Sharing internet connection (for remote access)

[sprdave]

We have a tower that a ham radio operator wants to use by installing his antenna on top and accessing it remotely via internet a few hours a week.  As well, we would setup wireless high-speed internet via said tower for ourselves (from a WISP).
 
What would be a good way to setup/share the internet connection with Him, so that He can get remote access to His equipment at the tower, and we get internet to our house via PtP (Ubiquiti Nanostations).  Something that separates/blocks Him from our network, and preferably be able monitor/limit usage if wanted.  There must be something like a router that would be good for this, but Im out of the touch lately.

 

[tmbrown97]

Check out the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite - It has 3 ports so one for the incoming connection, one for them, and one for you - and can do the rate limiting if needed...  
 
Another option is the Mikrotik routers - the learning curve is a PITA, but they can do anything - that's why a lot of the WISPs use them.
 
I've never been able to buy into the DD-WRT thing - it doesn't feel like an enterprise solution to me...
 
And actually off the top of my head, another solution is using Kerio Control - either on your own hardware or theirs - you can set up anything you want including VPN, routing, rate limiting, etc - and that one is amazingly easy to use.

 

[sprdave]

Thanks for the replies, I was caught up in stuff.
 
I started to look at Netgear smart switches then realized I was looking at switches lol.
 
So, short of revamping a consumer router, would the EdgeRouter be about the least expensive and be able to see the usage and control (limit) each port?
Which mikrotik router are you thinking? Like the Routerboard 450 http://www.balticnetworks.com/mikrotik-routerboard-450-complete-with-aluminum-desktop-enclosure-and-power-supply.html ?  That would have 4 ports which may come in handy, could I see usage/control on each port as well?
 
Does the Ubiquiti Nanostations have any abilities like that?

 

[wuench]

DDWRT is linux based and actually pretty rock solid.  I have loaded it on dozens of devices for people and small organizations, with the only issue being running out of memory due to installing too many extraneous applications (which results in a reboot and loss of config).   Being an open linux platform you can do a lot more with it than a standard router, including loading a lot of applications that usually live only on servers.
 
It would be the cheapest and most feature full route, but there is definitely a learning curve (although there are lots of online resources and examples to help).  

 

[sprdave]

What router would be best (while inexpensive) for DDWRT?  Seems the Linksys WRT54G is the common one, should I be concerned much on the rev. (ram/flash)?

 

[sprdave]

Im thinking now that the Ubiquiti Nanostation M2 can act as a router....I don't have one in front of me yet or I would know better.....
 
How much options/control do they have?  Could I plug the WISP into the main LAN on the Nanostation (NS2 mounted on the tower), then the HAM radio into the secondary LAN, then the house through the WLAN (to a Nanostation LOCO on the house), and have some sort of security/limit and monitor usage?
 
The house will need a switch/router anyway, so maybe that would separate our computers from Him anyway.

 

[tmbrown97]

Ya the M2 can act as a router, and you can actually vlan/separate out the interfaces pretty well...   If you really wanted to get creative, you could even set it up like two separate routers but that requires going outside the GUI.  Even in the GUI, there's a lot of configurability on each of the ports (wired and WLAN).