Older Thinkpad For Pfsense (router/firewall OS)

Looking for an older Thinkpad to run Pfsense.

Something older than say a T43 (PIII would be nice) and cheap but with at least a builtin NIC and docking station capability. Also going to need a solution for NIC2.

I'm just having trouble trying to figure out older models and which ones would be great to get for this job.

Any ideas?

 

any reason why you want a laptop to function as a router? a router will at least need 2 NICs, so you're probably better off looking for a desktop solution instead.

something like an old p3/p4 optiplex will work just fine and be found for about $100.

 

sp00n is right. A laptop makes a poor router. A P3 or a P4 with two NICs makes a great one, you might be able to even pick up the parts for free if you know people or have a good supply of your own.

 

Hellllll no i don't want a desktop. I already have a Athlon XP 1.47ghz (typically runs at 1.1ghz)desktop with two nics and I don't want to use that.
Laptop would be way better for a lot of reasons.

Getting two NICs is really a non issue, its just picking another one that won't have me hunting for drivers.

Reasons why I want to use an older thinkpad over the desktop:

Main reason: overall smaller with kb/mouse/screen and everything bundled into one tight little package.

Power: My T43 saps a whopping 16watts at the plug with screen on at lowest setting. The desktop I have typically saps 126watts from the plug. Its not much of a dollar amount...but I'd rather have something that uses 16watts vs. 100+watts.

Convenience. This is kinda important as this thing will be sitting alone in the basement, don't want to have to have a whole monitor/kb/mouse setup just to be able to control the machine when needed.

The battery is the Built in UPS unit: saving on space and convenience.


If i were going to go other than desktop route, it would be SFF low power Atom type setup. But I'd rather have a low power setup with keyboard/monitor etc. all bundled into....a laptop!

 

While I don't think a laptop would make a good router, the way you look at it is pretty interesting especially for the built-in UPS part.

I'm fairly new with Thinkpad, but if I were you, I would start at pfSense/FreeBSD NIC compatibility list and then find a Thinkpad that has a supported NIC. Larger ones are probably better in terms of temp control since you are most likely gonna have it on 24/7.

Anywho, if I were you, I would shell out a little more and build Atom-based router/file server instead

Good luck with your project!

 

While the points Zephxii mentions are good, I disagree with the UPS unit part. If your power goes down or whatnot, you're still going to need a UPS unit to power your DSL/Cable modem and your other computers, otherwise your router/firewall does absolutely nothing.. and if you have that then you sorta lose the not having to buy another UPS unit part.

 

A laptop should make an excellent router, especially if it's after the Pentium4 era (really a decent PIII and beyond should be great). I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be.

As for the UPS part, that in which i mentioned would specifically be for router (laptop). Any other network component would also need their own UPS... if so desired.

However the primary function of the UPS (or the batt of a laptop) for the pfsense machine in the context in which i mention is just to keep it up and running in the event of power dropout to prevent it from shutting down and restarting etc....just something I would prefer it not to do.

I am fiber at home, and fiber at work. Both places the fiber interface box has their own power supply with builtin battery backup. I know at work that builtin batt back up will keep internet up when the power is out as i've used it during a 45 period of power being shut down...haven't tested the one at home.

 

i'm curious how you can get 2 functional NICs on a laptop. can both the dock NIC and the laptop NIC be used at the same time?

if not, what are the other alternatives to get 2 working NICs? a usb NIC?

also, you can set the desktop BIOS to automatically power back in the event of a power loss.

 

You could use Cardbus NIC. They're still out there. I just think that drivers will be more of a pain. A lot of the USB and Cardbus NICs weren't really designed with Linux in mind.

 

I have an X61 (with ultrabase) that I'm looking to sell. It runs ubuntu like a champ, haven't tried other distros on it though. PM me if you're interested.

 

Yea, PCMCIA card would work. Trust me i'm not the first to use a laptop for this and pfsense has PCMCIA support built in. I also have a USB Ethernet NIC laying around.

X61 would probably be a little much for this job, looking at an R31 for 100 bux atm with builtin ethernet and PCMCIA slots.

 

Well I ended up running pfsense on my T43 since the guy was a lil slow at getting the R31 shipped. Has been running fantastic so far, the traffic shaping has been great on pfsense.

Just got the R31 today and man it looks like it was never used lol. I think i'll swap over to it this weekend. Measured power at the plug on the R31, 14.4watts with the backlight off!! Nice!