First time Pfsense build
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That is just dumb u need dig about 20$ more
Make that 13 se
D-Link 8-Port EasySmart Gigabit Ethernet Switch (DGS-1100-08)On amazon for 33$
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@johnpoz Fair enough...Thanks for the link! What is the added benefit? What features am I missing on the $20 version?
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@MaleSensitivity said in First time Pfsense build:
What is the added benefit?
The added benefit is you can make a better (more efficient) network - like segmenting different ports on the switch to virtual networks you create on the pfsense box, some you can turn on and off the switch ports, some you can aggregate (LAGG/LACP) together for more bandwidth or redundancy, some you can turn into a mirror port to snoop on or monitor network traffic, you can prevent STP errors when one end of a patch cable gets plugged into the same switch (that's a bad thing), and LOTS more configuration options.
http://www.bb-elec.com/Learning-Center/All-White-Papers/Ethernet/Top-benefits-of-utilizing-a-managed-Ethernet-switc.aspx
A simple (dumb) switch offers none of that, everything is on the same subnet and all ports are able to talk to all ports with little to no configuration. If none of that stuff above matters to you, go ahead and get the cheaper switch. But, these days, with all the different gear that's possible on a modern network, it's NOT a bad idea to instead get the smart/managed switches.
Jeff
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Yeah - if your going to buy a AP that can do vlans, and have pfsense that can do vlans... Only have a dumb switch defeats really the whole purpose of the firewall and AP that can do vlans.
Without the switch that can do vlans you might as well just stick with your off the shelf soho wifi router..
To be honest that they even sell dumb switches at all these days just rubs me the wrong way... Just sell the smart ones - users that have no use of any of the features can just use it as dumb which is how it comes out of the box, etc.
Buying a dumb switch today makes zero sense - they are couple of bucks more..
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@johnpoz That makes complete sense. Thank you for walking me through this!
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@MaleSensitivity said in First time Pfsense build:
I see a lot of good things listed about Ubiquiti AC Pro/Lite, but is it compatible or configurable with Pfsense?
Forgot to comment on this part, sorry.
Yes, totally 100% compatible. It's not "configurable" with pfsense, since pfsense is a firewall in this case. You have to configure the UniFi gear with a controller piece of software on your computer, a UniFi gateway/security box, or with their cloud controller they sell as extra.
I run 8 of these access points in our building, along with the controller, and they all work wonderfully, along side pfsense.
Jeff
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@akuma1x I’m amazed at the amount of YouTube videos there are describing those APs. I may opt to just dumb down my TP-Link and use that as my access point once I get comfortable with PFsense. I also probably won’t use the 7700K. I might just pick up a Athlon 200ge and throw a NIC at it and experiment for a while.
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To be honest if you have hardware sitting there, why not just play with it... If the box is over powered - use it as a VM host, and run some other stuff on it as well as pfsense.
I kind of miss the days when use to run pfsense on VM, since it was so easy to just play with snapsnots of dev versions - quick snapshot of the vm, and didn't have to worry about something going horrible wrong on upgrade, or F up in config, etc. Could always just rollback to last snapshot... I think in all the years I have been playing with pfsense that maybe happened twice.. And it was on some really early alpha snap, and not paying much attention to upgrade instructions, etc. etc. But it is kind of piece of mind sort of setup..
But now that on actual hardware (sg4860 at home) I love that I can reboot my nas and other vms and not loose internet ;) so trade off..
The unifi AP are great I have a LR, a Pro and a lite in my house.. I am really wanting to pull the trigger on nano HD model.. But hard to justify it to the budget committee (wife). heheheh
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@johnpoz All of these devices are making my head hurt
. There is so much to learn! I’m going to do exactly that. Thanks again for your help! -
So many devices? there is a router, a switch and AP... Do you mean there are so many options to choose from - and you don't know which one of the unifi AP models to get?
Comes down to budget and your clients really.. The AC lite prob a good starter AP and will give great performance..
Pro is 3x3 mimo, while the lite is only 2x2... But what clients are you using, how many.. If your clients can not do 3x3 and don't have that many clients then you really wont see much difference between lite and pro model.
