 802.11n Wireless support 64MB RAM 16MB Flash Semi-decent CPU for it 1x FXS port for use with an analog phone Here's what it *doesn't* need hardware wise: USB - Most people who want to share a printer can do-so themselves or leave a desktop PC on. Same for sharing a HDD. It's a "nice to have" but realistically very rarely used by any group *but* the geeks and enthusiasts HDMI output - Save that for your Raspberry Pi or similar media centre / file-server. You want to offer a router, you want it to be reliable, you don't want it doing everything under the sun and you don't want things most people haven't heard of, nor know how to setup 802.11ac wireless support - It's not even an official standard, plus the router is gonna be given away free by the ISP, so it can't cost an arm and a leg for what is currently minimal benefits. Maybe in a year or two. USB3 - See the aforementioned about "USB" (USB2.0), there's just very little point Small display on the device to see data usage - Adds too much cost for too little benefit, considering data caps are variable per-customer... easier to do from the Telecom website. 3G / 4G Failover - Could be done via USB, but again it's not something the average home user actually cares about. They can buy a router that does that if they *really* are that worried about their internet going down. 8 LAN ports - No for people who have bigger homes that are wired up, they're going to need a switch anyway, 8 ports isn't enough, so if 4 won't do them they should just buy a switch PoE - No point, that's for enthusiasts who want to power phones or other networking kit, not for the masses 2.5" HDD support - Again, just get a USB caddy and hook it up to your RPi or similar Rackmount gear - Home users don't rackmount their routers. Most small -> medium businesses don't even bother either. Now here's what it needs software wise under "Basic settings": A status section that shows: Sync speed, SNR, Attenuation, if the line has authenticated and if you're online A status section that shows current bandwidth utilization, similar to what Gargoyle shows under its "Bandwidth Usage" page A status section that shows you your SIP Status, if you're registered or not A "Prioritize my VoIP" button that allocates them 160kbps of bandwidth up and down at highest priorities, always reserved for their VoIP connection to / from the IP of their SIP Server (Two concurrent calls worth using g711) Username Password Wireless name Wireless security password SIP Server SIP Username SIP Password Then in the "Advanced Settings" section have a couple of pages: Port forwarding Static DHCP leases (Naming devices) Per-device or network-wide quotas (See Gargoyle for this) Download QoS Upload QoS Access Restrictions (Again, see Gargoyle for this) Allow changing of the LAN IP and Subnet, maybe alternative DNS servers Allow changing of the Wireless channel, wireless encryption type (Change from the WPA2-PSK default) or disabling WiFi altogether Allow additional SIP settings such as specifying codecs? Allow changing the remote management port and the admin password Must also support VPNs, such as PPTP / OpenVPN. Not as a client, just as passthrough (Orcon Genius router has had issues with PPTP, it's a %@#$&) Dynamic DNS too perhaps? Done.... Now here's what we *dont* want: DLNA - Just no... Save that for your RPi Two WiFi SSID's - Too much setup for most users, and not really required if you can set per-device quotas or other restrictions like you can in Gargoyle WiFi Spectrum analyzer - Too advanced for most home users, will only confuse them Samba / bittorrent / ftp / other daemon - Just no, not for the average home user, power users can run that on something like their RPi Mobile-specific WebUI - The standard one should be cut-down and simple enough to work just fine on a Cellphone Smart alerts / reporting - Keep it simple, allow them to set Quotas. If the user hits it, that's it, they hit it, no need to try and configure email alerts and things coz then they've gotta setup an email server... too much for the average home user VPN Host / Client - Too difficult to setup. Most home users will have their laptop setup by their office, so supporting passthrough is cool, but if you want to host a PPTP or OpenVPN connection you can easily do it from your windows / linux box and just port-forward Other cool things (Settings etc) worth mentioning: Security by default, such as a randomized wireless security key, and the wireless name also including the last 6 digits of the MAC address A new admin password chosen upon first login WPS disabled entirely Remote Management only via TR-069 by default Open source firmware based off OpenWRT ADSL2+ set to use PPPoA, VC-Mux, 0/100 (All hidden coz they're standard settings), or VDSL2 to use the 8b profile with PPPoE Things like that. Thoughts? Could you do most of what an "Average Joe" would? |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 1343624 | 2013-05-27 12:49:00 | I'm going to make my own router from an Arduino. With blackjack. And hookers. Seriously though, all I want\can think of right now: 1) Stable\Reliable 2) USABLE web interface (I'm looking at you, Thomson) 3) Firmware where features like port forwarding actually function (again, I'm eyeballing Thomson) 4) Some advanced features like detailed diagnostic output, per-device bandwidth limits and data caps I can do the rest with own switch, WiFi AP and fileserver. Which I prefer to be separate anyway. For a "hacker's router" something with built-in LCD, RGB status\moodlight and integrated Arduino might be cool, though. A scrolling bandwidth usage graph on the router would even be a bit useful. Of course, "real" hackers would never buy such a mass-produced product! :lol: Although... http://www.myopenrouter.com/ |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1343625 | 2013-05-27 14:12:00 | Setting up your own email server would be the hard way to go about it. From the consumer's point of view it could be made as simple as plugging in an email address and let Telecom work out the email settings behind the scenes. I want VPN at the router so I can use things like Netflix on Apple TV via Astrill. Guest network could be made extremely easy to set up, especially with an LCD on the unit its self. |
Alex B (15479) | ||
| 1343626 | 2013-05-27 22:01:00 | I reckon: Fast boot and connection Stable and reliable Lots of flashing coloured LEDs - especially blue ones!! The last is a joke of course. :D I imagine that most general public don't use the interface (any probably don't know how to get to it anyway) - that said usability of the interface is important, and although Thomson have improved a lot over the years, it's still a fair way off intuitive... |
johcar (6283) | ||
| 1343627 | 2013-05-28 00:15:00 | I think that those who want a VPN can port-forward to their PC, PPTP comes built-in to Windows so it's not like it's hard. Most home users will use VPN to go BACK to their office on the other hand, so VPN passthrough needs to be supported (Orcon Genius, I'm looking at you) I think if the GUI was easier to use it'd be used a lot more and it'd be helpful for a Helpdesk to say "Fire up 192.168.1.1 and tell me what the Status says on the main page (Before login) with your Sync Speed and Attenuation" Like seriously how easy is that!?! Could be useful to know if they're getting sync but no auth (Incorrect user / pass) and the likes... |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 1343628 | 2013-05-28 00:34:00 | although Thomson have improved a lot over the years, it's still a fair way off intuitive... A fair way off? It's not even on the same planet. |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1 2 3 | |||||