WL-500gP V1 or WL-500gP V2

[trampjuice]

you are too optimistic. At the moment not yet.

Too optimistic yeah thats me alright ... but it has

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtop...069c1c3b7abbee

DD-WRT support already for most features, so I guess OLEG will come along sooner or later.

I eventually tracked down the spec of the Asus RT-N13 and with its one USB port and much more limited memory and capabililties its no real comparison to the RT-N16. The RT-N15 is also cut down and is selling for just $20-$30.

In the US the price of the RT-N16 seems to now be around $99 (overstock.com, newegg.com) with the major online volume retailers.

Its currently £99 in the UK and not very available. In the next month or two, I guess major volume sellers here in Europe are going to be very keen to be stocking this router and will be taking a smaller margin on sales, so we should see the price shrink down like it has in the US. So its worth waiting a few months for stocks to increase.

By comparison:
I think the sheeva 'plug' for $99 is very interesting. 5 Watts!!! - One USB2.0 port, a network connection, a 1.2Ghz ARM processor, 512Mb RAM, 512MB flash with Ubuntu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SheevaPlug. I guess all you would need is a network connection into a decent router and you could do almost anything with it (and a USB hub.)

[trampjuice]

The RT-N16 looked good for $99, but, thanks to its irrational marketing - the huge rollout lead time in the US where its $99, over Europe, where it has just now appeared for £99, there are other options out there for running a low power high spec linux box off the network which people might want to consider.

The RT-N16 has a bcm4716 533Mhz CPU, 128 Mb Mem, 32 Mb Flash 2x USB2.0 for £99 on 12Watts.

But a SheevaPlug has a armv5te 1.2 Ghz CPU, 512Mb Mem, 512 Mb flash, 1 x USB for £86 (all inclusive - delivery, vat) on 5 Watts (Gigabit lan connection) with full debian/ubuntu linux installed.

I have just tracked down where to buy one of these sheevaplugs (from newit.co.uk) for £86 and I am well pleased with it because of the massively expanded spec compared to the 32MB flash RT-N16. This might be something people want to consider. The WL500gP has an extra 2 USB2.0 ports if needed. I personally have no real need to upgrade to wireless N and a gigabit switch router yet so this is a great option for me.

Manufacturers are targeting these plugs for home server uses - like running home security webcams, asterisk, sendmail, websites, transmission, NAS, etc...