Advice on USB 3.0 gigabit Ethernet or smart switch config wanted
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I have a spare laptop that has a couple of USB 3.0 ports. Amazon sells several different single port USB 3.0 gigabit Ethernet adapters and at least one dual port adapter.
Does PFSense support any of these? I don't want to spend money and later find out it was wasted. Thus, my request for advice first.
The connection would be Comcast 25/5 now and 50/10 or better later. Doubtful it will ever get any faster than 100 down. Light duty home use. Basically for fun and experimentation with ips, antivirus, and more, but it needs to be reliable enough to keep the household happy.
I'm currently building (parts on order) a mini itx pc with a fanless Supermicro j1900 celeron board for use as a PFSense router, but it can be put to another use if the laptop can do the job.
Edit: I just saw I can use a smart switch and designate 1 port for wan and 1 or more for lan. How do you do this? Please provide link. Thanks much.
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USB NICs are a frequent cause of headaches. Tend to be a mixture of slow and buggy.
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With a single-port pfSense, like an old laptop, with a smart switch, you would setup the smart switch like:
Port1: Tagged port VLAN 10 and 20
Port 2: Untagged port VLAN 10 - connect the WAN-side cable
Port 3 to X: Untagged ports VLAN 20 - LAN devicesA little bit of backgorund at https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/VLAN_Trunking
In pfSense you go to Interfaces - assign - and the VLAN tab to create VLANs on a real device.
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With a single-port pfSense, like an old laptop, with a smart switch, you would setup the smart switch like:
Port1: Tagged port VLAN 10 and 20
Port 2: Untagged port VLAN 10 - connect the WAN-side cable
Port 3 to X: Untagged ports VLAN 20 - LAN devicesA little bit of backgorund at https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/VLAN_Trunking
In pfSense you go to Interfaces - assign - and the VLAN tab to create VLANs on a real device.
Thank you. I copied the reply to a text file for reference. I'm building a mini itx router (parts arriving in a couple of days), but if this works, the laptop might do router duties and the new pc will become a htpc.
I've read about VLANS and understand them in an abstract way. I've never used one because my home network is rather simple in design. I have an old Netgear GS108 V1 smart switch I bought used on ebay about a year ago. I'll put it to use for this.
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If your looking for a budget managed switch, I can not say enough good things about the cisco sg300 line, 10 porter is under 200 with pretty much every enterprise feature you could ask for. Both cli, console cable and ssh/telnet and web gui interfaces. 2 of the 10 are combo ports if you wanted you could add a fiber sfp, etc. etc.
I have an older gs108t as well - its a kids toy compared to the sg300's
I would stay away from usb nics for use with your ateway device.. Use your laptop as something else, maybe a file server or something with big 3TB usb disk attached too it.. But as your router would not be on my lists of functions it could do.
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You can also look at TP-Link smart or easy smart switches. Low priced, but good quality.
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I have an older gs108t as well - its a kids toy compared to the sg300's
Not surprising as the price for a GS108T v2 is only 1/3 of the Cisco.
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If your looking for a budget managed switch, I can not say enough good things about the cisco sg300 line, 10 porter is under 200 with pretty much every enterprise feature you could ask for. Both cli, console cable and ssh/telnet and web gui interfaces. 2 of the 10 are combo ports if you wanted you could add a fiber sfp, etc. etc.
I have an older gs108t as well - its a kids toy compared to the sg300's
I would stay away from usb nics for use with your ateway device.. Use your laptop as something else, maybe a file server or something with big 3TB usb disk attached too it.. But as your router would not be on my lists of functions it could do.
Thanks for the advice on the usefulness of a laptop as a router. I have a spare 2.5" disk here. I might swap it in temporarily so I don't have to do a full restore if / when I go back to using it as a laptop. Agree it seems a little iffy. Lots of potential failure points in a non-standard application. In real life, this means explaining to family why the internet is down. I would have used it as a HTPC but some videos stutter too much on it (a6-1450, win8 pro, 8GB ram, standard hp drivers all around). The passmark score implies it should play pretty good, but the results are not so good. Even my Tegra-2 tablet plays better.
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You can also look at TP-Link smart or easy smart switches. Low priced, but good quality.
Thanks, I've been considering one anyway since the GS108 V1 is pretty old and the TP link is in my budget for a small network like mine.
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@jim1000:
Thanks, I've been considering one anyway since the GS108 V1 is pretty old and the TP link is in my budget for a small network like mine.
GS108T v2 is not as old (if that is a problem) and cost less.
I don't know anything about TP-Link models but when using a site for price comparisons at my market, TP-Link TL-SG2210P is the cheapest manageable TP-Link I find. It is more expensive than the Netgear GS108T v2, also when considering cost per port.
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@P3R:
@jim1000:
Thanks, I've been considering one anyway since the GS108 V1 is pretty old and the TP link is in my budget for a small network like mine.
GS108T v2 is not as old (if that is a problem) and cost less.
I don't know anything about TP-Link models but when using a site for price comparisons at my market, TP-Link TL-SG2210P is the cheapest manageable TP-Link I find. It is more expensive than the Netgear GS108T v2, also when considering cost per port.
