Using Windows 7 pc as router

garmcqui · 19-01-2012, 15:24

I don't have a spare PC, but I have a relatively powerful desktop PC (Intel Q6600, 4Gb ram) sitting here idle most of the time, always on. It's only really ever used for streaming media and internet browsing. It has 2 gigabit ethernet cards too (one PCI-e and one on board).

Is there a program I could use to act as a router whilst running windows 7? Perhaps something that could just run in the background? Or is using Windows internet connection sharing the only way (in my experience this is slow for the devices that share it).

If there is, I could use the PC with the modem plugged into one gigabit card, and a wireless access point plugged into the other.

Would this setup offer me more control over bandwidth limiting etc than the standalone router i have now (DD-WRT DIR-615)?

Cheers,

Gareth

Kymmy · 19-01-2012, 15:26

ICS (Internet connection sharing) I think is still available on win7 (has been around since win9x) but is very simplified and will not let you limit bandwidth.. For that you need something like Wingate or Winroute

qasdfdsaq · 20-01-2012, 19:29

Standalone routers with OpenWRT (which does run on the DIR-615, though not particularly well last time I had anything to do with it) offer much better control than DD-WRT which in turn offers much better control than vanilla Windows.

That said there's plenty of programs you can run on Windows to give you exceedingly fine-grained control over bandwidth and what not, but I'd suggest a dedicated Linux router OS distribution instead of Windows if that's what you wanted.