My firewall doesn’t have wireless, I have a separate system of access points to provide wifi coverage across my house. Little White/beige squares dotted throughout to propagate the wireless in a coordinated effort to allow clients to connect, backhauled through a PoE switch to the firewall.
Any box my ISP gives me gets put into bridged mode and stuffed in a closet with the rest of my hardware. I never see it.
I don’t like having network equipment out in the open, on shelves or whatever. All my aps are ceiling mounted and well out of the way, so they pose no more inconvenience than a smoke detector.
I have long since abandoned the consumer router industry. Most of it is borderline ewaste as far as I’m concerned. I don’t trust my ISP to provide a good combination modem/router to use so all of their stuff is restricted to bridged mode, so it acts as a modem only. I won’t fault anyone for not doing what I am, it’s usually not cheap, but bluntly, I haven’t had any significant problems with any of it since switching to this type of network, and I can upgrade any part at any time without throwing the whole thing away like you would have to for a consumer all-in-one wifi router. This path isn’t for the feint of heart. It’s much more difficult to manage when you need to, but when you get everything configured correctly, you basically can forget that it exists. The only down time I’ve had has been either power or ISP related. Obviously if the power is out, wifi doesn’t work. If the ISP is having trouble getting your connection out to the internet, then all the equipment on my end isn’t going to provide internet access, even if it’s working flawlessly.
I’ve taken great pains to ensure that I don’t need to look at, modify, or even think about my network or wifi very often or at all. It just works. It blends into the scenery and I don’t even see it most of the time.
The list of consumer products shipping with openwrt is pretty small.
Most consumers couldn’t care less about what their router is running for software, so most won’t even bother trying to find one or even get one that’s compatible.
It really is a shame.
For me though, I usually find that most of the hardware is lackluster at best. So I tend to use cast-off gear from enterprises. It’s older, but usually a lot faster, more capable and more reliable than anything you can buy from a shelf at your local retailer, and generally not much more expensive. It serves me well, and lasts a lot longer than anything I’ve bought at a computer store.
I’m using a business firewall from sonicwall, a Cisco catalyst 4948 switch as my core, and a Cisco catalyst 3750-X with PoE for my access switch. I have Cisco aeronet wireless, a WLC 2504 as the controller, and a set of AIR2802i access points, IIRC. I don’t think I’ve spent $2000 Canadian dollars for everything, and I don’t expect to have to replace anything for probably 10 years, unless I want something faster than 1Gbps for my computers. The main interlink between the core and my access switch is 10Gbps and I’m all set to aggregate that to 20Gbps. I don’t need the bandwidth right now, but I run a home lab which I wanted to have very fast access to. I haven’t yet, but the lab will be plugged directly into the 4948, effectively eliminating any bottleneck between it and my workstation, regardless of what other traffic is on the network, since they’re both using 1Gbps and I have faster connections between those systems at all points. Unless you hold out have the equivalent knowledge of a CCNA, or your seeking that knowledge, then something like what I have isn’t for you (and that’s most people), but it works well for me and I have the knowledge required to make it all work.
I still have a lot to do before I can put away my network engineering hat and call it good for the network, like running a lot of ethernet around my home, relocating a few access points to finish the WiFi, and repatch all my homelab systems into the 4948; among other things. If someone wants something like what I have but doesn’t want to earn a degree in network administration, I usually push them towards ubiquiti. It’s much simpler to administrate and offers many of the same benefits when using it. The only time that wouldn’t be my recommendation is on very fast internet connections, somewhere in excess of 5Gbps, because even the UDM Pro and UDM SE can’t really keep up with that velocity of traffic. They usually cap out around 6Gbps and only if the internet traffic is the only thing you’re doing. Going faster for a home network gets rather difficult with the current state of technology. It’s absolutely possible with a custom built opnsense or pfsense gateway, but then you need to deal with routing and switching that capacity and the situation gets difficult pretty quickly. Nearly nobody is even connected to an ISP who is offering that kind of speed right now, and even if they are, people generally won’t buy the top tier speed, so the people who find themselves in this situation are generally few and far between.
