13 ms·

The closest I've been able to get is to buy a Protectli box, replace the AMI with Coreboot that you can compile yourself, and install OPN/PFSense. It's still C

The closest I've been able to get is to buy a Protectli box, replace the AMI with Coreboot that you can compile yourself, and install OPN/PFSense. It's still Chinese hardware, but it's warrantied by Protectcli and you have control over the bits you can change. My first move out of the consumer "junk" was Ubiquiti EdgeRouters but their software quality declined a few years back, and my models got no more updates, then my main router died. My overkill i3 6-port Protectcli box has been running great ever since; first with pfSense now OPNSense; I'll only replace it when it dies or I want 10GbE routing.

dvdbloc 2y ago
What solution do you use for wireless access points? That’s generally my problem, you can find plenty of solid hardware to run pfSense on but as soon as you look at access points everything seems to be proprietary something or from questionable sources.
- alias_neo 2y ago
  I currently use a bunch of Unifi APs, not got full-house coverage yet, but I have key areas and run their management software on a Raspberry Pi. They've mostly been solid, and aren't too expensive. I did replace the one in the hall (on the ceiling) outside my living room recently though, upgrading it from an AP-AC-Pro to an U6-Pro and the range is significantly worse on the same WiFi spec, making the living room TV basically unusable for streaming, despite being flawless on the older AP. I'm going to try the newer U7 Pros and if that doesn't work out, I'll start looking at alternatives, but I suspect anything acceptable will be more expensive. I run ethernet almost everywhere so WiFi is just for our mobiles/laptops/tablets/IoT, but the TV in the living room currently has no easy way to get cables to so that AP is critical.
- toast0 2y ago
  Try to get something that runs OpenWRT (or can run it) and isn't like super tight on flash space. Although I'm having some issues with my latest batch of access points; I have a few clients that seem to have more trouble staying associated, and I was hoping to use 802.11r, k and v and DAWN, but I had to turn all of them off because too many subsets of the clients wouldn't work with some of those. I'm coming to the realization that mixed 2.4 ghz/5ghz access points aren't a great idea. If I wanted consistent 5 ghz coverage, I'd need a lot more access points, but I'd want to turn the 2.4ghz radios off on most of them because 2.4ghz goes too far.
- VTimofeenko 2y ago
  Ruckus is awesome. R710 and similar models are pretty cheap off-lease on ebay.
- ssl-3 2y ago
  I use Mikrotik access points at home. They're not the simplest to configure, but they aren't daunting to someone who has been futzing around with networking for awhile. I like that they allow me to implement whatever weird stuff I can dream up, and that I can generally implement that weird stuff all in the GUI. The hardware is relatively inexpensive and seems to be rather stable, the company is based in Latvia, and the manufacturing (or at least the board-stuffing and injection-molding) seems to primarily be done in Europe. Some of their stuff is pretty flexible about what kinds of PoE is can work with. All of the Mikrotik stuff I'm aware of runs their Linux-based RouterOS. This means they all get the same user interface -- the same for a "switch," for an "access point," and for a "router." I like that this blurs the lines between different device classes. For instance, my access points have two Ethernet ports on them, and two radios. I can use them as simple access points, or as routers, or as switches... or all of this at the same time. Whatever I want to do with them is fine: It's just a highly-configurable device with n hardware interfaces available on it. I could replace the separate switch and OpenWRT router that I have on a shelf in the basement with a singular Mikrotik switch that did both jobs if I wanted to. (I probably would not, and it probably would never make sense to do so, but their software allows me to do as many nonsensical things as I choose. That's a good thing.)
mikece 2y ago
How much of a difference does it make to use Coreboot rather than AMI? (I'm running OPNsense on a Protectli box currently...)
- alias_neo 2y ago
  It really depends. Coreboot is open source and you can review the code, it's also much lighter (though fewer things can be tweaked), vs AMI which we don't know/can't check what it contains. For me, wanting as much open source in the stack as possible, it gives me peace of mind, but it really depends on the individual. All I can really suggest, is to take a look at the Coreboot site[0] and see if it sounds like something you'd want. [0]https://www.coreboot.org/ https://www.coreboot.org/
Infernal 2y ago
FWIW I thought my EdgeRouter X died a few years back, power light would blink but wouldn't boot up - turned out to be a dying wall wart. Swapped it out for one I had lying around that happened to match voltage/current/connector and that was maybe 3 years ago.
radicality 2y ago
+1, I have basically the same setup. Protectli FW6 with Coreboot and opnsense. Been working solid for a few years now.

