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    Building my lan: do I need a managed switch for my VLANs?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • JKnottJ
      JKnott @valepe69
      last edited by

      @valepe69

      First off, you have to decide what's going on the VLANs and then plan from there. For example, I use a VLAN for guest WiFi and the 2nd SSID connects via a VLAN. In offices, VLANs are often used for VoIP phones, etc..

      Then, once you've done that you have to ensure you use the same VLANs throughout, from pfsense to the switches, to whatever devcie, such as AP, etc..

      PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
      i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
      UniFi AC-Lite access point

      I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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      • bingo600B
        bingo600 @valepe69
        last edited by

        @valepe69
        How is it going , with the switch & Vlans

        If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

        pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

        QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
        CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
        LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

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        • V
          valepe69 @bingo600
          last edited by

          @bingo600 Sorry, I haven't do anything yet. My times are stretching sometimes due to four little kids

          bingo600B D 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • bingo600B
            bingo600 @valepe69
            last edited by

            @valepe69 said in Building my lan: do I need a managed switch for my VLANs?:

            @bingo600 Sorry, I haven't do anything yet. My times are stretching sometimes due to four little kids

            Whoaa
            Configuring a few Vlans should be easy, compared to 4 small kids
            Take care 😊

            /Bingo

            If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

            pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

            QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
            CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
            LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

            V 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • V
              valepe69 @bingo600
              last edited by

              @bingo600 yeah, I think so but some evenings I prefer the sofa to the pfSense box... 😁

              After VLANs, my next goal is to set the hairpin equivalent: DNS resolver (I read that I can't use forwarder because resolver is used by pfblockerng).

              Luckily holidays are coming...

              johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • johnpozJ
                johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @valepe69
                last edited by

                @valepe69 said in Building my lan: do I need a managed switch for my VLANs?:

                set the hairpin equivalent: DNS resolver

                huh? Resolver works and is the default out of box - there is nothing to do really. What do you mean by hairpin?

                An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                • V
                  valepe69 @johnpoz
                  last edited by

                  @johnpoz now I have an edgerouter. The hairpin Nat allows the clients to reach an internal server using the public domain.
                  I read that I should use DNS resolver to do that in pfSense. Am I right?

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                  • johnpozJ
                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @valepe69
                    last edited by

                    ah you mean nat reflection..

                    You can continue to do nat reflection if you want. But better solution is just split dns, ie a host override. This can be done with unbound or the forwarder.

                    BTW, while unbound resolves out of the box. If you really have your heart set on forwarding - unbound can be set to forward as well.

                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                    • V
                      valepe69 @johnpoz
                      last edited by

                      @johnpoz well, I went to Nat reflection due a edgeos constraint.
                      Which is the best solution in pfSense?

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                      • johnpozJ
                        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @valepe69
                        last edited by

                        Best solution is always split dns.. No matter what your using as your router.

                        How would it ever be optimal to hairpin any traffic? It gets you nothing.. The only time it makes sense as a work around to do nat reflection. Is when the client on the same network as the services is forced to use some external dns. Or for whatever reason the IP your trying to access is hardcoded in some app your using or something.

                        If what your trying to access is via a fqdn, and whatever it is accessing it is using your local dns - then split dns and pointing the client to the local IP vs the public is the better solution.

                        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                        • D
                          dstacey147 @valepe69
                          last edited by

                          @valepe69 Have a look at the Netgear GS350 Series of Smart Managed Pro switches. I've used the GS308T, GS310TP and the GS324T. All solid. And the price is right. I have some spare GS308T's (I consolidated several switches) if that's all you need and are interested.

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