For a while I have been planning to switch from an all-in-one wifi router to having separate devices because that way they can be upgraded piece by piece instead of having to replace the whole thing.

I am confused about the role of the firewall.

If I have a router running OpenWRT, does it have a firewall included? Either by default or by installing certain packages?

Or is it required to have a separate firewall running opnsense/pfsense?

If not required, what would be the benefits that would lean in favour of separate firewall?

use case: small home network 2-3 users. some internal self hosting and maybe one day external self hosting.

ETA: The best internet I could subscribe to where I’m at is 1024 Mbps down, 50 Mbps up. So don’t worry about wasting fibre speeds. :(

My assembled components so far are: router, WAPs, switches, ethernet cable and cable modem.

Thanks for any advice.

  • imaradioOPEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I run a single Mikrotik as my main router and firewall.

    Cool! I also have a mikrotik. I flashed over the stock firmware in favour of openwrt which I have some experience with. And is free software.

    Don’t make it any more complex than you need to unless you just want to see if you can.

    I do not. I don’t really enjoy networking stuff tbh. I am willing to do it because I think in the end I will be happier with the result. It’s like going to the gym though.

    A lot of forum posts are from people who are motivated by the learning value or by making small optimizations. I just want “good enough”.

    Is there any specific information about setting up the openwrt firewall that you’d recommend? Or is it literally included in the default install?