dvdbloc 2y ago

What solution do you use for wireless access points? That’s generally my problem, you can find plenty of solid hardware to run pfSense on but as soon as you look at access points everything seems to be proprietary something or from questionable sources.

alias_neo 2y ago
I currently use a bunch of Unifi APs, not got full-house coverage yet, but I have key areas and run their management software on a Raspberry Pi. They've mostly been solid, and aren't too expensive. I did replace the one in the hall (on the ceiling) outside my living room recently though, upgrading it from an AP-AC-Pro to an U6-Pro and the range is significantly worse on the same WiFi spec, making the living room TV basically unusable for streaming, despite being flawless on the older AP. I'm going to try the newer U7 Pros and if that doesn't work out, I'll start looking at alternatives, but I suspect anything acceptable will be more expensive. I run ethernet almost everywhere so WiFi is just for our mobiles/laptops/tablets/IoT, but the TV in the living room currently has no easy way to get cables to so that AP is critical.
toast0 2y ago
Try to get something that runs OpenWRT (or can run it) and isn't like super tight on flash space. Although I'm having some issues with my latest batch of access points; I have a few clients that seem to have more trouble staying associated, and I was hoping to use 802.11r, k and v and DAWN, but I had to turn all of them off because too many subsets of the clients wouldn't work with some of those. I'm coming to the realization that mixed 2.4 ghz/5ghz access points aren't a great idea. If I wanted consistent 5 ghz coverage, I'd need a lot more access points, but I'd want to turn the 2.4ghz radios off on most of them because 2.4ghz goes too far.
VTimofeenko 2y ago
Ruckus is awesome. R710 and similar models are pretty cheap off-lease on ebay.
ssl-3 2y ago
I use Mikrotik access points at home. They're not the simplest to configure, but they aren't daunting to someone who has been futzing around with networking for awhile. I like that they allow me to implement whatever weird stuff I can dream up, and that I can generally implement that weird stuff all in the GUI. The hardware is relatively inexpensive and seems to be rather stable, the company is based in Latvia, and the manufacturing (or at least the board-stuffing and injection-molding) seems to primarily be done in Europe. Some of their stuff is pretty flexible about what kinds of PoE is can work with. All of the Mikrotik stuff I'm aware of runs their Linux-based RouterOS. This means they all get the same user interface -- the same for a "switch," for an "access point," and for a "router." I like that this blurs the lines between different device classes. For instance, my access points have two Ethernet ports on them, and two radios. I can use them as simple access points, or as routers, or as switches... or all of this at the same time. Whatever I want to do with them is fine: It's just a highly-configurable device with n hardware interfaces available on it. I could replace the separate switch and OpenWRT router that I have on a shelf in the basement with a singular Mikrotik switch that did both jobs if I wanted to. (I probably would not, and it probably would never make sense to do so, but their software allows me to do as many nonsensical things as I choose. That's a good thing.)

mikece 2y ago

How much of a difference does it make to use Coreboot rather than AMI? (I'm running OPNsense on a Protectli box currently...)

alias_neo 2y ago
It really depends. Coreboot is open source and you can review the code, it's also much lighter (though fewer things can be tweaked), vs AMI which we don't know/can't check what it contains. For me, wanting as much open source in the stack as possible, it gives me peace of mind, but it really depends on the individual. All I can really suggest, is to take a look at the Coreboot site[0] and see if it sounds like something you'd want. [0]https://www.coreboot.org/ https://www.coreboot.org/

Infernal 2y ago

FWIW I thought my EdgeRouter X died a few years back, power light would blink but wouldn't boot up - turned out to be a dying wall wart. Swapped it out for one I had lying around that happened to match voltage/current/connector and that was maybe 3 years ago.

radicality 2y ago

+1, I have basically the same setup. Protectli FW6 with Coreboot and opnsense. Been working solid for a few years now.