The thing I like about ubiquiti is that it scales down too. You can buy a UDR and get almost all the same benefits, then scale up as needed, adding a switch and access points when the built in equipment isn’t sufficient anymore. Replacing it with a USG or UDM if internet speed exceeds 1Gbps, or moving to a pfsense/opnsense router and adding a cloud key for the wireless/switching management for medium builds is also very good.
Ubiquiti is more expensive than what I do, but it is much easier for non-network specialist people to use.
To spend thousands on networking equipment you have higher needs then most home users, so it makes sense to use that enterprise gear. For most home users, it doesn’t
The UDR I would recommend for most homes, is a far better choice for the average user. Basically if you need less than 1Gbps, that’s the way to go. If you need more, look at either pfsense/opnsense hybrid with ubiquiti for switching and access points, or move up to the UDM pro if that’s what you want. Over 5Gbps internet, you basically need to do hybrid with several vendors, and going 10G+ for internet speeds, talk to a professional.
I am a professional, so I have crazy stuff compared to what I need. My internet is only 300mbps or so. As you can imagine, I can change nothing and go 1G+. I have some QoS rules and stuff I’d need to update, but all the equipment can handle much faster internet without trouble. My current issue (and frustration) is that I can’t get fiber here. If I put in a neighbor’s address from across the street, a local fiber provider offers 1G symmetrical service. I contacted them about this and they gave me some jabber about city permits and such. Meanwhile when I got my internet from the local cable provider, they shut down the street for 5 minutes and installed a cable from the utility post to my house, brand new for my install. I don’t know why they can’t do the same, and I don’t understand why they would have permits to install on one side of the road and not the other.
My issues aside, the choices really depend on each home and what it’s situation is. I would never pretend that people should do the same as I do.
I use a firewall, so none of these apply to me.
My firewall doesn’t have wireless, I have a separate system of access points to provide wifi coverage across my house. Little White/beige squares dotted throughout to propagate the wireless in a coordinated effort to allow clients to connect, backhauled through a PoE switch to the firewall.
Any box my ISP gives me gets put into bridged mode and stuffed in a closet with the rest of my hardware. I never see it.
I don’t like having network equipment out in the open, on shelves or whatever. All my aps are ceiling mounted and well out of the way, so they pose no more inconvenience than a smoke detector.
I have long since abandoned the consumer router industry. Most of it is borderline ewaste as far as I’m concerned. I don’t trust my ISP to provide a good combination modem/router to use so all of their stuff is restricted to bridged mode, so it acts as a modem only. I won’t fault anyone for not doing what I am, it’s usually not cheap, but bluntly, I haven’t had any significant problems with any of it since switching to this type of network, and I can upgrade any part at any time without throwing the whole thing away like you would have to for a consumer all-in-one wifi router. This path isn’t for the feint of heart. It’s much more difficult to manage when you need to, but when you get everything configured correctly, you basically can forget that it exists. The only down time I’ve had has been either power or ISP related. Obviously if the power is out, wifi doesn’t work. If the ISP is having trouble getting your connection out to the internet, then all the equipment on my end isn’t going to provide internet access, even if it’s working flawlessly.
I’ve taken great pains to ensure that I don’t need to look at, modify, or even think about my network or wifi very often or at all. It just works. It blends into the scenery and I don’t even see it most of the time.
Consumer routers are fine if they run openwrt
The list of consumer products shipping with openwrt is pretty small.
Most consumers couldn’t care less about what their router is running for software, so most won’t even bother trying to find one or even get one that’s compatible.
It really is a shame.
For me though, I usually find that most of the hardware is lackluster at best. So I tend to use cast-off gear from enterprises. It’s older, but usually a lot faster, more capable and more reliable than anything you can buy from a shelf at your local retailer, and generally not much more expensive. It serves me well, and lasts a lot longer than anything I’ve bought at a computer store.
