I’m looking at upgrading/changing my networking and wondering what will be the best way to do it
Currently I have an Asus GT-AXE16000, this serves multiple WiFi devices, couple laptops, a desktop pc and media equipment/TV plus my “server”.
Server is based on a 5700g AM4 platform and runs 24/7, this serves jellyfin, shared storage/file backups, cctv camera storage and home assistant (proxmox based system)
Requirements
So going forward I’d like to have WiFi 7 but this isn’t needed asap. The desktop pc and server are currently connected by 10gb ethernet. Going forward I’d expect this to stay the same but maybe with the capacity to add another if needed.
So my question really is what would be the best and most cost effective way to get a decent networking system sorted that will do what I need it to now and also be future proof. I’m aware that routers generally don’t fully saturate 10gb ethernet (they hit 6.5ish) so I’d like to remove that bottleneck.
So my options as I see them are to use some sort of gateway that can protect my connection and use switches (with 10gb NICs) and a WiFi 7 router or I could go pfsense route and add NICs to my server and use that as main router and use a WiFi 7 router
Any help/advice greatly welcomed as I’m new to the in depth networking that is going to be required here…
@liamstears The first thing I would do is replace the factory firmware of your Asus GT-AXE 16000 with Asus Merlin. I would forget about WiFi 7. There aren’t any devices that support it, and there won’t be any devices untill 10 or 20 years from now. If you are in the market for a new switch for home use or pro consumer than I would recommend a new unfi switch. In my opinon this would be the most cost effective way to get decent networking system.
My advice is to build a true network stack and get away from all-in-one routers. If you want a truly future-proof network, you are going to want to invest in a good switch and access points at a minimum. Personally, I like TPLink and have invested in their ecosystem for such components but other good choices exist such as Ubiquiti. Also it is highly advisable to build your own router that runs something like PFSense or OPNSense. You could also buy a commercial version of such a device (but where is the fun in that).
I like a true network stack also. I did not suggest a true network stack because @liamstears did not mention how much money he could spend. So I assumed he did not want to spend any money or very little. Also I assumed @liamstears already had a switch. Personally for home use, I Prefer Ubiquiti ecosystem, for work, I PREFER PFsense + (Netgate appliance). Remember Netgate could at anytime decide to exclude features from Pfsense at is included in pfsense +. Pfsense + is not open source. When I hear TPlink I think of cheap product, all because of a bad experience with one of there WiFi extenders.
Amazon tells me that your Asus GT-AXE16000 is a $500 device with 2x10g ports, 1x2.5g, 4x1g ports, Wifi 6E (support for 2.4, 5, and 6GHz bands).
The connectivity provided should be plenty for quite a while for the use cases you described (two devices connected by cable via 10g NICs, the rest via wifi). What’s your ISP plan and connectivity like?
If you had an ISP plan promising >1gb speeds I am sure you’d cared to mention that. Even if you have an ISP plan that maxes out 2.5gb of your ASUS I am sure you won’t need it (=use it) for a while.
You may experience similarly to many here that the ASUS device is never located in the best spot to provide wifi coverage. You typically place it near to the spot where your ISP’s box is located, you want it at least centrally located in a spot (typically on a ceiling) where wifi coverage spreads furthest, maybe you even need more than one wifi access point (AP) to provide decent coverage (meaning your devices connect reliably and transmit at the promised/expected speeds).
Those are reasons to have different devices for the three different roles that your ASUS currently fulfills:
a router to manage the traffic between your house and the internet (filtering, monitoring, etc.)
a switch to connect cabled devices (maybe you want a POE switch that allows powering your cctv cameras)
one or more APs located strategically for optimal wifi coverage.
This is, I think, what @Shadowbane described as “decent networking system”, @TeamTux referred to with the TPLink Omada or Ubiquity systems.
You can start small and find that you can have a much more capable network system for less money than you spent on the ASUS device.
@Shadowbane TPLink does and has made some cheap products but their Omada product line is prosumer grade equipment that directly competes with Ubiquiti and of the two my preference is TPLink. However, neither system is perfect and each is uniquely better then the other in certain regards.
As for PFSense that is one of the reason I prefer OPNSense to PFSense. The recent licensing changes don’t make me happy.