Get the best out your router

Recently I listened to a podcast about the samba project, which contained an intesting critism of the SMB2 protocol in vista (Floss Weekly:Jeremy Allison of Samba). The story went that Microsoft has made the protocol worse to try and create networking issues for non-microsoft machines. The additional traffic that it generates does nothing for the user, causing needless waste in resources.

The conversation also talked about how the GPL has forced companies to be more open than they would have once been. This reminds me off the story of the Linksys WRT54G Router. Because their router firmware is based on opensource, they were obliged to release the source to anyone who asks for it. This has lead to some alternative firmware much of which is freely downloadable. New firmware creates the possibility of extending the functionality of the router. Applications include creating a VPN, turning the router into a Bridge and the use of SIP for VoIP.