I’m using a business firewall from sonicwall, a Cisco catalyst 4948 switch as my core, and a Cisco catalyst 3750-X with PoE for my access switch. I have Cisco aeronet wireless, a WLC 2504 as the controller, and a set of AIR2802i access points, IIRC. I don’t think I’ve spent $2000 Canadian dollars for everything, and I don’t expect to have to replace anything for probably 10 years, unless I want something faster than 1Gbps for my computers. The main interlink between the core and my access switch is 10Gbps and I’m all set to aggregate that to 20Gbps. I don’t need the bandwidth right now, but I run a home lab which I wanted to have very fast access to. I haven’t yet, but the lab will be plugged directly into the 4948, effectively eliminating any bottleneck between it and my workstation, regardless of what other traffic is on the network, since they’re both using 1Gbps and I have faster connections between those systems at all points. Unless you hold out have the equivalent knowledge of a CCNA, or your seeking that knowledge, then something like what I have isn’t for you (and that’s most people), but it works well for me and I have the knowledge required to make it all work.
I still have a lot to do before I can put away my network engineering hat and call it good for the network, like running a lot of ethernet around my home, relocating a few access points to finish the WiFi, and repatch all my homelab systems into the 4948; among other things. If someone wants something like what I have but doesn’t want to earn a degree in network administration, I usually push them towards ubiquiti. It’s much simpler to administrate and offers many of the same benefits when using it. The only time that wouldn’t be my recommendation is on very fast internet connections, somewhere in excess of 5Gbps, because even the UDM Pro and UDM SE can’t really keep up with that velocity of traffic. They usually cap out around 6Gbps and only if the internet traffic is the only thing you’re doing. Going faster for a home network gets rather difficult with the current state of technology. It’s absolutely possible with a custom built opnsense or pfsense gateway, but then you need to deal with routing and switching that capacity and the situation gets difficult pretty quickly. Nearly nobody is even connected to an ISP who is offering that kind of speed right now, and even if they are, people generally won’t buy the top tier speed, so the people who find themselves in this situation are generally few and far between.
The thing I like about ubiquiti is that it scales down too. You can buy a UDR and get almost all the same benefits, then scale up as needed, adding a switch and access points when the built in equipment isn’t sufficient anymore. Replacing it with a USG or UDM if internet speed exceeds 1Gbps, or moving to a pfsense/opnsense router and adding a cloud key for the wireless/switching management for medium builds is also very good.
Ubiquiti is more expensive than what I do, but it is much easier for non-network specialist people to use.
Sorry for the rant.
To spend thousands on networking equipment you have higher needs then most home users, so it makes sense to use that enterprise gear. For most home users, it doesn’t
Agreed.
The UDR I would recommend for most homes, is a far better choice for the average user. Basically if you need less than 1Gbps, that’s the way to go. If you need more, look at either pfsense/opnsense hybrid with ubiquiti for switching and access points, or move up to the UDM pro if that’s what you want. Over 5Gbps internet, you basically need to do hybrid with several vendors, and going 10G+ for internet speeds, talk to a professional.
I am a professional, so I have crazy stuff compared to what I need. My internet is only 300mbps or so. As you can imagine, I can change nothing and go 1G+. I have some QoS rules and stuff I’d need to update, but all the equipment can handle much faster internet without trouble. My current issue (and frustration) is that I can’t get fiber here. If I put in a neighbor’s address from across the street, a local fiber provider offers 1G symmetrical service. I contacted them about this and they gave me some jabber about city permits and such. Meanwhile when I got my internet from the local cable provider, they shut down the street for 5 minutes and installed a cable from the utility post to my house, brand new for my install. I don’t know why they can’t do the same, and I don’t understand why they would have permits to install on one side of the road and not the other.
My issues aside, the choices really depend on each home and what it’s situation is. I would never pretend that people should do the same as I do.
This is the way