Hello together and thank you for taking interest in my problem.
I'm in the process of setting up a home network and sharing a USB wireless
BB dongle. The Wireless modem I use for Internet access is at this stage
a Telstra ZTE HSDPA/ UMTS. Since I don't have a phoneline and fed up by the line rental prices I want to use a modem like that on a Linux stand-alone box that handles all the routing functions and maybe incorporates a Firewall as well, driving an 8-port ethernet switch attached. Since that box should go under the roof of the house to place the modem outside for best reception the linux router should have remote admin as well, SSH or something. I have a stash full of old equipment, PII's, K8's, Athlons etc that could bu used without spending extra $$'s.
Something like Smothwall or IPcop, M0mowall popped into my mind but I'm not sure if USB devices are supported as the Gateway. Before I commit to a 24 month wireless broadband plan I want to make sure if it is going to work because I'm not happy with defaulting to any form of windows that have support for the device. Anybody having done something like this before, or experience with USB devices as a gateway?

Thanks a lot...

First you need to find out if he modem is supported by linux.
Google can help
If the modem is supported, every distro can do what you want, using iptables for masquerading and firewall,
and ssh for remote access from the internal network.
You need to have 2 networkcards though.

Thanks for the reply repo,
Never had any doubt if a Linux distro could do it. The thing is that I want a relativly lean
installation as well. I know some people have that modem, which is a USB dongle btw, running
in Ubuntu 9.04 with modeswitch and PPP. But that is a full blown installation. Since I'm quite new to Linux configuring and stripping the Distro of any unneccesary components to make a lean install might be a bit to complex for me. Mind you I like a challange but don't want to spend months in twaeking a system where I don't know that it is going to work. The resulting router/ firewall should run stable on an old system (PII) as well. At the end of the day I found a 3G commercial router that excepts 3G USB modems for under 100$, but they might not be very good. I dont know... Anybody with some detailed solutions?

I can't answer your question regarding a light weight distro that will support your hardware, but I may be able to provide some info that can help you make your decision.

1. Have you considered the temperature in your attic (I'm not sure where you live, but I'm in Florida)? In the summer a machine in my attic would certainly shut down due to excessive temps.

2. I've used a netgear/linksys residential grade router that supports a usb broadband card. It worked well.

3. I've used verizon wireless's usb broadband dongle on a fedora core 7 machine. It was trivial to set up. I spent maybe an hour or so of research and writing a script to initiate the connection when the system started. Unfortunately, this was a while ago, so I don't remember which model it was.

At the end of the day, you are talking sub $100 for a retail (read supported) product. If you want to tinker and enjoy working with that type of technology, use a linux box. If your time will cost more than the retail product and you don't want to fuss with anything just grab a retail router.

hi to all of you. i'm new to Linux, i have recently installed linux Ubuntu [9.04]-Wubi on my desktop, it works fine, I'm using 3g cell Modem Huawei E169, it works fine with Ubuntu, well recognized by it- out of the box. i want to buy a cell router to connect the modem to, and put it in the attic or close to the roof or something, [for the purpose of both improving the cell signal reception strength and to be away as possible from the harmful cell radiation]. my computer agent sugested router: Edimax 3g-6200WG, but he dosnt seems to know whether it can work with linux. does any one know whether the Edimax 3g-6200WG can be put on linux Ubuntu? and if not, please sugest other model, here is a summary of it's requirements: cell router in which an external 3G USB modem is attached to it [not a router in which the modem is embedded in it], the router is then connected to the PC by either a wire or wirelessly. thanks for any help.

Hi didland

Welcome to LQ
Please open a new thread for your problem.

Thank you