Community backed router

[shabbs]

With the discoloration of the AP "cans", I'm just waiting for @shabbs to start a thread about this router/AP temps

Hey! Don't drag me into the TempGate wars... I never cared about the temps. As long as my device was not on fire, all good.

Now, an uptime thread... we should start again.

 

[Clark Griswald]

I stand corrected, you Up-Timer

 

[avtella]

I believe greater than 1GbE but less than 10GbE is the sweet spot and will be for a long time. For no other reason than power usage.

The next jump will be to 5GbE (at the same power levels as 1GbE), long before 10GbE becomes ubiquitous.

Not necessarily always much higher going from 2.5 to 5 Gbps power wise, depends on chipset. For the Intel X710-T2L in my firewall jumping from 1 to 2.5 Gbps is around a 25% increase in power draw, but 2.5-5 Gbps modes are actually relatively close like only around a 6% power draw differential on that specific model.

 

[L&LD]

@avtella, yes, thanks for verifying my point. 10GbE is a much higher heat/power draw.

 

[avtella]

Yeah I think 10Gbe is like another 25-30% greater draw on that card vs 5Gbe. 5Gbe would be a nice balance as power draw is very close to 2.5Gb at least based on a sample of 1 model lol.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Lol. I read your article on TPU. My handle there is mechtech

sort of disappointing in a way
I was hoping for 4x-8x 10Gbe LAN

Nothing preventing a switch being attached to one of the USXGMII interfaces.
Only one of the 10 Gbps interfaces have a native PHY, the other two requires a PHY to work, but a switch could be placed ahead of the PHYs.

 

[BreakingDad]

I stand corrected, you Up-Timer

Whoops I read that as Old-Timer.

Sorry @shabbs

 

[shabbs]

Whoops I read that as Old-Timer.

Sorry @shabbs

I mean, both work... the memories of loading games on my VIC-20 from tape are still fresh... for now.

 

[BreakingDad]

I mean, both work... the memories of loading games on my VIC-20 from tape are still fresh... for now.

ooooo Jelly Monsters Cartridge, happy days.

 

[sfx2000]

I mean, both work... the memories of loading games on my VIC-20 from tape are still fresh... for now.

Spinning up the paper tape for spacewar on the pdp11

(I actually had a chance to play spacewar back when I was a kid over at the UCSD computer lab)

 

[sfx2000]

Just to get the thread back on track...

Seems that the consensus is as follows:

2.5GB WAN port
2.5GB LAN ports (4 to 8)
WiFi6 Dual Back (at a minimum, extra 5GHx radio would be an option)

Options -

POE/POE+
Managed L3 switching
SFP option for additional connectivity for LAN or WAN
USB 3.1 via USB-C or old school USB-A

I would look at a decent amount of DDR/Flash - 1GB RAM, 8 or 32MB eMMC

SW stack - likely linux based - QSDK for QCA targeted SoC is manageable, as it's loosely based on OpenWRT CC with a lot of Qualcomm special sauce and security fixes - personally I find OpenWRT easy enough to deal with, esp to extend software capabilities, there is a clear and concise way to manage things there...

I would actually break out the wireless from the base unit, which opens up a lot of choices here - could do mesh AP's or more traditional AP deployments that would would see if the small to medium enterprise market. Upside here is that by breaking apart the wireless solutions, it's makes the base router more affordable for those who don't need Wifi, and also can upgrade WiFi outside of the entire platform.

(not only that, but removing wireless cuts the regulatory costs by a huge margin)

 

[avtella]

212.82US $ 31% OFF|Kingnovy Firewall Router Jasper Lake Pentium N6005 4 Intel I225v 2500m Nics Nvme 2*ddr4 Mini Pc Pfsense Opnsense Vyos Aes-ni - Barebone & Mini Pc - AliExpress

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8 Gb RAM, 128 GB SSD , 11th Gen Pentium N Quad Core (10W) and 4 Intel i225V-B3 Stepping 2.5 Gbe ports. Additionally has option for WiFi card. For ~$350 (can be more or less based on chosen memory/ssd config) not bad as a basis for a custom firewall, low wattage, chip and decently small enough yet better than most of the consumer routers, ignoring the missing WiFi functionality where as sfx2000 points out is where the extra cost is and switch.. Faster than an atom C3558 seen in some firewalls but missing the QAT acceleration that comes with some CXXX Atoms that boosts VPN performance but should still be plenty fast in that aspect regardless. Wonder if Firewalla just took something run of the mill like this as a basis for the hardware aspect of their product.

 

[Clark Griswald]

+1 for the Managed L3 switching.

I would not want to add poe/poe+ to this router.
Omission of poe will keep cost and power consumption down.
I don't currently run any poe devices, but I am wanting to install home surveillance cameras, and I am definately going to keep the poe on a separate ups and vlan, due to power draw and security.
EDIT:
I'm just waiting for the AXE16000, because at that hinted msrp, the AXE16000 better make The Wife smile!

 

[L&LD]

I voted no. There are many reasons to love this, as an idea.

What I am 100% sure of, is that the wireless performance will be hard/impossible to beat from anything I can buy off the shelf now.

As a community-backed router, there may be possibilities.

As a community-backed wireless router, I do not see any possible benefits that anything less than a large conglomerate can provide.

Too many moving parts, too much 'secret' IP, and if a low price is expected too from this product, itis guaranteed to fail.

 

[Tech Junky]

MEDIATEK or Qualcomm QCA QCN9074 WIFI 6E 11AX 4X4 WIFI MODULE - Pine Series - Qualcomm 4x4 11ax AP mode enabled radio module! COMPEX, SPARKLAN, WALLYS, INTEL

QCN9074 WIFI 6E 11AX 4X4 WIFI MODULE - Pine Series - Qualcomm 4x4 11ax WiFi6 AP mode enabled radio modules from Wallys and COMPEX or Sparklan, Mediatek, MT7915, MT7916, 3000Mbps, 1800Mbps, 2400Mbps

www.524wifi.com

Found a couple of new options that would work for a 4x4 AX/E setup.

Using the ath11k firmware modules will allow for AP mode and I'm sure MTK offers some firmware modules as well that will work with hostapd.