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codo27
Apr 21, 2008

SubjectVerbObject posted:

This is exactly what I experienced. Going from the Archer C7 doing everything to off loading multiple GB interfaces to an ER-X really helped streaming to wireless devices for example. It has been fine for years, but finally working and schooling from home, and spreading out across the house with wireless work/school devices is what is making me want to do more. Also, if I want to mount the AP somewhere, the Ubiquitis look like they do it better. And if we somehow need to do Mesh in a 2600 sq ft house I would just get a lite. And Covid stress is making me want to spend money.

See I'm still running the C7 and I wonder if I would be better off just getting the Ubi AP for now and get the router later. Its really a waste though I guess rn as everything is working fine at the moment, theres only two of us in the house

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SubjectVerbObject
Jul 27, 2009

codo27 posted:

See I'm still running the C7 and I wonder if I would be better off just getting the Ubi AP for now and get the router later. Its really a waste though I guess rn as everything is working fine at the moment, theres only two of us in the house

In my situation I have an office with multiple wired systems, a VOIP phone, printer, and some wired IOT stuff. All of this was connected to a switch that connected to the C7. The C7 also was managing multiple TVs, IPODs, gaming systems and 2 laptops. Netflix would definitely buffter at times and the laptops had issues connecting. Adding an Edge Router X and connecting the wired stuff to it, bypassing the C7, really helped wireless traffic. The C7 is doing fine as an AP. It does not route. The only issue I have run into was some smart plugs not working because they wanted the AP to be the default gateway. That was easily fixed by putting them in a drawer since we weren't really using them.

GreenBuckanneer
Sep 15, 2007

So I got a question:

friend is trying to set up a PoE AP, I want to say somewhere around less than 100m away from the router, as a guess. The goal, is to be able to get wifi a substantial distance from the house.

This is the device: https://www.amazon.com/COMFAST-Outdoor-Wireless-802-11AC-Coverage

I've done this before, with my own network sort of. I have a cable modem, which my netgear router with DD-WRT installed on it is setup as a "gateway" apparently is how I had it setup. This seems to be correct according to DD-WRT, though says that if there's another "router" on the network to select "router".

Looks like:
Modem: 192.168.100.1
Router: 192.168.1.1
subnet: 255.255.255.0
gateway: 0.0.0.0

Router is setup as serving DHCP starting from x.x.x.50 and has UPNP on.

I looked at my friend's netgear router (default fw) and it's set up pretty much the same way, except it's 192.168.10.1 for the router

The AP's lan started off at 192.168.100.1, so I changed it to 192.168.10.200, since the Router was already up to almost 50 assigned IP addresses, according to it's console. Same subnet.

However, while I've verified the SSID is connectable (devices show up on the AP's console), it doesn't look like the AP device is getting internet from the Router.

Currently their setup seems to be Router->un-powered switch->devices, and that seems to work fine, however, at first glance it doesn't appear that the router (R7000P) supports PoE.

So, the setup is Router->un-powered switch->PoE power supply->AP

This seems fine, I check the AP at the other end, and it's for sure getting power and link lights are on, and I can connect to the AP's console, but the router isn't seeing the device and the AP doesn't have internet. I've triple checked the cabling path, and that seems fine, and the fact that it's getting power from the power supply would make me think it's good.

Am I missing something? I'm a bit stumped. I set the AP to AP mode, instead of router mode (bridge mode doesn't make a lot of sense, since they're running Ethernet to the device), and turned DHCP off, because, that should be the router's job, isn't it?

GreenBuckanneer fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Oct 6, 2020

TraderStav
May 19, 2006

It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down
First time experience with VLANs on UniFi. What's the right way to do the firewall rule so all my VLANs can access my Plex on my UnRaid server, but only on the specific port as my other dockers are on the same IP?

A YT I followed just gave his ATV access to everything and that's not the direction I want to go with my any IoT devices I want access to my Plex.

