I’m looking to replace my Asus router with something I can control & customize. I have a fair bit of experience with Linux, but not much with FreeBSD. I’d also like to learn more about networking, but don’t know much today.
I’ve seen write-ups on recommendations for hardware, but they tend to age quickly and I haven’t found anything reliable written in 2024.
Here is my main challenge - I need support for gigabit internet. My understanding is that purely from a routing & firewall perspective, a potato could do the job, but I’d also like to try running tools like zen armor. Part of my challenge is that since I’ve never run a router like this before, I’m not yet sure what all I would like the router to do.
I’ll also need to run a VPN for remote access, and 2.5 gbe ports would be ideal but not required (my modem has 2.5 gbe support, though my current speeds wouldn’t usually be much above gigabit).
I’m willing to risk overspending a bit to ensure the hardware I buy is capable of doing anything a pfsense box might be asked to do.
Maybe the answer is, “do more research and come back after you know what you need”, but I’m hoping you all can give me some general hardware recommendations given my vague requirements.
Specific mini PC recommendations are welcome, but I’m also interested in understanding what’s important for which features - which CPUs are recommended? Which ones should I avoid? If I’m running a bare metal installation, how much memory will I need? Etc.
The other option I have is to take my old i5-4460 and throw a dual port Intel networking card inside of it, and use that. That’s not ideal from a power perspective, but I’m also not sure if it is sufficiently powerful to handle the task.
These days, unless you are trying to go for a heavily virtualized server there is no point in a beefy server CPU in the home lab. Especially not something that is by 99% solved by hardware routing today.
@wertigon
Not sure how you came up with that but it’s less than ideal in several ways.
@iamamish Looking for a good Home lab router - #2 by diizzy is likely a good starting point without breaking the bank. If you want to play around with selfhosting 16Gb of RAM is highly recommended otherwise you’ll be fine with 8Gb or even less depending on what you want to run.
I’m just gonna say, as a for a router I have an i5-760 as it has AES and it is recommended to have.
Like anything will work as a router. Just need 2 network ports or one adapter.
I want to try OpenSense but pfSense also works. The beginning terminal setup is confusing when mapping what port is what. But after that all gui.
If you can like newer than ivybridge or something skylake or amd athlon(the new ones) are overkill but better than dozer(could be enough, I don’t know). You’d be set for life.
More seriously, I can only speak from where I stand; if you have a difference of opinion, please do share what you think is wrong. No ECC? CPU is OP? RAM is too much? This is critique that would benefit the OP, thread and the community at large. “You’re wrong btw” is not very helpful.
Also, if you want to go the other way around and just get a cheap router, this $75 router seems to support flashing open firmware onto it, but someone else is welcome to confirm
EDIT: No openfw support, my bad. Thanks @Shadowbane for confirming, there is probably another router available at a similar price point that does support this, but I don’t have the time to hunt one down. Seen 'em around though.
@wertigon I’m not too fond of TP-Link products. I tried one of their APs, and it didn’t work out for me. I replaced it with the Ubiquiti Unfi Wifi 6 AP (which you can not purchase new anymore), and the Unifi AP worked a lot better.
As of the last update, OpenWRT does not officially support the TP-Link Archer AX3200 (also known as Archer AX73 or Archer AX50). Official support means that the OpenWRT community has developed, tested, and confirmed a firmware version that works reliably with the router model. So if @iamamish is looking for open router software, he better not get a TP-Link Archer AX3200.
5600GT is already bundled with a cooler, it’s not very efficient if you want a home router (65W)
Realtek NICs are not recommened for network equipment and one slot really limits and also only Gbit instead of 2.5Gbit which TS asked for. Getting a 2.5Gbit (or faster) dual or quad port NIC from a somewhat reliable vendor is quite expensive
Why would you need 32Gb in a “home router”?
Memory doesn’t follow JEDEC specs, potential incompatibility and stability concerns
Linked Intel NIC uses ancient controller, not 2.5Gbe (again), likely recycled parts and/or fake ones
SSD is probably fine but I’d spend a few more bucks on a Crucial P3 Plus or something with known aftermarket support (firmware) and track record or another similar drive.
