thinkcomputers.org— New ASUS draft N router can be combined with an external hard drive to set up a file server, a printer to set up a print server, and even a webcam to setup a webcam server.
Jan 2, 2007View in Crawl 4
wtf? I can think of a ton of uses for this. The first one of course being that I install it for my friend who's in a sorority, telling her that it will make her life easier and she won't have to worry about missing papers with back ups and whatever other reasons I can come up with....
I've got the Asus 700gE. It sounds similar to this unit, but it comes with a built in 160GB HD. I wouldn't be in a hurry to buy one of these units. Asus hasn't exactly been cranking out the firmware revisions. There is some community support for hacking the firmware, and they've made significant progress, but it's slow going. The documentation provided by Asus is completely inadequate. Just to cite one example of the thing's unmet potential, the HD does not sleep with the ASUS provided firmware. Personally, this sounds like a feature that would be pretty important for home use. Hacked firmware will put the HD to sleep after a user defined period, but of course it isn't supported by ASUS, and you better be handy with a file editor and scripting lingo to bend the thing to your will. On the other hand, if your do have the knowledge, these devices offer amazing potential: personal web server, web cam, ftp, torrents, etc., all built into your home wireless router and relatively low power consumption. Also on the plus side, I upgraded the HD from 160 to 400GB in just a few minutes, with no hassle. Finally, on the 700gE at least, you can manage torrent/ftp/http downloads via the web interface from any computer (I use my Mac running Safari with no trouble). But as you say, you can only stop/start/monitor the progress of the download. It's strictly bare bones. With the hacked firmware you can change torrent software, if you have the expertise. Someday someone will introduce a "web appliance" with function, power, and ease of use. Someday...
verifexJan 2, 2007
It doesn't provide any kind of torrent management but it provides a webcam server? WTF?
adml_shakeJan 2, 2007
wtf? I can think of a ton of uses for this. The first one of course being that I install it for my friend who's in a sorority, telling her that it will make her life easier and she won't have to worry about missing papers with back ups and whatever other reasons I can come up with....
rynoonJan 2, 2007
Just build a Unix box.(Sorry, PJ. Close, but no cigar.)
life2shortJan 2, 2007
I've got the Asus 700gE. It sounds similar to this unit, but it comes with a built in 160GB HD. I wouldn't be in a hurry to buy one of these units. Asus hasn't exactly been cranking out the firmware revisions. There is some community support for hacking the firmware, and they've made significant progress, but it's slow going. The documentation provided by Asus is completely inadequate. Just to cite one example of the thing's unmet potential, the HD does not sleep with the ASUS provided firmware. Personally, this sounds like a feature that would be pretty important for home use. Hacked firmware will put the HD to sleep after a user defined period, but of course it isn't supported by ASUS, and you better be handy with a file editor and scripting lingo to bend the thing to your will. On the other hand, if your do have the knowledge, these devices offer amazing potential: personal web server, web cam, ftp, torrents, etc., all built into your home wireless router and relatively low power consumption. Also on the plus side, I upgraded the HD from 160 to 400GB in just a few minutes, with no hassle. Finally, on the 700gE at least, you can manage torrent/ftp/http downloads via the web interface from any computer (I use my Mac running Safari with no trouble). But as you say, you can only stop/start/monitor the progress of the download. It's strictly bare bones. With the hacked firmware you can change torrent software, if you have the expertise. Someday someone will introduce a "web appliance" with function, power, and ease of use. Someday...