Lan In - allow
Source: all
Destination : Address/port - then ip:port of plex

And then put it at the top of the firewall rules?

KingKapalone
Dec 20, 2005
1/16 Native American + 1/2 Hungarian = Totally Badass

KS posted:

HP T620 Plus or HP T730 thin clients also work pretty well for this, along with a 2 or 4 port half height NIC (the HP versions of intel NICs are cheaper). The 620 Plus uses 6-11W and can be had for <$150 all in.

Thanks I'll look into these too.

GigaFuzz
Aug 10, 2009

GreenBuckanneer posted:



Looks like:
Modem: 192.168.100.1
Router: 192.168.1.1
subnet: 255.255.255.0
gateway: 0.0.0.0

...

The AP's lan started off at 192.168.100.1, so I changed it to 192.168.10.200, since the Router was already up to almost 50 assigned IP addresses, according to it's console. Same subnet.


Edit: Oops, I can't read.

Can you plug something in via Ethernet to the switch and get internet access?

GreenBuckanneer
Sep 15, 2007

GigaFuzz posted:

Edit: Oops, I can't read.

Can you plug something in via Ethernet to the switch and get internet access?

I'll head over with my work laptop and try that out, I am not convinced it's the switch, maybe it's the switch power supply that came with it? or the cable? hard to say, I'd had to fiddle around with it more.

My networks friend suggested I make sure to set the "gateway" ip to the router within the AP, which I'm pretty sure I didn't do, so I'll try that too.

astral
Apr 26, 2004

GreenBuckanneer posted:

My networks friend suggested I make sure to set the "gateway" ip to the router within the AP, which I'm pretty sure I didn't do, so I'll try that too.

If you didn't do it, that's the one.

PerniciousKnid
Sep 13, 2006
Question about SSIDs: when I set up my AC66R I put each band on its own ID (e.g. Name5 and Name24). I also have an old Buffalo 54G repeating as Name_VAP. 8 years ago this seemed like a good idea, but should I actually be using the same SSID for everything and letting my devices figure out the best source?

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

Google has three generations of wifi crap at this point

OnHub which I guess they bought from TP-Link, circa 2015-16
Google Wifi, aka the hockey puck circa 2016-17, mild refresh fall 2020
Nest Wifi, latest and greatest

Google Wifi and Nest work together for mesh
OnHub will act as a "mesh" base station, but doesn't actually do mesh, just hub and spoke

Supposedly OnHub doesn't work at all with Nest, and won't work with wifi and nest networks

That said, Google home now supports OnHub as of mid August 2020 which sort of invalidates some of this prior facts

Anybody know how this actually works

I have a nest router arriving, and a handful of hockey pucks, and one OnHub, would like them all to play nice. In one of the sattelite rooms I have a wired connection, I think the OnHub would work in that situation?

How much better is the nest wifi vs the Google WiFi

withoutclass
Nov 6, 2007

Resist the siren call of rhinocerosness

College Slice

Hadlock posted:

Google has three generations of wifi crap at this point

OnHub which I guess they bought from TP-Link, circa 2015-16
Google Wifi, aka the hockey puck circa 2016-17, mild refresh fall 2020
Nest Wifi, latest and greatest

Google Wifi and Nest work together for mesh
OnHub will act as a "mesh" base station, but doesn't actually do mesh, just hub and spoke

Supposedly OnHub doesn't work at all with Nest, and won't work with wifi and nest networks

That said, Google home now supports OnHub as of mid August 2020 which sort of invalidates some of this prior facts

Anybody know how this actually works

I have a nest router arriving, and a handful of hockey pucks, and one OnHub, would like them all to play nice. In one of the sattelite rooms I have a wired connection, I think the OnHub would work in that situation?

How much better is the nest wifi vs the Google WiFi


I ran 2 of the Asus OnHubs for awhile. Unless something has changed, OnHubs don't mesh with the other products. OnHubs also weren't originally designed to mesh, and so they'd eat your 5ghz band for backhaul. By "not working with Nest" they probably meant that it would not mesh with nest wifi, not necessarily the other Nest branded products. OnHub didn't do wired backhaul at all so I don't think that OnHub will help you.

