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    Will this old laptop handle a 60Mb VPN?

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    • K
      kejianshi
      last edited by

      You sound like you are all set to get going on this then.

      Well - Where to start.  VLANS - A VLAN switch lets you do this for instance.

      Take a 5 port VLAN switch.

      Plug one of its ports into your ONT.
      Plug another of its ports into your Laptop.

      Use the single port on the laptop as both the WAN and the LAN.

      Then Have two free port on the VLAN switch to plug in a dumb switch, to call your LAN, a Wireless AP, also on the LAN subnet and maybe a wirless AP for guests that is isolated from your private LAN.

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      • D
        dalesd
        last edited by

        @NOYB:

        If you switch the FiOS service from MoCA to Ethernet you can eliminate both the FiOS modem and DD-WRT Router.

        I already have my DD-WRT router in the place of the Actiontec router from Verizon. I get Ethernet straight out of the ONT.

        I like my DD-WRT router. It is a Samba and DLNA server for my home network.  It also has great WiFi.  I would like to keep these features.

        If you use a VLAN capable switch the express card NIC can be eliminated.

        My setup is:

        WAN: FiOS ONT <–> (Untagged VLAN 99) Switch (Tagged VLAN 99) <--> pfSense

        LAN: pfSense <--> (Untagged VLAN 1) Switch (Untagged VLAN 1) <-->  Clients & WLAN WiFi AP

        TV services such as guide data, VOD, PPV, widgets:
        STB (HD-DVR) <--> (MoCA) Actiontec MI424WR (WAN Ethernet) <--> (Untagged VLAN 99) Switch

        pfSense router machine is a DELL 5100 Inspiron, Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHz, 2GB, 4GB USB Flash Drive
        Switch is Cisco SG200-08

        This is over my head. I never even heard of a VLAN switch before a few minutes ago. I need some time to digest this.

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        • K
          kejianshi
          last edited by

          And - How much bandwidth up/down do you get with your FIOS service?

          I'd want to put the box with the SAMBA server higher than pfsense, as far as NAT goes.

          So, ONT > Switch > pfsense > DDWRT  machine with SAMBA.  (Thats logical order - physical order will appear to have pfsense and DDWRT parallel since they would be on same switch, but they wouldn't be logically)

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          • D
            dalesd
            last edited by

            @kejianshi:

            And - How much bandwidth up/down do you get with your FIOS service?

            I'd want to put the box with the SAMBA server higher than pfsense, as far as NAT goes.

            So, ONT > Switch > pfsense > DDWRT  machine with SAMBA.  (Thats logical order - physical order will appear to have pfsense and DDWRT parallel since they would be on same switch, but they wouldn't be logically)

            It's a 50/25 (down/up) megabit connection, but speedtest.net has been clocking it at closer to 60/40.

            The VLAN switch allows me to make virtual LANS? So as long as I plug things into it, the switch makes them act like they're in whatever order I want. But I'm cheap, and that Cisco SG200-08 is $100.  Are there less expensive VLAN switches?

            And this is preferable to adding an ethernet card to the laptop because it may not be supported in OpenBSD?

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            • K
              kejianshi
              last edited by

              I got a Dell 24 port VLAN gigabit managed switch on ebay for $30.  So, yeah.  You can find em cheap.
              3COM is the actual maker… 
              I like mine alot.

              http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=3CRBSG2893&_sacat=0&_from=R40

              In the mean time, you can shop a 5 port VLAN switch - 5 is probably all you need.
              As for the card, I can't vouch for its drivers.  Hard to know.

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              • N
                NOYB
                last edited by

                Yup your getting (the VLAN thing).  Here's the wiki if you care.
                http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_LAN

                I also have one of these which last I saw Newegg had for $79:
                NetGear GS108T

                But I do like the Cisco SG200-08 better though.

                You're going to have to spend some money either way (second NIC vs. VLAN switch).

                If you can track down the nic chip set, one of the pfSense gurus could probably give a thumbs up or down on driver support.  Otherwise it's a roll of the dice.  When spending money it is typically advisable to go with the known.

