Managed switch question.

aaronouthier

@akuma1x
I would prefer to let my cat do the post scratching - he enjoys it more…
🤪

You may be able to go two ways here.

plain routing means you will be connecting to any pfsense
port a small switch and do all without vlans setting up for
any residential a own "subnet"
vlans and you need only a small switch that is vlan capable

Netgear GS105E or GS305E
Netgear GS108E or GS308E

Might be goo to start for you. Small footprint and metal case on rubber feet.

If you want to route the entire vlan traffic by the switch
I would to council try to get your hands on a small Cisco
SG300 Series switch, they are an awesome bug for the money

JKnott

@aaronouthier

So, my parents own a 4-unit apartment complex. I am in 1 apartment, my brother in another, and 2 family friends in the other 2. We are sharing a single fiber optic internet connection between the 4 of us. I want to segregate the 4 apartments into separate subnets.

I trust you understand that may be a violation of your service agreement.

aaronouthier

@jknott

I hadn’t thought of that. Fortunately, I was trying to simplify the scenario for easier explanation.

It’s actually a 2 bedroom house in front, an ADU or “Mother-in-law” apartment next to the garage, and a 5th wheel trailer, the latter 2 are out back. Power is common throughout, including ground, and ethernet is run to 3 of the locations, with an extra WiFi router in the house for the trailer guest. Such details are not so important. Hence, the “4 apartments”. Perhaps I should have said a 4 bedroom house…

JKnott

@aaronouthier

You'd better check your service agreement. They generally prohibit such sharing. If you're renting out a room or trailer, that's still another residence.

johnpoz

@aaronouthier said in Managed switch question.:

Perhaps I should have said a 4 bedroom house…

I really wouldn't worry about isp and sharing, if its listed as one address. Does any of these resident have their own address, or is it 1 address. Is there different electric bills under different names, or any other services like gas or water or garbage. Or does it all go to 1 name.

If it 1 name, and you allow those people living at this address use of your internet, as long as you not specifically billing them for internet ;) I see it as no different than sharing your internet to your guests when they come over to your house. Now again I am not a lawyer ;)

Have you stayed at airbnb - they don't have commercial internet connections. And you it when your there, etc. Also this seems like all "family" anyway on 1 property, it might be different if you wanted to "share" your internet with the house nextdoor, be it you own that house as well. Its a different property, etc.

Again not a lawyer - but I don't see how letting users on your property use your internet would be in violation.. If so then any time a "guest" comes over to your "property" and uses your internet you would be in violation of "sharing" ;)

Now if you were "selling" this - hey guest that will be $10 for internet for the day you might be in violation of reselling, etc.

aaronouthier

@johnpoz

This is all very interesting. Yes, it is all 1 address. However, the landlord is “fronting” the money for the bill, and we are all paying a share for reimbursement. I wouldn’t have thought of it “charging for internet service” exactly, but that might be more a matter of semantics than anything.

Then again, I’m not a layer either. I suppose I could call them to clarify. I doubt it is an issue, however. It might be a different story if the landlords were making any kind of profit on the Internet bill. They’re not. I would know, the bill may be on autopay, but it gets sent to me.

johnpoz

@aaronouthier again not a lawyer - but bringing it up to the isp might open a can of worms you wouldn't want to open.

I would let your own moral compass take the lead here.. I personal don't think your doing anything wrong or against the spirit of what they meant with such rules. They sure don't want one bill and the neighborhood sharing the connection..

What I can tell you for sure - is what your wanting to do isn't anything everyone else isn't already doing, etc.

For example here is the portion of my isp agreement

Customer shall not resell or otherwise offer or make the Service available to other users, locations or tenants, and shall not charge
others to use the Service, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, or on a bundled or unbundled basis. Customers are specifically
prohibited from permitting other users and/or locations to access the WOW! Internet service, whether through wireless or other
means. Except as specifically otherwise provided in a separate written agreement (e.g., in the WOW! Business Customer Agreement)
between Customer and WOW!, the Service is to be used solely in a private residence; living quarters in a hotel, hospital, dorm,
sorority or fraternity house, or boarding house; or the residential portion of a premises which is used for both business and residential
purposes. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, and except as otherwise specifically provided in a written agreement
between Customer and WOW!, the Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and Customer agrees not to use the Service
for operation as an Internet service provider, a server site for ftp, telnet, rlogin, email hosting, “web hosting” or other similar
applications, for any business enterprise, or as an end-point on a local area network or wide area network.

While its pretty clear about reselling it.. A "family" residing at a residence splitting the cost of service wouldn't be in violation if you ask me.. Or anyone that lets guest come over and use their internet would be in violation ;)

For example they don't want you running a web hosting service - that seems clear, but if you read that as a lawyer might. My friend and family accessing my plex server from the internet would be in violation. My vpn into my home could also be seen as violation.. So while they write it like that so they could call you out if they determine your hosting stuff off your home connection to the internet for profit, etc. they could terminate your service sort of thing. But people living at a place and sharing the cost - I don't see how you would doing anything that the whole planet doesn't do..

Now if I sold access to my plex server - then to me, that would be a violation of their service agreement. If I had someone I was letting live in my guestroom, and having the share expenses - but say internet bill was $50 a month and I was charging him $70 for it, my moral compass would say for starters that would be a pretty dick move.. And second that would seem to be in violation of what the agreement says.

JKnott

@johnpoz said in Managed switch question.:

For example they don't want you running a web hosting service - that seems clear, but if you read that as a lawyer might. My friend and family accessing my plex server from the internet would be in violation. My vpn into my home could also be seen as violation.

I came across that sort of thing shortly after I got a cable modem in the late 90s. The ISP's position was that was in there to protect against someone offering a public server, not stopping someone from accessing their own network.

Also, I see "tenants" in your quote above. Seems to me that would apply to this situation, if they're charging rent to someone who's not a family member.

aaronouthier

So, everyone living here is technically family, but only one is a blood relative - myself and my brother are 2 of the tenants. The other 2 are extended family. Also, I was trying to simplify the explanation, as I am often long-winded. It’s a 2 bedroom house, with an ADU and a camping trailer in the driveway. The trailer and it’s resident is here short term. He should be gone end of September.

That said, I managed to get my aging APU 1D4 up and running. I have the Vlans working, with Switch Port 1 tagged, and 5 VLANs. 1 for each Renter (myself included), and 1 for the 3 IP Cameras.

I’ll get the cameras going again later.

Right now, I need to try and eliminate my large, bulky Netgear R8000 from the mix. There is just not enough room for all of this “Spaghetti” (ie tangled power and ethernet wires, and there are 3 routers and an 8-port ethernet switch within a 2 ft. Sq. Area. I REALLY need to consolidate!

Now, I see that I can do VAPs on supported cards, and my APU has 2 Mini-PCIe slots, plus 2 USB2 ports. What hardware can I use to get 5 GHz APs going? I have an 2 functioning Atheros PCIe cards that work, but neither support 5 GHz band.

Only my home office in the garage, and my Brother in the ADU need Ethernet cables. The other 2 renters are WiFi only, and I’m thinking of doing VAPs. (Ethernet cables are already run, but I want to remove the 3 routers atop my clothes dryer).

We need 3 VAPs in the house on each of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. I know how to make a VAP. I will need either a different Mini-PCIe card, or a USB2 model that is compatible with PFSense.

rcoleman-netgate

@aaronouthier said in Managed switch question.:

there are 3 routers and an 8-port ethernet switch within a 2 ft. Sq. Area

Shorter ethernet cables helps in this. I have a bunch of 12" cables for just that reason on my cabinet.