As for the older Google Wifi vs newer Nest Wifi I am not too sure since I upgraded from OnHubs to Ubiquiti.

GreenBuckanneer
Sep 15, 2007

astral posted:

If you didn't do it, that's the one.

I had to set the AP to "Router" mode instead of AP, so that way I could set a gateway IP (and WAN, just set it same as lan, it's not using the WAN ethernet anyways) and then go back in and turn DHCP off, and then it worked. tested on 4+ devices, worked.

I went to plug it in where they wanted it, of course it doesn't work.

I learn the cable they were running was some amount over 300ft :cripes:

I let them know, they're going to have to shorten that cable substantially to be on the safe side, because that's probably why it wasn't working.

LRADIKAL
Jun 10, 2001

Fun Shoe

PerniciousKnid posted:

Question about SSIDs: when I set up my AC66R I put each band on its own ID (e.g. Name5 and Name24). I also have an old Buffalo 54G repeating as Name_VAP. 8 years ago this seemed like a good idea, but should I actually be using the same SSID for everything and letting my devices figure out the best source?

It's not necessarily better or worse, but if it works, it's way more convenient to have everything on the same SSID.

Bioshuffle
Feb 10, 2011

No good deed goes unpunished

I'm looking to buy a wireless router so I don't have to pay Spectrum 5 dollars a month to use what I assume is pretty subpar equipment. My house is about 2500sq ft, and the modem is located in my bedroom off in one corner of the house. All my computers are plugged in, but I use wireless for things like streaming 4k content from my TV. Can you recommend me a decent router so I can stream 4k from the living room? Ideally I'd like stick around $150 mark, but the budget is pretty flexible.

SubjectVerbObject
Jul 27, 2009

Bioshuffle posted:

I'm looking to buy a wireless router so I don't have to pay Spectrum 5 dollars a month to use what I assume is pretty subpar equipment. My house is about 2500sq ft, and the modem is located in my bedroom off in one corner of the house. All my computers are plugged in, but I use wireless for things like streaming 4k content from my TV. Can you recommend me a decent router so I can stream 4k from the living room? Ideally I'd like stick around $150 mark, but the budget is pretty flexible.

A lot of recent discussion around similar needs. The TP-link Archer C7 is mentioned in the OP and has worked well for me an others, but depending on your set up, may get overworked. What is Spectrum giving you?

The issue with the consumer do everything wifi routers is that if you are running a lot of traffic through them they may bog down. If you see my recent posts, I ended up putting an ER-X between the cable modem and the wireless AP. My reasoning is that in the room where the wireless router was, I also had a number of wired GB connections for work/play, plus some other wired stuff, and all of that was running through the C7, which also had to handle smart TVs, gaming systems, other PCs and tablets. My system is GB switch connecting my wired stuff going to the ER-X, GB connection to C7 in AP mode, and GB connection to cable modem. Make sure you are using GB rated cable between the AP, router and cable modem. I assume you know this already, but who knows what Spectrum did.

Bioshuffle
Feb 10, 2011

No good deed goes unpunished

SubjectVerbObject posted:

A lot of recent discussion around similar needs. The TP-link Archer C7 is mentioned in the OP and has worked well for me an others, but depending on your set up, may get overworked. What is Spectrum giving you?

The issue with the consumer do everything wifi routers is that if you are running a lot of traffic through them they may bog down. If you see my recent posts, I ended up putting an ER-X between the cable modem and the wireless AP. My reasoning is that in the room where the wireless router was, I also had a number of wired GB connections for work/play, plus some other wired stuff, and all of that was running through the C7, which also had to handle smart TVs, gaming systems, other PCs and tablets. My system is GB switch connecting my wired stuff going to the ER-X, GB connection to C7 in AP mode, and GB connection to cable modem. Make sure you are using GB rated cable between the AP, router and cable modem. I assume you know this already, but who knows what Spectrum did.
I'll have to do some reading! There are two computers which are wired in and the only things that'll use wireless network would be cell phones, 2 televisions, and a gaming console.

