General Questions (Switch, WAN, LAN)
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I was also thinking, would it be a wise idea to use my existing router as the wireless instead of buying a pre-existing wireless card? If so is there a tutorial on how this would be done?
The forum has many instances of pfSense users doing this.
As far as a tutorial, it depends somewhat on your wireless router.
The general concept is to disable DHCP in the WAP and connect it to pfSense on your LAN Nic (or a Nic dedicated to your wireless subnet).
You'll want it to have and IP address for the subnet it's on (either hard coded or via DHCP - as your device allows)
You also want to turn off the "router mode" of the WAP as well, if it has a dedicated WAP mode that's often the best choice.The use of a WAP lets you place the device at the point in your house where it does the most good as opposed to forcing it to live near your ISP connection.
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Thank you very much! I heard of something like this so I'm a little bit familiar. I have another router, should I use that as a modem or buy one?
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Where I'm from we normally get our modem with our internet service - provided by your ISP.
Usually you don't want more than one router in your setup, it can definitely lead to headaches.
Not sure what your situation is…..
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Yeah I've noticed that, I was thinking I could use my Actiontec Wi424r as a bridge to my router, and my D-Link dir-655 as the access point, and disable the routing function of them both until I can afford an actual access point.
Is that a bad idea or will it work until I can replace them?
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Alright I'll ask Verizon about that, so I think I might hold off on going to a garage sale and getting a cheap $20-30 granny computer and I might use my current old computer I built a few years back.
But I have another question, people said I should get a managed switch. Is this for VLANS?
Because I just plan on connecting my computers and my NAS to my switch, is this necessary for managed?
Also can it go
Modem - > Switch - > Router - > Switch outputs ethernet to my computers, is that okay?
Or
Modem - > Router Intergraded LAN - > Router Intel NIC - > Switch - > Switch outputs ethernet to my computers
Thanks! I'm currently all thrown around since there's not a lot of posts (or ones that I understand too clearly) for pfSense.
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…I should get a managed switch. Is this for VLANS?
Mostly, yes. And VLANs can be your replacement for multiple separate interfaces of your pfSense.
Because I just plan on connecting my computers and my NAS to my switch, is this necessary for managed?
Modem - > Switch - > Router - > Switch outputs ethernet to my computers, is that okay?On your (currently planned) setup a managed switch is not necessary.
Do you need the switch between your modem and the router? Usually they can be connected directly. -
Alright so I don't really need the managed switch? It's a very basic setup, just a way to give my family better wifi and play with pfSense.
Also that plan can work with the modem into switch? If not that's fine, I plan on buying that Intel NIC anyways, I thought I could hook the modem directly into my router with the intergraded lan then output it with the Intel Nic, or is there something wrong with that?
Thanks!
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As I wrote earlier, a managed switch can help you down the road (if you want to separate LAN/WLAN or WLAN/Guest or what have you). It is not mandatory.
An unmanaged switch cannot be upgraded to managed when throwing $15 at it.Nothing wrong with your setup.
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Alright I'll grab an unmanaged switch at first since so far any feature listed doesn't seem like something I'd do, if I need it I can sell my current switch and I'd buy it.
I don't know if I have any more questions, I'm trying to save every buck I can right now to buy a nice AP. I'll be using my current old router as an AP until I can buy something better.
If there's anything else I should know please tell me, because I'm pretty new and only have seen a few videos about pfSense and browsed the forums.
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Last minute, should I get the Intel EXPI9301CTBLK or the TP-LINK TG-3468?
I don't know what else the Intel NIC offers over the TP-Link and it's last minute buying, they're both compatible but I'm just worried that it might not work or function to it's fullest potential.
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get the intel
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I already bought the Intel, I didn't want to risk it. I can't find any topics on it over other NICS, is it just the support?
