Router Recs for optimal reliability, security and speed

[ddaenen1]

Business firewall appliance. Intended for people not interested in lowest price on eBay. In regards of Supermicro Xeon server as home router - good choice if @testing123 is a middle eastern prince with 200 family members. Otherwise the main benefit goes to the local electricity supply company.

Well, i am not 100% sure about that. I am now building a new pfSense box consisting of an X9-SCL+-F mobo with E3-1220 v2 CPU and 16GB ECC Ram in a SC510T-203B 1U chassis (200w) with 2 x 120GB SSD's. The total cost of all i just mentioned is about 250 USD on the local 2nd hand scene. If i take a comparable Netgate solution, type SG-15xx with prices "as from" 2000 USD, i need to burn a hell of a lot of power for many years to consume that 1750 USD. In fact, for about 150 USD extra i add an X550-T2 to my config and i am good for many many moons. Just for accuracy, i am building a new one because the R210 with X3430 doesn't support AES-NI.

You say it is overkill, i say it is comfortable. With 2 kids with remote education and myself working remotely almost full time now, i have not had a single glitch with all 3 streaming at the same time and even if my wife would start watching Netflix at the same time, still no worries. Times have changed...

 

[Tech9]

Been there, done that. Your family of 4 doesn’t need any of that, @ddaenen1. It’s you who needs to tinker with Xeon servers at home. I removed 240lbs server rack from my basement years ago. Do you think my wife and kids noticed when I replaced it with networking equipment I can hold in my hand? Firewall, switch, 2 APs, 2-bay NAS.

 

[coxhaus]

Been there, done that. Your family of 4 doesn’t need any of that, @ddaenen1. It’s you who needs to tinker with Xeon servers at home. I removed 240lbs server rack from my basement years ago. Do you think my wife and kids noticed when I replaced it with networking equipment I can hold in my hand? Firewall, switch, 2 APs, 2-bay NAS.

So, what are you running now? I just replied to another thread today where you think pfsense is great.

 

[Tech9]

I use Netgate SG-5100 at home with Ruckus APs. pfSense is a great firewall. I also use Cisco gear for business, I don't need pfSense there. Mainly Cisco RV345P routers to power directly Cisco WAP APs. I had one Ubiqiuti system as well, not using it anymore. Untangle is excellent, but different. All products have specific best use. Sophos is very good too, but the new NG is quirky. What I think in this thread is a family of 4 doesn't need Xeon server with 16GB ram for learn from home and Netflix. I had my home lab before, but just like you @coxhaus decided to go simple and dedicate more time for other things. Playing sysadmin at home is not on my priority list.

 

[ddaenen1]

Been there, done that. Your family of 4 doesn’t need any of that, @ddaenen1. It’s you who needs to tinker with Xeon servers at home. I removed 240lbs server rack from my basement years ago. Do you think my wife and kids noticed when I replaced it with networking equipment I can hold in my hand? Firewall, switch, 2 APs, 2-bay NAS.

I admit there is some of that but apart from the beforementioned comfort, i have yet to find another solution that allows me safe remote access to my Nextcloud with ACME certs and HAproxy as a reverse proxy.

 

[Tech9]

I agree, post removed. Stay safe everyone and enjoy the technology.

 

[thiggins]

@Tech9 To each his own. What @ddaenen1 chooses to do with his time and money is his decision. You've made your opinion clear. Move on.

 

[coxhaus]

I know back in the old days I was always looking for Xeon upgrades for my home servers. I tried to buy old blade server low wattage Xeons as they pulled less power than desktop CPUs. I ran them for all my servers including my firewalls. I would rebuild my servers with CPUs or new motherboards with newer Xeon CPUs as I found them used and cheap.

 

[ddaenen1]

I know back in the old days I was always looking for Xeon upgrades for my home servers. I tried to buy old blade server low wattage Xeons as they pulled less power than desktop CPUs. I ran them for all my servers including my firewalls. I would rebuild my servers with CPUs or new motherboards with newer Xeon CPUs as I found them used and cheap.

Sounds much like me

 

[testing123]

And overly expensive compared to alternative hardware with the same specs to achieve same throughput.

I don't think the SG-3100 is overly expensive, and it's compact. Is it an inferior unit?

 

[Tech9]

Is it an inferior unit?

Compared to @ddaenen1 4C/8T Xeon server - yes. Compared to your old N66U - it's much faster and capable device.

 

[testing123]

Compared to @ddaenen1 4C/8T Xeon server - yes. Compared to your old N66U - it's much faster and capable device.

I appreciate all the info coming out of this thread.

I think it's likely then, that it's all I'll need and saves me from building and finding a place for a larger box (also, the components I have are ATX). I just started looking at some youtubes on the 3100. There are also forums at the netgate site. Is the 3100 complicated to configure?

I'm not sure what my needs are at present pfsense-wise, but I think it seems to do vlans and provide for a vpn. I'd have to look into that. Presently I use Mullvad, which is a good vpn, but the netgate would pay for itself over time if I could dump it.

Also, there's a 3100 with more storage (32GB vs 8GB). I don't mind springing for it, but have never used storage in a router. Why would I need it?

 

[ddaenen1]

I appreciate all the info coming out of this thread.

I think it's likely then, that it's all I'll need and saves me from building and finding a place for a larger box (also, the components I have are ATX). I just started looking at some youtubes on the 3100. There are also forums at the netgate site. Is the 3100 complicated to configure?

I'm not sure what my needs are at present pfsense-wise, but I think it seems to do vlans and provide for a vpn. I'd have to look into that. Presently I use Mullvad, which is a good vpn, but the netgate would pay for itself over time if I could dump it.

Also, there's a 3100 with more storage (32GB vs 8GB). I don't mind springing for it, but have never used storage in a router. Why would I need it?

Not sure why you would need more storage. I would have a good look at the memory. If you would want to run packages such as pfBlockerNG, you might want to check if 2Gb RAM is sufficient.

 

[Tech9]

Is the 3100 complicated to configure?

I believe you'll be more comfortable with an Asus router with UI you are familiar with.

 

[testing123]

@Tech9 Point taken, and is what I've decided to do for the present. Thanks to all for the help. I'd still like to look into pfsense when I get time to educate myself on how to configure/deploy it.