Build your own router
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ArsTechnica has an article on building your own router and some of the reasons why you might want to do so. I am figuring I am preaching to the choir here but it is still an interesting read.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/01/numbers-dont-lie-its-time-to-build-your-own-router/
Carlos
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They're going a step further and advocating slapping it together using a bare OS and manual filter rules. Which can be great for those with the knowledge, though maintenance and making changes is … less than optimal. :-)
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Yeah, but the part I really liked is when he subjected them to something besides "max 1500 byte frame throughput tests." Its interesting to see how quickly even some of the very expensive consumer hardware begins to reach its limits. The discussion on the article is also very interesting. I am not finished with it yet, but there was a lot of "get an Edgerouter Lite and call it a day" type comments. He went on to explain that once you do anything beyond simple routing, even just port forwarding on an ERL, throughput drops down to around 300 Mbps. I am assuming that at that point the accelerated Cavium(?) co-processor is turned off and then the CPU has to do the heavy lifting. Very interesting.
Carlos
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They're going a step further and advocating slapping it together using a bare OS and manual filter rules. Which can be great for those with the knowledge, though maintenance and making changes is … less than optimal. :-)
This was my first thought as well.
Those with the knowledge already know this, and those without would most likely prefer pfSense.Even as an arrogant "power-user", learning pfSense was much more of a challenge than I expected. Seeing these mainstream articles that advocate "you are a networking genius, so set up your own network from scratch" scare me.
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I ran my own that way for years before finding pfSense but honestly I'm not sure why anyone would choose to go that route in this day and age. Not unless they had a ton of spare time and felt they need absolute control at the lowest level. Sure, I could roll my own, but why would I? I have better things to do with the time I'd spend maintaining it. :-)
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For me, what these open-source solutions lack to absolutely replace my proprietary devices are open-source xDSL and WiFi devices/drivers.
Embarassingly, FreeBSD just recently began supporting 802.11n (no 802.11ac, right?) devices, and there are no non-proprietary VDSL(2) devices I am aware of, regardless of OS choice.
When the only semi-open-source choice is 3 devices (VDSL2 bonded modem, router, and WiFi) compared to the single device my ISP gives me, the mainstream choice is obvious, since I think the majority of internet users still use either a cable or xDSL modem.
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I don't know about you but I do not want anything I care about connected to my phone line or cable line directly. I have seen far too many things fried in my day. Leave that for cheap DSL and cable gear.
I let the modems be modems, firewalls be firewalls, and access points be access points. Device convergence isn't all it's cracked up to be, IMO.
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I don't know about you but I do not want anything I care about connected to my phone line or cable line directly. I have seen far too many things fried in my day. Leave that for cheap DSL and cable gear.
I let the modems be modems, firewalls be firewalls, and access points be access points. Device convergence isn't all it's cracked up to be, IMO.
I hadn't really considered that…
Consolidation is the future though, when feasible. As an average consumer, technology moves so fast the all 3 of those devices need to be upgraded every ~5 years, and replacing 3 devices is not exactly cheap.
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As an average consumer, technology moves so fast the all 3 of those devices need to be upgraded every ~5 years, and replacing 3 devices is not exactly cheap.
-my cable modem is included with the isp contract … you are not allowed/able to use anything else. They replace it when it breaks or if they move to a new tech.
-my pfsense router is running on a 13 year old 2.8ghz pentium 4 cpu , with 256mb of ram. It maxes out at around 300-380mbit/s of NAT (my isp only delivers 240mbit). It uses around 50watts idle (=99% of the time). I got it for free around 8yrs ago.
-my AP is a 5-6 year(802.11n) old $30 piece of crap, more then good enough for surfing.- when speed matters I use a wired connection. no matter what next-gen wireless tech you are using: it'll always be slower then a wire.
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As an average consumer, technology moves so fast the all 3 of those devices need to be upgraded every ~5 years, and replacing 3 devices is not exactly cheap.
-my cable modem is included with the isp contract … you are not allowed/able to use anything else. They replace it when it breaks or if they move to a new tech.
