Originally I planned to just use the wireless router I get, but with the topology I now have in mind, I think it'll make more sense to have a dedicated router/gw device. One that plugs into a switch(1), or has an excellent switch integrated.
I'd prefer something that's relatively easily serviceable, has tonnes of overhead for my "pipe" (Telstra Bigpond Cable, usually tops out at ~105mbps(2)), but not too pricey either. I want all the typical "bell & whistles" that are important for these sort of devices; granular control/monitoring of all traffic, firewall, etc etc.
I'd also prefer hw+sw, which makes it easy to fail-over to a USB 4G/LTE MODEM whenever my cable service goes down, or perhaps it has a 4G/LTE MODEM integrated? Although I suspect just a USB port would be better, as something with it integrated would probably be considerably more expensive!
I've been meaning to play with Pfsense & similar *BSD & Linux distros for years. But I'm not sure if I should go this route, or the more fully self contained "appliance" route. I like the idea of buying a "complete product" & then if there's issues, having at least some degree of support.
I'm by no means a technical neophyte, but I don't want to be spending huge amts of time learning huge amts of this stuff, or troubleshooting issues regularly. Especially for this sort of device, I plan to have much more "fun" on the NAS side of things though ;-P
This device as I see it should be mostly "set & forget", but it'd still be VERY configurable/feature-packed, & easy to troubleshoot if instability creeps in. It would also be rock-solid stable, if I choose not to change much, & instead keep things very simple/bare-bones.
I see a lot contradiction in what I'm asking for, but I'm hoping you get what I'm saying, & have -mostly- been able to find that "happy medium" with your set-up? My post's probably still a bit too vague, so if there's areas you want me to flesh out in more detail before making any suggestions, please let me know.
Thank-you.
(1) about 4 port, maybe 6 just to be safe
(2) in a few yrs the NBN will be knocking on my door & that'll see a huge jump
I'd prefer something that's relatively easily serviceable, has tonnes of overhead for my "pipe" (Telstra Bigpond Cable, usually tops out at ~105mbps(2)), but not too pricey either. I want all the typical "bell & whistles" that are important for these sort of devices; granular control/monitoring of all traffic, firewall, etc etc.
I'd also prefer hw+sw, which makes it easy to fail-over to a USB 4G/LTE MODEM whenever my cable service goes down, or perhaps it has a 4G/LTE MODEM integrated? Although I suspect just a USB port would be better, as something with it integrated would probably be considerably more expensive!
I've been meaning to play with Pfsense & similar *BSD & Linux distros for years. But I'm not sure if I should go this route, or the more fully self contained "appliance" route. I like the idea of buying a "complete product" & then if there's issues, having at least some degree of support.
I'm by no means a technical neophyte, but I don't want to be spending huge amts of time learning huge amts of this stuff, or troubleshooting issues regularly. Especially for this sort of device, I plan to have much more "fun" on the NAS side of things though ;-P
This device as I see it should be mostly "set & forget", but it'd still be VERY configurable/feature-packed, & easy to troubleshoot if instability creeps in. It would also be rock-solid stable, if I choose not to change much, & instead keep things very simple/bare-bones.
I see a lot contradiction in what I'm asking for, but I'm hoping you get what I'm saying, & have -mostly- been able to find that "happy medium" with your set-up? My post's probably still a bit too vague, so if there's areas you want me to flesh out in more detail before making any suggestions, please let me know.
Thank-you.
(1) about 4 port, maybe 6 just to be safe
(2) in a few yrs the NBN will be knocking on my door & that'll see a huge jump
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