ADSL router similar to the Airport Express (AirTunes)

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › ADSL router similar to the Airport Express (AirTunes)

tcpdump

311 posts

Ultimate Geek

#63631 1-Jul-2010 09:04

Hi,

Not sure if I'm posting in the right area but here's my question.
Is there a wireless ADSL router that has an USB port for connecting an external hard drive and it also implements the functionality of AirTunes (equivalent of course)?
Ideally linksys with DD-WRT but I can live with something else.
Also, a $200 budget would be great, possibly $250.

Cheers.

PS: The Airport Express offers the USB only for printing, not for connecting a hard drive. The Airport Extreme offers HDD connectivity but does not have the AirTunes.

PS2: If it also has SIP and RJ11 connectivity, I love it already. I would like an all-in-one but I can also live with 2 devices.

webwat

2036 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#347278 2-Jul-2010 13:30

Nope.

Sounds like you are looking for network storage (or NAS), which is a type of device available from any computer shop if you have enough cash.

Time to find a new industry!

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#347284 2-Jul-2010 13:46

Asus RT-N16 ;)

Not sure if it can act as an iTunes server but it will do most other things you've asked for. Works with the open source Linksys firmware also I believe.

tcpdump

311 posts

Ultimate Geek

#347295 2-Jul-2010 14:19

Thanks for the answers.

I think a more suitable solution for me would be a very small PC that will run linux.
It will have SATA, Audio and everything.
The only main thing I _don't_ want it to have is fans, I want it to be completely silent. And as small as possible, I don't care about performance.
A cheap video card that will be able to send some VGA output to my TV and a cheap CPU.

Any recommendations on such a PC?

Thanks.

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#347319 2-Jul-2010 15:22

What are you actually trying to do? You seem to be wanting to build an all in one HTPC/File Server/Router which is going to be near impossible. Your better off having dedicated devices for each function.

Probably a good idea to fully list what you want to do and how you want to use it. You seem to have gone from a multi-purpose router all the way to a HTPC. Might be a good idea to sit down and define your key objectives.

tcpdump

311 posts

Ultimate Geek

#347320 2-Jul-2010 15:29

I'm a Unix sysadmin so I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty.
That's correct, I first wanted a router without any headaches but there's no such router that will give me everything I need.

It seems that after all I need a HTPC but I am not up to date with the systems available.

The specs would be around this:
- CPU: 1Ghz should be enough
- Motherboard: don't really care but I tend to like Intel although AMD is cheaper. It would be nice to have SATA connectors to put the hard drive directly but USB 2.0 will do because I already have the external case.
- RAM: is cheap these days so it's irrelevant. Likely to be in the area of 1-2GB. Maybe more if I really want to mess around and make some RAMDISKS to reduce hdd spinning.
- Case: has to be small and fan-less. It has to be completely silent.
- Power consumption should be kept at a minimum but it's not mandatory
- Cheap video card to be able to stream a normal divx/mp4 (although the CPU does most of the job).

I think the topic should be renamed and moved to the HTPC area, sorry about this ;)

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#347349 2-Jul-2010 16:37

Ok what would be ideal for your situation is an Atom Nettop, preferably with an ION processor some you can do HD video (maybe not now but in the future). Unless you build your won these Atom systems aren't overly upgradeable/customisable besides the obvious memory and hard-drive upgrade.

ION is pretty much just a Nvidia graphics chip, with the original Atom's (230 and 330) it replaced the terrible 945 chipset and operated as the graphics and northbridge. With the new Atom (410 and 510) Intel intergrated the northbridge into the CPU and created a new chipset (NM10) which is pretty much just an I/O hub or southbridge. With the new Atom's Nvidia couldn't get a license from Intel to make the chipset so had to settle creating addon graphics chips that connect over the PCIe bus. With the new Atom most manufactuers have avoided intergrating ION2 into the motherboard, and instead offer it as a PCIe addon card (e.g. a graphics card)

There are some very nice Zotac ITX board's available with ample SATA ports and PCI-e 16x slots for a future video card. Pair that with an ITX case and your away laughing. My recommendation would be to start here, add the drive and memory you want and choose a nice case, could probably do the whole thing for under $1000.

To be completely honest these days the noise from harddrives annoys me more than fans. For an Atom system you barely need any airflow so two large 120mm at very low rpm 700~ wont be heard.

I'm actually in the process of building a ITX Atom file server at the moment, the hardest part of the project has been finding a small case that can hold a decent number of drives.