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  • Author Author: Catwell
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ALIX boards: the open-source alternative to proprietary routers

Catwell

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ALIX board. Just from a quick glance, expansion is a big feature of the platform. But.. VGA out? (via PC Engines)

 

As cyber-attacks continually increase against companies and corporations (even home offices) around the globe, the issue of network security is seriously becoming a great concern for those on the receiving end of the attacks. One of the ways to combat those attacks and intrusions is to use a stand-alone firewall/gateway especially if the networking system (both home and office settings) takes advantage of Wi-Fi. The market is currently flooded with a bevy of choices when it comes to routers with embedded firewall features including Linksys, Cisco, ZyXEL and ASUS (among a host of others). However, open-source Wi-Fi routers are fast becoming popular due to the customization options they bring to the table. Case-in-point: PC Engine’s ALIX line of boards, which are single-board PCs with the added benefit of being able to use a WLAN card for wireless applications. The latest 6-series ALIX boards feature an AMD Geode LX CPU with up to 500MHz speeds (depending on model), up to 3 Ethernet ports based on VIA’s VT6105M chips (limited to 10/100), 256MB of onboard DDR SDRAM along with up to 2 miniPCIe sockets for wireless add-in cards. Instead of sounding like a typical router platform, the boards seem more akin to all in one mini PCs. That is in fact what they are, Geared towards kiosks, thin clients, machine HMIs, but they can be configured to act as secure wireless router. It’s shining example…

 

Some users of X86 ALIX boards have combined the platform to run alongside traditional routers as an extra-added security measure as most wireless add-in cards are limited to 802.11a/b/g. That being said some have taken a more expensive route, albeit with more security in terms of intrusion measures, by buying aftermarket wireless kits such as Qualcomm’s Atheros 250 mW DCMA–82. The add-on kit features two MMCX pigtails, dual-band 2.4 to 5GHz antenna along with the typical 802.11a/b/g standard. This may not sound very secure but considering you can flash just about any Linux OS or OpenBSD on the ALIX CF card, it becomes quite impressive as a stand-alone firewall as well as providing a host of new options. Those not looking to piece the router together by themselves (including the enclosure) can opt to have an assembler such as Netgate do it for them which ups the price from $104 to $225 US respectively (add the Atheros kit and the price jumps over the $300 mark). Yeah that may sound incredibly expensive over an off the shelf Linksys router but you not only get a tremendously secure firewall for wireless applications but also the included benefit of having a miniPC as well. Using the ALIX board is beneficial in an office environment as well as incoming and outgoing packets can be monitored from a remote location so management can keep tabs on the work load being (or not being) done. Not to mention the fact that IT support can identify attacks and intrusions easier (thanks to Linux OS and/or data mining software).

 

Check out one of the board's support pages. Schematic included...

 

C

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  • I need a suggestion, which board is the best to be used as a router embedded board?

  • in reply to Catwell

    Older ?  Sure.  The versions of the Geode in the Alix have their roots in the Cyrix Media GX systems used in set top boxes and low end laptops in the mid 90's.

     

    But also note that only one of the Alix boards has VGA, the rest really are intended to be routers and have no display capability whatsoever.

     

    The thing is that there isn't really a gap in the market, you have the supposedly low end Arm deviceswhere something like a Sabre Lite costs more than the Alix, and a cheap Intel Atom that costs less than the Alix. Both of those being based on generations of their respective technologies that are a decade newer than the Alix have a lot more to offer. 

     

    For something to be sucessful in that niche you'd either have to be able to cost it down at Raspberry Pi levels (some Mikrotik stuff is already cheaper than R-Pi while having 5 gigabit ports), or you'd have to offer lots more at the same price to make a cheap Atom + addons uncompetitive.

     

    The clue that I don't think any of that works out is that I changed the hardware my router runs on from the Alix to a cheap Intel Atom a year or two ago.

  • in reply to Former Member

    The use of the VGA output makes be think that this is a board from an older product, repurposed for the hungry dev crowd.

     

    If you see a void in the market, perhaps you should take your idea to market? Just a thought.

     

    Thanks for finding the typo.

     

    C

  • you can flash just about any Linux OS (such as OpenBSD)

    err... OpenBSD isn't Linux, not even close.

     

    These boards are good for what they are, I've had the one in the photo for nearly 6 years. That says quite a lot, this technology is getting old.

    As for "Qualcomm’s Atheros 250 mW DCMA–82" thats AR5xxx series, so probably over 10 years out of date by now. AR9xxx and wireless N might be a better idea ?

     

    It's also misleading to say it has 2 miniPCIe slots, it has up to two miniPCI slots which is totally different.  The 6f2 has a single USB only miniPCIe which you have to take with a pinch of salt since it lacks any PCIe functionality - indeed the chipset is a bit too old (and slow) for PCIe.

     

    There's a bunch of other stuff you have to take into account, what you get for the asking price isn't much, 10/100 network is a problem today when internet connections are exceeding that and wifi can theoretically get you to 300 (I have an atheros a/b/g/n card in mine), and as you rightly point out the only display connection available is VGA and thats only on the 3d3.

    Today you might even have reached the point where a standard x86 version of linux will no longer run on one of these - that's certainly the case for my Wrap board (the predecessor of the Alix)

     

    Of course the advantage comes in flexibility over an off the shelf router - you're not stuck with the limit of 10 firewall rules (or whatever the number) you would have with a cheapo Linksys, Asus etc.

     

    All that said, the Mikrotik routerboard stuff has pretty much eaten pcengines lunch with a generally cheaper product, a much bigger range and the ability to buy a packaged solution or a build it yourself from parts experience if that's what you want.

     

    Finally, when you try to compare the cost of the Alix boards against a cheap Atom based PC it doesn't work out very well (hasn't for some time), the only thing the Alix has going for it is the small case that compares favourably with some small Linksys box.

     

    What could be interesting would be for pcengines (or anyone else) to take something like an iMX6 processor and put it onto a new board with similar features to the Alix - just with gigabit wired ethernet ports and real PCIe. Probably didn't make any sense seven plus years ago when this was being designed, but could make a lot of sense today.