GrumpyGent
New Around Here
Hello everyone! After quite a few frustrations on issues with a commercial home mesh while working remotely, I'm going to take the plunge and build out my own - And I'm looking for help in deciding given all of the choices for router distros.
My current environment: I have cable internet (1200/40), with nearly 60 total devices: Various PCs, streaming boxes, gaming machines, IoT items. I'm currently using three Superpod Wifi 6's from Plume (I know, subscription network bad). They're actually fantastic as far as connections are concerned and as a mesh, however their routing performance has been subpar - Bufferbloat on the gaming devices, and depending on the time of day and who is doing what I have major issues with Teams meetings and a poor network connection. Various bufferbloat tests seem to confirm that theory.
I have a quad-core NUC coming with two 2.5gbe ports, and a 2.5gbe unmanaged switch. My plan is to have this NUC act as the fw/router, and put the Superpods into bridge mode. I may eventually replace them with APs, but at this time to save some cash I'll use them for what they have been excellent at. The question now is what distro to throw on the NUC. I've been looking primarily at Pfsense, OpnSense, and Untangled so far if that helps.
My goals (in this order):
1) Connection reliability
2) Network security
3) Ease of Use
4) Connection speed
For #3, I do have a technical background (software development), but I wouldn't call myself a networking expert by any stretch. I don't need the system to hold my hand, but if I'm modifying cron jobs to get the router to work then I'd rather not
Easy setup of QoS, etc. is what I mean here.
I don't mind paying for the distro and/or support, but I definitely want the latter given my wife and I both work from home. I think the cheapest plan from Pfsense is $350 a year for support - Is that true?
One other question that comes to mind: As I'm using an unmanaged switch and the Superpods (which don't have VLAN tagging), any thoughts on how I can separate the IoT devices from my other machines? Even if I have the IoT devices on a separate Wifi network, I think I lose any separation unless the pods are also the router, correct?
I appreciate in advance any help or guidance on what makes sense (on my list or not). I've been looking at the documentation thus far and it seems Untangled is the easiest, but Pfsense has the larger community and resources behind it (Untangled has 50 employees I think?).
My current environment: I have cable internet (1200/40), with nearly 60 total devices: Various PCs, streaming boxes, gaming machines, IoT items. I'm currently using three Superpod Wifi 6's from Plume (I know, subscription network bad). They're actually fantastic as far as connections are concerned and as a mesh, however their routing performance has been subpar - Bufferbloat on the gaming devices, and depending on the time of day and who is doing what I have major issues with Teams meetings and a poor network connection. Various bufferbloat tests seem to confirm that theory.
I have a quad-core NUC coming with two 2.5gbe ports, and a 2.5gbe unmanaged switch. My plan is to have this NUC act as the fw/router, and put the Superpods into bridge mode. I may eventually replace them with APs, but at this time to save some cash I'll use them for what they have been excellent at. The question now is what distro to throw on the NUC. I've been looking primarily at Pfsense, OpnSense, and Untangled so far if that helps.
My goals (in this order):
1) Connection reliability
2) Network security
3) Ease of Use
4) Connection speed
For #3, I do have a technical background (software development), but I wouldn't call myself a networking expert by any stretch. I don't need the system to hold my hand, but if I'm modifying cron jobs to get the router to work then I'd rather not
Easy setup of QoS, etc. is what I mean here.I don't mind paying for the distro and/or support, but I definitely want the latter given my wife and I both work from home. I think the cheapest plan from Pfsense is $350 a year for support - Is that true?
One other question that comes to mind: As I'm using an unmanaged switch and the Superpods (which don't have VLAN tagging), any thoughts on how I can separate the IoT devices from my other machines? Even if I have the IoT devices on a separate Wifi network, I think I lose any separation unless the pods are also the router, correct?
I appreciate in advance any help or guidance on what makes sense (on my list or not). I've been looking at the documentation thus far and it seems Untangled is the easiest, but Pfsense has the larger community and resources behind it (Untangled has 50 employees I think?).
