Hardware recommendation for homeuse
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A laptop is an option, just make sure the fans work and take some time to clean it from internal dust.
Laptops weren't designed to be always on devices, however without high load and descent cooling it will do the job.
Forget about the usb lan interface. Shaky and unstable in general for what you are trying to do
Get a cheap managed 5 port switch. It will give you 4 lans at gigabit speed with mininal power requirements and far greater stability. -
@netblues thanks for the tips!
edit: does the switch sit between the router and modem? if not don't i need 2 ethernet ports for modem > router > switch?
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What router?
If you go for a pf solution, then most probably you will eliminate the router completely.
Why do double nat to begin with?
pf most probably will be doing a pppoe call to your isp
But there are other options too, please provide more info.
In any case pf being a network box will be taking ethernet either natively or ppp over ethernet. -
Sorry where I said router i meant pfsense (laptop with one Ethernet).
Ok so currently I'm connected:- cable modem -> Asus RT-AC68u -> LAN
I figured I would need a usb ethernet to do:
- cable modem -> pfsense -> Asus RT-AC68u -> LAN
With the ASUS just acting as an AP.
You mentioned getting a switch instead of usb ethernet adapter. Since there would only be 1 ethernet port on the pfsense laptop both In(WAN) and Out(LAN) would be over the same cable so I would need some kind of tagging with the switch between the modem and pfsense. Right?
- cable modem -> switch -> pfsense -> back to the switch -> Asus RT-AC68u -> LAN
If this isn't what you meant I apologize as I am quite new to the networking side of things. Ultimately the reason for switching to pfsense was because my ASUS router couldn't handle the OVPN connection. The laptop was because I didn't really have much budget and since it is a home network I don't need 100% up-time guaranteed a reboot every so often is fine.
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If you're lokking for something at around £150, maybe consider something like this:
https://goo.gl/uDhESU
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@no_jah said in Hardware recommendation for homeuse:
If you're lokking for something at around £150, maybe consider something like this:
https://goo.gl/uDhESU
Well this is much more robust and straight forward, however I doubt it will be 150 quid with 2 gigs and an ssd.
The op has already a laptop if I recall ¨) -
If you select 2gig ram 32ssd, and Q370Y4 bundle you will land at $215, wich is about £168 plus shipping
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@brett-tech said in Hardware recommendation for homeuse:
Sorry where I said router i meant pfsense (laptop with one Ethernet).
Ok so currently I'm connected:- cable modem -> Asus RT-AC68u -> LAN
I figured I would need a usb ethernet to do:
- cable modem -> pfsense -> Asus RT-AC68u -> LAN
With the ASUS just acting as an AP.
You mentioned getting a switch instead of usb ethernet adapter. Since there would only be 1 ethernet port on the pfsense laptop both In(WAN) and Out(LAN) would be over the same cable so I would need some kind of tagging with the switch between the modem and pfsense. Right?
- cable modem -> switch -> pfsense -> back to the switch -> Asus RT-AC68u -> LAN
If this isn't what you meant I apologize as I am quite new to the networking side of things. Ultimately the reason for switching to pfsense was because my ASUS router couldn't handle the OVPN connection. The laptop was because I didn't really have much budget and since it is a home network I don't need 100% up-time guaranteed a reboot every so often is fine.
The managed switch will give you 4 lan interfaces for pf, effectively quadrupling the 1 laptop port.
It is just that the 4 ports are sharing 2 gigabits of bandiwdth (one 1 one out since we are fullduplex)
More than enough, as long as you are not routing among your lans moving large files around. (e.g. movies).So one port will talk to the modem, and one to your lan.
The wifi is just a lan device.
Having said that, perhaps you want to separate the wifi, use a captive portal for guests etc.
You have two additional ports for that.
A managed switch sells for $30 more or less, and will give you the joy of hassling with vlans.
Not that difficult once you get a hold of it.
As a solution is very robust and reliable. -
@no_jah Indeed. And there is a possibility it will also incur some customs fees, lets say another 40 quid?
So we are not looking at 150.
Moreover, the laptop has a screen and a ups.
For an office not really importantFor a home, it another story
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I also try to play around with laptop, and four usb nics trought usb 2.0 hub, it's working but no prformance at all, better deal with vlans and managed switch can handle gigabit port of laptop on board and or additional PCI express 34 network card for WAN side is a must for psycally isolate network, like this: Link:
and of course laptop must to have pci express card 34 slot too.Anyway my first choiche for home office pfSense router is APU box , look great piece of hardware for my customers :D duh.
Goodbye
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Thanks for the replies, pretty sure I understand what is going on now. Do you have an example of a managed switch I could reference when looking for something similar?
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@brett-tech
D-LINK DGS-1100-08. Retails at 32 euros, with 8 ports. A bargain.
What you are looking is 802.1Q feature. -
How many ports do you need?
I can recommens Netgear smart switches, I have one GS724T v4 (24 ports), and a couple of GS108T v2 (8 ports) -
Great thanks for the help guys! Definitely don't need anything too heavy duty 8 ports is plenty. If in the future I get more into the networking side of things or my needs change I can upgrade then.
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@brett-tech I advice you to avoid tp-link SG xxxE series at all, they do not handle vlans propely, I have some v2.0 hardware and its gets packets errors with only one vlan trunk setup.. too bad. (If the newer hardware revision/firmware fixed this issue, I don't know lol)
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So the v3 hardware of those did have a firmeware update that was suppose to fix their utter lack of vlans.. Finally!!! But I do not have v3 hardware to test with only v2... But yeah in general I would stay away from that tplink line of cheap smart switches.
Not love for the v2 hardware last time I checked which was maybe a month ago..
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@Babiz Good to know, thanks for the warning. The D-LINK recommended above looks to be very good value compared to the others I'm seeing (about 1/3rd cheaper). Would I need PoE for anything?
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Probably not. Not unless you have devices that require PoE, typically wifi access points or VoIP phones.
Even then they can usually be powered locally as an alternative.Steve
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Yeah is enough trowing 30 bucks. for...
I'm think about five years of life (EoF cycle) of this devices) ... or more?! Many factors get in playng for a good evalution. 
Much time too
For my customers. I install just ubiquiti everywhere to all, for my home I go trought with some crappy and cheap devices, haha!
I tell you @Brett-Tech . my tl-wa501n is indisctructible over years and years of streaming packets, absolute amazing if you think it. -
@stephenw10 @Babiz Thanks for your input. As you said I don't have anything without it's own power adapter nor do I foresee getting one in the near future.