-my pfsense router is running on a 13 year old 2.8ghz pentium 4 cpu , with 256mb of ram. It maxes out at around 300-380mbit/s of NAT (my isp only delivers 240mbit). It uses around 50watts idle (=99% of the time). I got it for free around 8yrs ago.
-my AP is a 5-6 year(802.11n) old $30 piece of crap, more then good enough for surfing.- when speed matters I use a wired connection. no matter what next-gen wireless tech you are using: it'll always be slower then a wire.
Have you used that PC as a router for 13 years? A device's age and how often the device is replaced are two different things.
Heh, in the past year have used 3 different PCs for pfSense simply because I come across a (free) faster machine. Currently I am running a 2.8Ghz Pentium D with the biggest, loudest fan I have ever personally seen in a PC.
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I don't know about you but I do not want anything I care about connected to my phone line or cable line directly. I have seen far too many things fried in my day. Leave that for cheap DSL and cable gear.
I let the modems be modems, firewalls be firewalls, and access points be access points. Device convergence isn't all it's cracked up to be, IMO.
I hadn't really considered that…
Consolidation is the future though, when feasible. As an average consumer, technology moves so fast the all 3 of those devices need to be upgraded every ~5 years, and replacing 3 devices is not exactly cheap.
I wouldn't say you need to replace every device every 5 years. The fact is that while wireless standards are changing pretty much that quickly if not quicker, the rest of the network infrastructure is fairly static. As shown by some of the above posts, a router with gigabit ports more than 5 years old would still be quite capable of running the majority of broadband connections in America, unless you're lucky enough to have Fiber to the premises service at 1 Gigabit. The same with a gigabit home LAN, that's not going to need replacing any time soon, even if you have Gigabit internet. It's the wireless that's the issue, and in that case, it would probably be best to go with a separate access point that you can replace as needed.
SmallNetBuilder ran a series of articles which explains and discusses separating your infrastructure into its logical components:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basics/lanwan-basics/32056-how-to-improve-network-performance-part-1
I have taken that advice and have gone from an all in one infrastructure to something very similar to what they suggest: CenturyLink DSL modem bridged to my pSense box which then connects to an Ethernet switch. The switch in turn has an access point connected to it and an Ethernet over Powerline adapter as well as other devices. The combination of technologies has really worked well. And if I ever have to change ISPs it's just a simple change in pfSense. If I need better wireless I just replace the AP. My pfSense box should handle close to WAN gigabit in its current configuration although that's a far off dream as I am only getting 25 Mbit at the moment.
Carlos
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I have probably had my current ADSL modem for 10 years, but with my ISP offering 25/50/75/100Mbit I will need to find a new modem that supports VDSL2 bonding. It seems there are much less offerings for that particular DSL technology.
I guess technologies like DSL & WiFi(?) will be proprietary tech for the foreseeable future.
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As an average consumer, technology moves so fast the all 3 of those devices need to be upgraded every ~5 years, and replacing 3 devices is not exactly cheap.
-my cable modem is included with the isp contract … you are not allowed/able to use anything else. They replace it when it breaks or if they move to a new tech.
-my pfsense router is running on a 13 year old 2.8ghz pentium 4 cpu , with 256mb of ram. It maxes out at around 300-380mbit/s of NAT (my isp only delivers 240mbit). It uses around 50watts idle (=99% of the time). I got it for free around 8yrs ago.
-my AP is a 5-6 year(802.11n) old $30 piece of crap, more then good enough for surfing.- when speed matters I use a wired connection. no matter what next-gen wireless tech you are using: it'll always be slower then a wire.
Have you used that PC as a router for 13 years? A device's age and how often the device is replaced are two different things.
Heh, in the past year have used 3 different PCs for pfSense simply because I come across a (free) faster machine. Currently I am running a 2.8Ghz Pentium D with the biggest, loudest fan I have ever personally seen in a PC.
You might want to reconsider that Pentium D - you are probably drawing a continuous 100 Watts or more. If your electricity costs around the national average, that's over $100/year for electricity.
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As an average consumer, technology moves so fast the all 3 of those devices need to be upgraded every ~5 years, and replacing 3 devices is not exactly cheap.
-my cable modem is included with the isp contract … you are not allowed/able to use anything else. They replace it when it breaks or if they move to a new tech.
