pfSense with Avahi and Apple Devices
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Will pfSense with Avahi allow Apple devices and services to work well if I split devices across subnets?
We have iPhones, Apple TVs, and one or two HomeKit devices. I know these are using Bonjour / mDNS. It is not clear from searching the forums if this setup will work well or if it will be a headache. I have seen a mix of experiences but many posts are older.
I am trying to decide how to layout our network before the Netgate box arrives and I replace our older router. I would prefer to put the wired and wireless devices on different subnets but if that is going to result in issues I cannot fix then I would reconsider it. Most of the clients are wireless so it may only impact one or two wired laptops anyway. The Netgate router, UniFi AP, and UniFi switch all support VLANs so the only issue I can see is if there are issues with the multicasting.
Thanks,
Kevin -
Yes, Avahi should allow services to be 'discoverable' across subnets. You still need firewall rules to allow the resulting traffic. Some things just aren't ever expected to be in separate subnets and will object! YMMV
I would certainly try to use separate subnets first if you can. Combining them afterwards if it's really required is much easier. It probably won't be.Steve
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@stephenw10 Thanks, when I get the Netgate box I will try it.
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What I can say, while I am not a "fan" of breaking the L2 barrier with such discovery. There have been some recent mdns questions.
And easy way for me to test that mdns via avahi is working is just my iphone using airprint. Which printer and client are being on different vlans.
Can tell you it works - I setup avahi, my iphone can discovery and print to the printer.. If I also allow communication on the vlan to actually talk to the printer. As @stephenw10 mentions.
