DNSmasq will be handling DNS/DHCP and we’ll be using iptables for the NAT/Firewall. Also if you’re not going to be using VLANs you can leave out the ‘ vlan‘ package. I’ll be using Vim for editing files but you can use nano (comes pre-installed) or any editor of your choice. ‘ apt-get update‘ will update the application repositories so you’ll be pulling up to date versions of applications with apt-get install. This will save typing sudo before everything. To make it easier you’ll want to do is make sure everything you do is ran as root by typing ‘ sudo bash‘ every time you reboot and log in as the pi user. You’ll want to change them to something secure.

Once it’s ready it’ll display the IP address it’s obtained and you can SSH in, the default username is pi and the password is raspberry. Put the microSD card in the Raspberry Pi, power up and let it sort itself out. If you need help writing the image to the microSD card they have guides on how to image it on common OSs.

I will also be setting up and using VLANs so we can use the single Ethernet port for both WAN and LAN securely, this means you’ll need a managed/smart switch that supports VLAN tagging or you can use a USB Ethernet adapter and leave out the VLAN related instructions (I’ll tell you what to do instead).ĭownload and install the lite version of Raspbian from the Raspberry Pi website.

In this guide I’ll take you through every step of making a working router that does NAT, Firewalling, DNS and DHCP. The only caveat is it’s limited to 100Mbs full duplex so if you’ll be routing more than ~80Mbs of traffic then you should look at something faster. You’ll learn more about how a router, Linux and basic networking works by setting it up from scratch.

Buying it probably won’t make you broke.

It’s tiny, smaller than most consumer routers.

So why would anyone want to use a Raspberry Pi as a router if it’s only going to be slower and more complicated? You’ll have a router sitting there using 50-100W of power 24/7 with a very simple setup process and a nice web GUI. Grab an old PC, add a 2nd NIC, install pfSense (a Router distribution of FreeBSD) and you’re done. Do you have an interest in tech and enjoy the odd DIY project?

Build a router using raspberry pi