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Need a router for home use (im terrible at networking)
DeadlyChemist
Member
in Help
hey,
first of all some info:
- i live in germany
- i rent (free) vodafone station (coax cable)
- i have a home server and adguard home on one of the vms
- i use netbird (not self hosted) for everything (pretty much)
- im bad at networking
anyways, i'd like a magic box i can plug my vodafone station one one end and all my devices (well, a switch) on the other end.
the box should allow me to set dns/dhcp, client adresses etc
(currently my network is /24 and im running out, also adguard does not work becuase ipv6 has crazy problems and you can't turn off shit in that vodafone shitation)
also im unsure how easy that is, but i'd like to install netbird on it, so the network could connect to all adresses that netbird can. so i basically don't need netbird on home devices anywhere.
i don't want anything that's another project...preferably easy gui kinda stuff
and no, i dont want fritzbox
Comments
If you've an old laptop or computer lying around with an ethernet port, slap an opnsense install on it and you'll have a dashboard that lets you do anything you want.
https://openwrt.org/
dont have a device with 2 ports, would need to buy something, does it matter, like minimum specs?
both look like hours of configuration to me
edit: opnsense looks easier, no alternative?
I run it in a bare minimum VPS inside an old i7 bare metal. If you already have a switch with VLAN support you just need one ethernet port and use vlan tagging at opnsense to use the same port for multiple physical ports in the switch. Obviously traffic will be limited to whatever port speed your system has
I guess lots of people are going to give you diy suggestions (I use plain debian on a hp t620+ myself, freebsd and openbsd in the past) but I'm paying attention in case anyone comes up with a really nifty (and cheap!) commercial solution. Getting lazy in my old age.
Flint 2 is a great option.
Openwrt one
i think i'll pick OPNsense
becuase openwrt looks like a project to me
any hardware that's reasonable price? if it has wifi, i'll take it, but not required... (i have a shitty TP link access point that well, does not work very well, but does not matter)
i really really dont want anothe project
i was thinking to even buy one from ubiquity, wont have netbird but buy and forget...
not bad but 150€ and openwrt = project
i really really hope OPNsense is easier
buy this
https://mikrotik.com/product/hap_ax3
Any device that works with OpenWRT is better.
I have a Mikrotik router I like (different model), but I wouldn't describe it as plug & play.
Most consumer routers are dumbed down to make them simple. But the problem is, when you actually want to configure stuff and customize it, and want something special, they fall short. If you want all that, then you need to do some extra work (like Mikrotik).
this looks like an AP? not a router? or do i flash it with something?
would need to buy something anyways, and i think OPNsense looks better/easier to me
opnsense is not easy if you are bad at networking
openwrt is indeed worse imo
maybe some second hand ubiquity ?
ubi new is like 100€
which would be fine (would buy used anyways) buuut no netbird (would be fine...) but yeah, might go with opnsense and maybe even pay someone $50 to set it up lol
>
run your vodafone station in bridge mode (if possible)
connect cat5 to hap3 eth1
hap3 becomes router/ap/does all the things you mention.
mikrotik software is very very powerful and if you don't want to fiddle with it it's also ok just a simple first setup process, plug and forget.
@DeadlyChemist check this out
https://bitgrounds.tech/posts/Vodafone_cable_internet_shenanigans_part_1/
No idea why people use OpenWRT, I use its main fork DD-WRT and it's all graphical UI via browser. It runs on a thousand or more router models and the cheapest compatible ones are 3€ shipped: https://www.vinted.it/items/7345098130-router-tp-link?referrer=catalog
I've been using this model for years as a range extender IPv4 bridge.
Definitely Flint 2. It has nice interface and openwrt has gone a longgg way since its inception. VPNs, routing, are a breeze. If you don't have multi-gig to home you can opt for travel models and add multi-gig switches later. I used to do it as well before upgrade to Flint 2. Flint 3 is not worth the investment at this moment.
OPNsense gonna be your full time job to keep it running. Don't get me wrong, I like a full pledge firewall as well but at home it's a chore whether it's pfSense or OPNsense!
yeah its bad and i might or might not live in hessen (i called and can enable bridge mode now)
will consider, unsure how it would work with netbird? (i assume it wont?)
but yeah, will see, thanks a lot!
will pass, i installed openwrt on one of my aps like a month ago and spent 2 weeks fixing it (i had to flash it using hardware....)
my network is 250? i think or 500, does not matter, does not go past 1g
my switches all are 2.5g/10g
you say OPNsense is more work than openwrt? i used openwrt and i hope to never use it again
opnsense is freebsd, which is definitely not easy to use. it's web UI is nice but i personally don't like "clickops" to configure. openwrt is busybox linux and has luci web but it's also possible to directly configure without the web ui and it's far from difficult. it has more options (in terms of devices it can run on), easy to configure and updated very frequently
been using Flint 2 without any issues, based on openwrt (comes preinstalled with adguard, wireguard/openvpn)
Yes. Since I did not came from IT background and learnt most of this through internet and lots of trial and errors, Luci is slightly easier to use than OPNsense.
Now, with GL.iNet interface on top I promise you wouldn't need to spend time in Luci at all. When I upgraded to Flint 2, I spent 30s total in Luci to swap WAN1&2 to 1G ports (I have mobile fail over) so that I can ultilize both 2.5G for LAN. GL.iNet did a great job with their web GUI.
so feels like GL.iNet GL-MT6000 Flint 2 is the solution
and if i have issues i annoy you all? (multiple people recommended it)
I jumped in to recommend you an TP-LINK ARCHER BE700 but then i have seen you have a coax internet so I will stop at TP-LINK ARCHER BE230 or an even cheaper Mercusys MR27BE, BE3600.
For Mercusys you have the option to go on their site and to use the emulator to see the router menu/function. This helps you to see the functions you can change/customize
i like opnsense but i'm growing an affinity for vyos
Ubiquiti Edge Router X. You can pick one up for about $50 on eBay. Has a decent amount of pro features, if you can live with 5 one gigabit ports.
No clue about availability in germany but I recommend some of the cheaper unifi devices (like express 7 or the fiber with an ap) or gl.inet devices but I've never used their home routers, only their travel routers are they're nice.