Thanks. I saw that when shopping a while back. I noticed the reviews for the GS108 V2 were mixed. I always thought a switch was a switch (NOT including big enterprise wide work horses) and a bad review was not really possible since they were all pretty basic at that level, even if it's a managed switch. You were buying features when you went with more, I assumed, and a V2 had more features than a V1. I went with a used V1 for really cheap on eBay. It seems to work fine and reviews stated V1 was better than V2. I'm not trying to argue. I'm just curious about how a switch can generate enough passion to deserve a bad review.
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I have never used the GS108T v1, only several v2s (and a GS724T v3) and I think they work okay. Considering the price, I find them fantastic in home user applications. The user interface is slightly sluggish but since I only rarely change things after the initial setup, I don't really find that a problem.
I'm only arguing here because I think it's unfair to compare a GS108T technically against a product that is three times more expensive and using a dead product variant when comparing prices. Buy whatever you wish for whatever reasons you prefer.
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3x the cost? Where did you take math in school?
gs108tv2 99$
http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-Prosafe-Gs108Tv2-8-Port-Gigabit/dp/B003GOFIC295 at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0FU2Z71879&cm_re=gs108t--050-00P0-00002--Productsg300-10
$186 http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-SG300-10-10-port-Gigabit-SRW2008-K9-NA/dp/B0041ORN6U175$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833150087
185/99 = 1.86 or less than 2x the cost not 3x ;)
175/95 = 1.84
even at high price at amazon and low at newegg
193/95 = 2.03So not sure where you shopping but I don't see where it comes close to anywhere 3x..
You get 2 extra ports and WAY more features at under 200.. Freaking STEAL for the switch… But if looking the TP link line - this would be the closest thing to the sg300, TL-SG3210 and show it for $115 which would be a great price.. But it not really 10 ports unless you use sfp, the sg300 is 10 copper ports. But it does look like it can also do L3 like the sg300, which no the 108's can not doo.
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3x the cost? Where did you take math in school?
I'm sorry that my posts offended you to the point that you felt forced to questioning my education. ::)
In my market the leading site (prisjakt.nu) for price comparisons have the SG300-10 listed at a decent reseller for 2113 SEK and the GS108T v2 at 730 SEK.
I did round that difference up to 3 when in reality it was only 2.8945205479452054794520547945205. I'm once again sorry, this time for the inaccuracy in my previous posts.
gs108tv2 99$
http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-Prosafe-Gs108Tv2-8-Port-Gigabit/dp/B003GOFIC2US resellers is not really an option to many of us in the rest of the world. That is also the reason I'm not very familiar with the US bookstore but when I do a quick search, I find the GS108T v2 at $72.99.
sg300-10
$186 http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-SG300-10-10-port-Gigabit-SRW2008-K9-NA/dp/B0041ORN6UWhen I follow your link, the price right now is $193.95.
The least difference on your choice of resellers in your market seems to be 174.99/72.99=2,397451705713111385121249486231.
You get 2 extra ports…
Yes those 2 extra ports are absolutely vital if you need them, but then an 8-port switch was never an option anyway…
If more than 10 ports are necessary, then it looks to me like two GS108Ts still cost less than a SG300-10 and that will give you far more ports.
…it does look like it can also do L3 like the sg300, which no the 108's can not doo.
Given the application in this thread (basic VLAN capability for use with pfSense), I fail to see any benefit of L3 in the switch.
I'm a networking professional myself and high-end features are great fun to have also at home for us tech geeks but presenting a SG300-10 as a great budget alternative for this use only, is in my opinion ridiculous given the competition. If you instead had tried to sell the Cisco on it's technical merits rather than price, I would never have interfered.
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"When I follow your link, the price right now is $193.95."
Seems you have vision problems to go along with your lack of basic math ;) Did you look to the right where the other prices are given.. Clearly you don't shop on amazon much..
The dude asked for a switch.. I offered up what is VERY budget minded.. If you think <200 is expensive for that level of switch your nuts.. But then again you can not tell the difference between 2x and 3x of something ;) But maybe you were looking at it in euro vs $ or maybe quid?
Where was the point of this thread basic vlan support - the OP mentioned a smart switch. I offered up what what I would buy that is clearly a smart switch. Nowhere did he say a switch that was less than $100 US.. But if you going to jump on someone for their suggestion costing more - get the basic math right for gosh sake ;)
So lets take your example of 73 and 175 – in what school would that be 3x? ;)
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To hopefully save this thread from further abuse and personal attacks I'm leaving now.
@jim1000,
Good luck with your new switch, whatever it may be. -
@P3R:
To hopefully save this thread from further abuse and personal attacks I'm leaving now.
@jim1000,
Good luck with your new switch, whatever it may be.Thanks for your help with this.
See, even switches can get people upset and swinging at each other. Thanks for NAT and SPI, as it has undoubtedly saved lives. Regardless, thanks for the advice that managed to sneak past the need to slug it out on important issues like these.
A long time ago I thought about going out for a CCNA, but decided against it because I was too old to start a new career and it was overkill for just tinkering around the home network. Given that the CCNP has an entire exam on switches, I wonder how the tone would have changed if BGP or spanning tree issues got into the mix. Break out the weapons. Seriously, thanks for adding some light. My little V1 will do for now. Maybe I'll get another managed switch if I can find a good inexpensive used one on eBay or Amazon and it has decent reviews. Some of us have yet to build our first VLAN, even though we know, abstractly, what they are. I won't spend $200 - $300 just to split a signal.