@iamamish
The Handbook is very good and there are plenty of templates available so you’ll likely be just fine with FreeBSD.
If you want more control over your Asus router, I would firmware flash it with ASUS-Merlin. But I must warn you: to access the new features, you must SSH into the ASUS router. There isn’t a GUI. Here is a Link to the Merlin Project’s webpage. In case you want to learn about it.
As you can see, you have gotten a lot of suggestions on hardware. Everyone is promoting their favorite networking system. That isn’t a bad thing; it is good to get different opinions. That is how you learn. Before I recommend any networking equipment, I would like to ask a few questions that will help me suggest the right equipment for your needs. I know the power consumption of the equipment is a concern, but we need to balance power consumption against what we need and would like to do.
First, do you have any ethernet cables inside your walls? I am asking this question to determine whether a WiFi system would be better for you.
Second, Do you have a rack, or do you have room for one? It doesn’t need to be a seven-foot rack like the one I have in my computer Lab. I ask this question to rule out any equipment that needs to be racked.
Third, do you live in a home or Apartment? I ask this because the rental property owner doesn’t like you making any modifications to the walls, ceilings, or floor.
What would be your top spending budget for all the networking equipment? You might be able to spend as little as a few hundred dollars or thousands.
Great questions, and thanks everyone for the feedback so far.
Ethernet in the wall - yes, I have an open bookshelf in my office with my current hardware (poor man’s approach to a rack). I run ethernet in my office, and then through the walls to the basement (home theater, music recording, etc.). I have not however run ethernet through the entire house, though I may at one point.
I don’t yet have a rack, but have considered getting one. I probably will at some point.
I live in a house
Spending budget for the router would be up to $500, but as long as I’m getting something in return for my money, I might be willing to spend more. So, budget is flexible.
Power consumption - I live in the US where power is relatively cheap. So I’m not too worried about power consumption but it is a factor I consider.
Re: Wifi, one thing I’m considering with a router is getting a few access points. Right now I have an all-in-one router/switch/AP.
WiFi connectivity across the house is decent but really suffers in the basement, so I’d probably have one access point in the basement (where I already have ethernet) and then another AP upstairs.
That’s an interesting video but I’m not sure how it relates to the problem I’m having. I can use my own networking equipment and indeed I already do. I’m just using an off the shelf router, and would prefer to roll my own.
@iamamish, do you need any more switches? When I started learning networking, I only had one device for the whole house (the ASUS RT-AX86U is still in service, and my ASUS router is doing two different jobs. The ASUS router provides internet for my Network lab and Internet and WiFI for the whole home except my Computer lab/ Network Lab.) So I purchased a Netgate appliance and a 16-port Unfi Layer 2 switch (the Unfi switches weren’t as capable then as they are now. The problem wasn’t the Hardware. It was the software). I discovered I needed a new switch (I ran out of switch ports). Since the software for the Unifi product line had finally caught up with the Hardware. I purchase a Dream Machine SE as my Layler 3 switch /Gateway. I also decided to buy a Unifi WIFI 6 AP. I must now ask whether we need to include a switch and an AP in your budget.
This isn’t anything new, the NXP hardware has been around for quite some time now (Ten64 etc) and to myknowledge there are still things left to do to take advantage of DPAA2 (hardware offload) on all OSes.
Something to keep in mind maybe that said, your i5-4460 option is a decent one in the same performance ballpark if you just want to play around with a softrouter to see if it’s for you - the only downside being the power draw of that older chip, but that’s offset by the cost of buying new, so eh
So i probably need to revamp my switch infrastructure. I have a couple of smaller switches in my office, and then a few more small ones in the basement. It would be nice to do some consolidation and also get some managed switches (right now, they’re all unmanaged).
Interesting, maybe that is the way to go then - maybe I’ll use the i5-4460 for now, and then if I like my own router I can migrate the install to a Beelink or something similar. That’s a good suggestion, thanks!
that said, your i5-4460 option is a decent one in the same performance ballpark if you just want to play around with a softrouter to see if it’s for you - the only downside being the power draw of that older chip, but that’s offset by the cost of buying new, so eh