Recent content by Johno

Okay, it's a network with a printer, NAS, some smart TVs and streamers, a PVR, a desktop PC and a laptop all connected via ethernet; via Wifi, a couple of Ring cameras as well as mobile devices (iOS), plus some smart plugs dotted around the home and a smart thermostat for central heating...

I probably won't be tempted to dive into the techie networking pathway you've mentioned, I'm happy enough with my AIO router-based solution but wanted to replace the Asus AIO router with something more flexible, powerful and hopefully more secure, whilst hopefully being not too difficult to use...

If the environment is a home network and the PC/router goes down, the broadband/WAN isn't going to be available so what would it matter that other local network services are also down?

Why not VM your gateway? The overhead with Proxmox is minimal and allows you to host other services in isolation from your router VM. Plus VM snapshotting means upgrades going wrong isn't a major hassle, just a simple rollback. I know OPNSense supports snapshots on a ZFS disk but not sure that...

Thought this might be useful info for anyone considering building a custom mini-pc based router running PfSense or OPN Sense, either bare-metal or using Proxmox. I've recently purchased one of those passively-colled Chinese-built mini PCs/firewall devices with multiple Intel NICs and low power...

Yes, same here, it's just the inital "add node" process that seems to require close proximity and (hence I'm guessing) the wireless connection.

I've just acquired an AX router (AX-92U) to add to my existing AiMesh and whilst it's found by the main router (an AX-86U) in the AiMesh setup, it can't be added as a node because apparently it needs to be 2-3 metres from the root mesh node. I have the AX-92U connected via an ethernet cable...

Thanks, the Protectli kit I looked at only seems to work with DDR4 memory so that fact the CWWK kit uses DDR5 at high clock speeds is great. Like you've done, I'm also thinking of installing lots of RAM so as to host VMs in Proxmox. I'll browse the Serve The Home forums for further info.

I see a lot of posts on the web about folk building PfSense and OPSense with Protectli Vault passively cooled mini PCs, but I've seen another better-specced brand called Tuofudun which are cheaper and better equipped hardware-wise. Anyone used Tuofudun mini PCs?

I saw it mentioned in another forum, but after checking for myself, I see you're correct. Some FTTP services offer 200Mbps upload but they're much more expensive business packages.

Thanks, just corrected that typo :)

Thanks - sound advice. My main reason for wanting gigabit FTTH would be for backing up my NAS to the cloud but my understanding is that the BT FTTH offering will be only 200Mbps upload so nothing approaching near gigabit speeds. BTW, I see from your sig you're using a Netgate router - can I...

That's a very god point. I know the ethernet wired devices at my home are all 100Mbps except for my desktop PC (2.5 Gbps), NAS and laptop (both gigabit) so chasing fast wifi speeds would indeed be a bit fruitless.

My AiMesh setup consists of an RT-AX86U with two RT-AC68Us as nodes. My broadband will at some point be upgraded to full-fibre with 1Gbps download speeds, but the RT-AC68Us are only capable of a max of around 420Mbps download so I wanted to replace them with AX routers so that I get similar...