i did end up putting debian on my sheevaplug some time ago and i have to say it’s working better than it ever has. when the plug had ubuntu 9.04, for whatever reason it seemed like i would have to hard reboot it from time to time. a common reason would be because it would randomly stop accepting SSH connections and i messed around with all sorts of SSH timeout settings with no luck. but now with debian on it, it runs beautifully.

i followed the instructions here:
http://www.cyrius.com/debian/kirkwood/sheevaplug/uboot-upgrade.html (if i remember correctly, i believe i had to reboot the plug for the USB stick to be detected)
and
http://www.cyrius.com/debian/kirkwood/sheevaplug/install.html

i’m currently very happy with the sheevaplug, but i also like to keep an eye out for new items. earlier this week i received a promotional email from globalscale about the release of the mirabox. this thing is pretty awesome…newer processor, wireless-N, 2 one gig NICs, and 1GB of DDR3 RAM, and USB 3.0 ports. while the dreamplug seemed like a minor upgrade from the sheevaplug, the mirabox seems like a pretty substantial upgrade. i’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for reviews on this product.

so for wireless, i stated a while ago that i ended up getting a linksys/cisco e2000. it’s worked fine but i made one big mistake because i wanted to save a few bucks. i got a dual-band wireless-n router but not simultaneous dual-band. i wish i had put forth the $30-$50 extra dollars at the time to get one. even that might not help out the current situation much. the wireless range on this thing is dreadful. it barely reaches to the living room from the office where it’s located. next time i will get a router with external antennas.

i’m not really sure what my plan is going to be for wireless upgrades. the current situation with the poor reception is far from ideal. and i don’t really want to purchase another wireless-n router or a draft 802.11ac router. i also wanted to go with an asus router next time as i’ve divorced myself from the linksys/cisco brand. checking on amazon now, the quality asus routers go for $100-$200. that’s more than i’m willing to pay at the moment so i guess i’ll just keep my eye out for falling prices.