Hello everyone. I wanted to ask you all for some advice/recommendations. I am moving into a new home and will be tearing down my current homelab and migrating it to the new house. There’re a few things I am looking to see if I can change/modify, and I also must buy a new 24 port full poe switch as well as new Access points.
· For the access points, I was going to get 2 Unifi Wi-Fi 7 Pro Max AP’s. Is the 4x4 5ghz MIMO worth it or should I save the $100 for the regular pros? I also will need a new cloud key to manage them as well.
· I will need a 24-port switch that supports full poe and has some multigig (10G down to 1G) ports as well. I was looking at Unifi here too, but their 24/48 port switch models are expensive so not sure if there are other options out there that people like. Maybe Mikrotik?
· My current core switch is a Cisco Nexus C3064PQ. It has been great, and I have had no issues, but I am trying to see if there are any other options for a multi SFP+ (like 24+) switch that can do vlan routing that’s not as bulky/loud. Anything out there that supports stacking that doesn’t cost a ridiculous amount? Stacking is not required I am just curious if there are options.
· I am currently running Sophos XG Home on a Supermicro Appliance/Server (Intel E3 Quad Core, 16gb ram). This has worked well for me on a Gigabit connection. My ISP in this home will be Verizon FIOS Business Internet. I did this because they gave me 5 Static Public IP’s. It is a Gigabit connection but will probably upgrade to 2 Gig in a couple months when available. I don’t think Sophos XG will be able to do this since it has hardware restrictions. Any other Next Gen options for Homelab? I know people love pfSense and I have used it and liked it as well but for next gen it was just too cumbersome dealing with all the plugins. I was considering OPNSense with Zenarmor as I have a couple friends who use that and like it. Also, does anyone have hardware they like for Firewall appliance that is 1U and options for higher than gigabit.
I am starting to research this all now, so I am ready when I must migrate everything. I may not do all of this at once. In fact, the only required things I must do are the AP’s, cloudkey (if needed), and access switch. I appreciate any recommendations/advice. Thank you.