[ale] Desirable networking equipment nowadays

Discussion:

Ken Cochran

2017-09-21 02:38:30 UTC

Hey ALE I could use some advice/pointers for some networking stuff.

I need to set-up/update networking at a home & a small office.

Probably need something like an 8-port switch for the house
along with wifi.

Office doesn't need but a coupla ports + wifi.

I've had good luck over the years with Asus, a RT-N16 running DD-WRT
and a RT-AC68P. Both got lightning-toasted sometime back & I picked
up another RT-AC68P.

I was thinking of another couple of the 68Ps but recently there
was nice discussion here of Ubiquiti gear; maybe I should
be looking more into that? Asus works nicely with DD-WRT,
etc. & according to DD-WRT's hardware list, so does Ubiquiti.
(Don't know how appropriate though I guess.)

With Ubiquiti, it looks like they separate the various
components, so I'd guess that per location I need a gateway,
a switch and a couple of those hockey-puck wifi transceivers(?)
No need for rack mounting.

Thoughts?

Thanks, -k
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James Sumners

2017-09-21 02:53:28 UTC

Permalink

I very recently moved to using a Ubiquity 8 port switch (4 non-PoE, 4 PoE)
with an AC-PRO access point. My router is a little mini-ITX Celeron system
I built that runs pfSense. This combination has been fantastic. I'm able to
segregate IoT stuff from the rest of my network with a vlan and clamp it's
allowed bandwidth. And once I got everything going, I haven't even had to
think about the management software. I _might_ get the management dongle
just for ease of use at some point, but it's definitely not high on my
priority list.

From everything I have researched, I would not recommend the gateway piece.
Stick with pfSense. You'll have way more flexibility.

Post by Ken Cochran
Hey ALE I could use some advice/pointers for some networking stuff.
I need to set-up/update networking at a home & a small office.
Probably need something like an 8-port switch for the house
along with wifi.
Office doesn't need but a coupla ports + wifi.
I've had good luck over the years with Asus, a RT-N16 running DD-WRT
and a RT-AC68P. Both got lightning-toasted sometime back & I picked
up another RT-AC68P.
I was thinking of another couple of the 68Ps but recently there
was nice discussion here of Ubiquiti gear; maybe I should
be looking more into that? Asus works nicely with DD-WRT,
etc. & according to DD-WRT's hardware list, so does Ubiquiti.
(Don't know how appropriate though I guess.)
With Ubiquiti, it looks like they separate the various
components, so I'd guess that per location I need a gateway,
a switch and a couple of those hockey-puck wifi transceivers(?)
No need for rack mounting.
Thoughts?
Thanks, -k
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--
James Sumners
http://james.sumners.info/ (technical profile)
http://jrfom.com/ (personal site)
http://haplo.bandcamp.com/ (music)

DJ-Pfulio

2017-09-21 09:05:11 UTC

Permalink

+1 for this type of setup. pfSense is dead easy to maintain. OpenSense
is a fork. I've never tried it.

Avoid consumer wifi-routers. The firmware just isn't updated often
enough - even dd-wrt/openwrt/tomato aren't.

BTW, Ubiquiti WAPs aren't "hockey puck" sized. More like a small frisby. ;)

I use an old wifi router that cannot be trusted to be internet facing as
a Guest WAP internally. Always prefer wired over wifi. Always.

Post by James Sumners
I very recently moved to using a Ubiquity 8 port switch (4 non-PoE, 4
PoE) with an AC-PRO access point. My router is a little mini-ITX Celeron
system I built that runs pfSense. This combination has been fantastic.
I'm able to segregate IoT stuff from the rest of my network with a vlan
and clamp it's allowed bandwidth. And once I got everything going, I
haven't even had to think about the management software. I _might_ get
the management dongle just for ease of use at some point, but it's
definitely not high on my priority list.
From everything I have researched, I would not recommend the gateway
piece. Stick with pfSense. You'll have way more flexibility.
Hey ALE I could use some advice/pointers for some networking stuff.
I need to set-up/update networking at a home & a small office.
Probably need something like an 8-port switch for the house
along with wifi.
Office doesn't need but a coupla ports + wifi.
I've had good luck over the years with Asus, a RT-N16 running DD-WRT
and a RT-AC68P. Both got lightning-toasted sometime back & I picked
up another RT-AC68P.
I was thinking of another couple of the 68Ps but recently there
was nice discussion here of Ubiquiti gear; maybe I should
be looking more into that? Asus works nicely with DD-WRT,
etc. & according to DD-WRT's hardware list, so does Ubiquiti.
(Don't know how appropriate though I guess.)
With Ubiquiti, it looks like they separate the various
components, so I'd guess that per location I need a gateway,
a switch and a couple of those hockey-puck wifi transceivers(?)
No need for rack mounting.
Thoughts?
Thanks, -k
_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
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--
James Sumners
http://james.sumners.info/ (technical profile)
http://jrfom.com/ (personal site)
http://haplo.bandcamp.com/ (music)
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Got Linux? Used on smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, media
centers, and servers by kids, Moms, Dads, grandparents and IT
professionals.

Ken Cochran

2017-09-22 14:28:27 UTC

Permalink

I like the idea of separate pieces for the gateway/router,
the radio-frisbee :) & any switch(es). Means I can place &
replace hardware as necessary. I especially like the idea of
being able to run the likes of pfSense on it. Can I do that
with a Ubiquiti gateway? Maybe something else "better?"
(or cheaper, etc.) PfSense.org has their own hardware,
maybe that? Thanks for the pointers/ideas, -k

Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2017 05:05:11 -0400
Subject: Re: [ale] Desirable networking equipment nowadays
+1 for this type of setup. pfSense is dead easy to maintain.
OpenSense is a fork. I've never tried it.
Avoid consumer wifi-routers. The firmware just isn't updated
often enough - even dd-wrt/openwrt/tomato aren't.
BTW, Ubiquiti WAPs aren't "hockey puck" sized. More like a
small frisby. ;)
I use an old wifi router that cannot be trusted to be internet
facing as a Guest WAP internally. Always prefer wired over
wifi. Always.

--
Got Linux? Used on smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, media
centers, and servers by kids, Moms, Dads, grandparents and IT
professionals.
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Ale mailing list
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http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

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