The Fonera 2.0 is gearing up to show every wireless router who the man really is. This little puppy not only acts as a wireless router, but also acts as a file server, downloader, uploader, and Torrent client! (Promo voice) But wait, there’s more: a built in USB 2.0 port lets you connect a flash drive/external hard drive. In essence, the Fonera 2.0 acts as a mini computer, doing the essential tasks like downloading from Rapidshare, uploading pictures to Flickr, and downloading torrents.
Supposedly, the Fonera 2.0 has already been released in Europe, but will be available in the United States starting sometime in May. Here’s a comparison list of features from the Fon Blog:
Fonera 2.0 Features
Features
Sit back for a minute, look at the features, and start drooling. For geeks, techies, and hackers, the feature list is quite impressive. Let me throw out some ideas:
- USB 2.0 Port – mainly for flash drives/external hard drives, but can also communicate with webcams. The Fon blog says that a powered USB hub will work also. SWEET!
- Webcam support – you could setup an internet security camera using a webcam. Power the Fonera using PoE (power over ethernet) and you can put this baby anywhere you want. The wireless capabilities give you the ability to stream the video to an off site FTP server, helpful should the Fonera be destroyed/stolen.
- 3G Dongle Support – Not too shabby, just connect a 3G dongle and you’ll have internet wherever you have a cellular signal.
- Open Platform Plugins – Amongst many useful programs, I would like to see something like SABnzbd – a fully automatic Usenet downloader. However, I’m iffy on the processing power of the Fonera 2.0, as SABnzbd can automatically extract and repair archives.
- Downloader/Uploader – Queue up things to download or upload large files while you sleep – all without having to use your hunking, 600w+ space heater (aka PC).
- Print Server - Hook up a USB printer and the Fonera 2.0 will serve it out to your network, allowing you to print from any computer
- Network Appliance - With the introduction of a second ethernet port, the possibilities are endless. IPtables could be used to create a dedicated network firewall, it could serve as a network monitor taking SNMP data, or you could even configure it as a full time packet sniffer. With enough work, you could make a very rudimentary IDS as well. Not bad for a device that can fit in the palm of your hand.
- Even more possibilities with the battery pack – In the middle of the woods and want internet? Just bring the Fonera 2.0 along with your battery pack and a 3G dongle. Turn that sucker on and you should have enough juice for hours of browsing!
Fonera 2.0
Geeks Want:
As with the original Fonera, I expect the Fonera 2.0 to be hackable as well. Hopefully, the guys at DD-WRT will get their hands on one of these and unlock additionally functionality. I mainly used DD-WRT on the original Fonera as a wireless bridge, but it can also be configured to serve as a wireless repeater as well as many other roles.
One thing I’m hoping for is SSH access right out of the box. That way, we won’t have to go through the huge hassle of unlocking one like with the original Foneras. A faster processor than the original Fonera’s 183mhz would be greatly welcome as well. With the older processor, one could barely hit 12-14 megabits/sec. What sense is there in supporting 802.11G (besides compatibility) if you can’t push the bandwidth?
The media streaming is a good idea, but once again, only if the CPU is upgraded. The original Fon struggled with only routing video between two PCs. If media streaming were enabled, the Fon 2.0 would not only have to route the video data, it will also have to serve the data from the connected USB drive, which will consume additional CPU cycles.
Bottom Line
If the Fon 2.0 turns out to be everything they say it is, then this may very well be the holy grail of geek stuff. I’ve got three original Foneras dissected, sitting around doing nothing and I’m dying for more toys! I think I’ll use one as a dedicated file server, torrent downloader, and hopefully Usenet downloader combined with a 1TB+ external hard drive setup. Think of the Fonera 2.0 as a highly, highly functional and customizable NAS for dirt cheap!
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