Router questions

[mentaloriental]

Hi, I never owned a router before and am planning to for my computer and wireless devices. I know the purpose of the router and everything. My question is what is the purpose of cpu speed, ram and flash memory in a router? If my ram/flash memory/cpu speed is low, what am I losing out?

 

[kfc469]

????? As far as I know, the router does not have a CPU or ram. Maybe some flash memory to hold in firmware. Maybe those are the required specs to install the included software onto your computer??? Someone correct me of I am wrong.

 

[dedub]

Router do have Ram
Volitile
Non Volitile
Your non is obviously the firmware and personalized configurations settings
your volitile ram is what is used to store routes, Mac address ect and will be gone the second it looses power.

Routers also have some type of CPU to process instructions and do encryption ect... They are not the socket type that you are probably familiar with and are usually soldered right onto the board.

 

[Law]

Routers and switches are just computer but with very low end parts, you can turn an old computer into a router if you want, it'll do the same thing as a conventional router.

If you have a low end router, like a home based $50-$70 router. It'll be able to take care at least 4 to 8 simultaneous connection or even more but that's about it. It isn't powerful enough and usually never come with features you don't need.

Try getting an older computer with at least 128 Mb of RAM and CPU with 400Mhz to 600Mhz.

And run PfSense, M0n0wall, IPCop or SmoothWall for the application. You'll notice a huge difference.