[COLUG] Sprint wireless broadband using Novatel U720 modem + Linux (anyone?)

[Larry W Howell]

Rob Funk wrote:

>Peter Kukla wrote:
>  
>
>>For the last umpteen years I've used Coyote as the
>>barrier between my home network and the Internet.  It
>>appears that the USB-nature of the hardware precludes
>>Coyote, so my distribution of choice would be a
>>functional replacement for Coyote.  That's the primary
>>requirement.
>>
>>Secondarily, it would be nice (if this connection
>>proves stable / fast / unblocked enough) to host very
>>modest web and ssh services, but that's more of a perk
>>than a requirement.
>>    
>>
>
>Hmm, this thought goes beyond distribution choice into hardware, but it 
>sounds to me like the Linksys NSLU2 ($90 at Amazon.com), with one of the 
>Linux firmware options of course, would be perfect for you.
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSLU2
>http://www.nslu2-linux.org/
>http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Storage-Link-Drives-NSLU2/dp/B0001FSCZO
>
>I have one but haven't done much with it yet.  It's pretty cool to have a 
>computer that's so small and quiet and low-power-consumption and as 
>powerful as the ones I was using 10 years ago.  (32MB RAM, 166MHz able to 
>be upped to 266MHz.)
>
>  
>
FWIW, Linksys has eliminated the under clocking; since 3Q06 NSUL2's 
leave the factory with the core clock at 266MHz.

I've had one with a 2.5" 120GB drive in a USB enclosure running Debian 
Etch for about 3 months.  It's my internal server for backups, 
Subversion, music, etc, and does a nice job on only 5 W of power.  The 
old Dell P3-550 it replaced used about 24 times more power and didn't 
seem  significantly faster.

Larry