-my pfsense router is running on a 13 year old 2.8ghz pentium 4 cpu , with 256mb of ram. It maxes out at around 300-380mbit/s of NAT (my isp only delivers 240mbit). It uses around 50watts idle (=99% of the time). I got it for free around 8yrs ago.
-my AP is a 5-6 year(802.11n) old $30 piece of crap, more then good enough for surfing.- when speed matters I use a wired connection. no matter what next-gen wireless tech you are using: it'll always be slower then a wire.
Have you used that PC as a router for 13 years? A device's age and how often the device is replaced are two different things.
Heh, in the past year have used 3 different PCs for pfSense simply because I come across a (free) faster machine. Currently I am running a 2.8Ghz Pentium D with the biggest, loudest fan I have ever personally seen in a PC.
You might want to reconsider that Pentium D - you are probably drawing a continuous 100 Watts or more. If your electricity costs around the national average, that's over $100/year for electricity.
Yeah, I think that particular Pentium is one of the most power-hungry CPUs around. Once a better, more convenient PC falls into my lap the Pentium D will be replaced. It is the only spare PC I have with PCIE & SATA.
Somewhat ironically, it runs off a Compact Flash drive… ::)
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I have probably had my current ADSL modem for 10 years, but with my ISP offering 25/50/75/100Mbit I will need to find a new modem that supports VDSL2…
Consider DrayTek V-130 as one of the few configurables upto VDSL2, to front your pfSense.
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I don't know about you but I do not want anything I care about connected to my phone line or cable line directly. I have seen far too many things fried in my day. Leave that for cheap DSL and cable gear.
I let the modems be modems, firewalls be firewalls, and access points be access points. Device convergence isn't all it's cracked up to be, IMO.
I hadn't really considered that…
Consolidation is the future though, when feasible. As an average consumer, technology moves so fast the all 3 of those devices need to be upgraded every ~5 years, and replacing 3 devices is not exactly cheap.
I wouldn't say you need to replace every device every 5 years. The fact is that while wireless standards are changing pretty much that quickly if not quicker, the rest of the network infrastructure is fairly static. As shown by some of the above posts, a router with gigabit ports more than 5 years old would still be quite capable of running the majority of broadband connections in America, unless you're lucky enough to have Fiber to the premises service at 1 Gigabit. The same with a gigabit home LAN, that's not going to need replacing any time soon, even if you have Gigabit internet. It's the wireless that's the issue, and in that case, it would probably be best to go with a separate access point that you can replace as needed.
SmallNetBuilder ran a series of articles which explains and discusses separating your infrastructure into its logical components:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basics/lanwan-basics/32056-how-to-improve-network-performance-part-1
I have taken that advice and have gone from an all in one infrastructure to something very similar to what they suggest: CenturyLink DSL modem bridged to my pSense box which then connects to an Ethernet switch. The switch in turn has an access point connected to it and an Ethernet over Powerline adapter as well as other devices. The combination of technologies has really worked well. And if I ever have to change ISPs it's just a simple change in pfSense. If I need better wireless I just replace the AP. My pfSense box should handle close to WAN gigabit in its current configuration although that's a far off dream as I am only getting 25 Mbit at the moment.
Carlos
The author referred to consumer-grade routers as "kiddie pool" :)
I like a few articles on SmallNetbuilder but there's too much emphasis on wireless stuff.
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I don't know about you but I do not want anything I care about connected to my phone line or cable line directly. I have seen far too many things fried in my day. Leave that for cheap DSL and cable gear.
I let the modems be modems, firewalls be firewalls, and access points be access points. Device convergence isn't all it's cracked up to be, IMO.
You know I stumbled across a silly answer to this. Fiber media converters. Convert the cable or copper line to fiber then back to ethernet and boom, no conductor coming from the outside.
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ArsTechnica has an article on building your own router and some of the reasons why you might want to do so. I am figuring I am preaching to the choir here but it is still an interesting read.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/01/numbers-dont-lie-its-time-to-build-your-own-router/
Carlos
sounds cool. I wonder if it works like a normal router when I am done with it
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sounds cool. I wonder if it works like a normal router when I am done with it
No. It works better. 8)