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                • N
                  NOYB
                  last edited by

                  Will the VPN provider guarantee 60/30 Mbit level of service?

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                  • N
                    NOYB
                    last edited by

                    A couple of the feedbacks indicate that this one works with pfSense.
                    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839158038

                    So if you're set on going the dual NIC route this one is probably more  likely to have driver support.

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                    • D
                      dalesd
                      last edited by

                      @NOYB:

                      Will the VPN provider guarantee 60/30 Mbit level of service?

                      Here's what I'm getting now on APOVPN.com  This is with the VPN client running on my deskto computer (xubuntu 12.04)

                      "Guarantee" is a strong word, but they can certainly support the speed.

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                      • D
                        dalesd
                        last edited by

                        @NOYB:

                        A couple of the feedbacks indicate that this one works with pfSense.
                        http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839158038

                        So if you're set on going the dual NIC route this one is probably more  likely to have driver support.

                        Great find!  Another feedback says it's a Realtek RTL8111/8168B:

                        sudo lspci -vvv
                        Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)

                        I looked through the hardware compatibility list, but didn't see that.  Maybe I'm reading it wrong, because at least two Newegg reviewers are using it.

                        As I was falling asleep last night, I remembered that DD-WRT can do VLANs.

                        I need to do more homework on this, but here's my plan:

                        Use the DD-WRT router as the VLAN switch as mentioned above.
                        I'll also buy the ExpressCard Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter Card.
                        If the VLAN thing on DD-WRT doesn't work out, I can make the pfsense box the gateway. 
                        If it does work out, I'll at least have upgraded the old laptop to Gigabit speed.

                        I'm assuming the on-board 10/100 NIC in the laptop can't really handle 60 megabits.  I guess I'll find out.  :)

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                        • K
                          kejianshi
                          last edited by

                          I don't think DDWRT will give you VLAN tagging.  I'm pretty sure it only handles creating untagged VLANS, which means it will not help you if your laptop only has 1 port.

                          So, you will either need that NIC card (which is looking pretty good) or a true managed VLAN switch.

                          (If I am wrong about the VLAN tagging, anyone feel free to correct me)

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                          • D
                            doktornotor Banned
                            last edited by

                            Well it does VLAN tagging, provided it's not broken on particular hardware. :D

                            http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/VLAN_Bridging_WAN_and_a_LAN_port#802.1q_VLAN_trunk

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                            • K
                              kejianshi
                              last edited by

                              My thinking (or pehaps misunderstanding) was that the VLANS exist within DDWRT such that you can do things like making dual WANs that are isolated or created Isolated LANs but that DDWRT didn't actually tag VLANs such that you could have say VLAN 20 and VLAN 30 ride on a single port of DDWRT.

                              However, I'm used to being wrong, so if I am, it will be no great surprise.  Happens alot.
                              If It will work just fine that way, I've wasted some money buying another switch.

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                              • K
                                kejianshi
                                last edited by

                                OK - I see the source of my confusion now…  Not all DDWRT routers support tagging of trunks.

                                The ones that do are listed here in the 802.1q VLAN's column:

                                http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/VLAN_Support

                                Also, "I'm assuming the on-board 10/100 NIC in the laptop can't really handle 60 megabits." - I'd bet that it can.

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                                • stephenw10S
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  Yes, interesting isn't it. Fundamentally almost all SOHO routers use a VLAN capable switch chip internally. To get them talking VLANs externally should be a software exercise only but it's often not that straight forward. This also has implications for their throughput. Usually at least one port is directly connected to the CPU and all the others are in fact switch ports. The best throughput can be obtained using only one switch port.

                                  Steve

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                                  • K
                                    kejianshi
                                    last edited by

                                    Actually - It was you who mentioned this to someone else earlier (much earlier) and got me to take at look at that.  Before that, I was considering trying to use DDWRT for VLAN, but then decided its probably a pain and perhaps not great solution.

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