This is the router they gave me, that I can't find too much information about.


That TP-link Archer C7 looks great! Would I see any benefit from getting something more expensive?

SubjectVerbObject
Jul 27, 2009

Bioshuffle posted:


That TP-link Archer C7 looks great! Would I see any benefit from getting something more expensive?

The only thing that keeps me from recommending it 100% is that I do not have any experience with streaming 4k. My gut tells me that you should be fine as long as the C7 is not 5 walls and across the house from the TV, but perhaps someone with a 4k TV could chime in?

I am going to install a Ubiquiti WAP, but my needs and issues are a bit different than yours (including just wanting to play around with new tech), and folks have said that going to more expensive access points is an improvement is stability/administration and not speed.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

Do any good flat gig-e capable ethernet cables exist, normally I'd run a round cat 5e but I've got to snake a cable about 6' through a panel gap

Incessant Excess
Aug 15, 2005

Cause of glitch:
Pretentiousness
Are there any recommended Mesh systems that support wired backhaul? I recently put a cat cable into the room with my Desktop but the wifi is still spotty there, so I'm looking for a router/access point combo that let's me connect wirelessly to the access point which then exchanges data with the router via the ethernet cable.

phosdex
Dec 16, 2005

Hadlock posted:

Do any good flat gig-e capable ethernet cables exist, normally I'd run a round cat 5e but I've got to snake a cable about 6' through a panel gap

Flat cables exist, the ones I have don't seem any worse than normal round ones. Think I got them on amazon.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

phosdex posted:

Flat cables exist, the ones I have don't seem any worse than normal round ones. Think I got them on amazon.

No issues with running a gigabit signal on a flat cable? I went ahead and ordered a 10' "cat 7" cable. I was under the impression that the twisted pair was critical for signal shielding etc, and you don't get that with flat. I guess I'll find out. I think our real world data out of the fiber optic in my building is closer to 750mbps, so I don't really need the full 1gbps anyways

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006

Hadlock posted:

Do any good flat gig-e capable ethernet cables exist, normally I'd run a round cat 5e but I've got to snake a cable about 6' through a panel gap

I ran my gig-e network on a daisy chain of random cables strung across my lawn, through the garage, and into my office. One of them was a 100' flat cable.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WD017BG/

I have shorter ones of this same "brand" in use in a datacenter.

Used these as couplers, they also make a great kids toy with a 1' cable. 3 year old (at the time) learned how to plug and unplug them like a boss and promptly went to unplug the register at the grocery store.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FZ4B1YK/

Internet Explorer
Jun 1, 2005





Hadlock posted:

Do any good flat gig-e capable ethernet cables exist, normally I'd run a round cat 5e but I've got to snake a cable about 6' through a panel gap

I don't know if I got a bad batch or what, but I had purchased a handful of flat cables and so many of them failed over the course of a year that I just ripped the rest out. Worth a try, but my experience wasn't great.

phosdex
Dec 16, 2005

Hadlock posted:

No issues with running a gigabit signal on a flat cable? I went ahead and ordered a 10' "cat 7" cable. I was under the impression that the twisted pair was critical for signal shielding etc, and you don't get that with flat. I guess I'll find out. I think our real world data out of the fiber optic in my building is closer to 750mbps, so I don't really need the full 1gbps anyways

Alright, nevermind. I went and looked, turns out I only ever ended up using 1 of the flats and its connected from my switch to an IPMI port that is only 100mbit anyway.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

I still don't understand how non-twisted flat cable is any better than phone cord, but everybody seems in consensus, and it allows me to kick a larger cabling project down the road, so I'ma just roll with it I guess thanks

Raymond T. Racing
Jun 11, 2019

Hadlock posted:

I still don't understand how non-twisted flat cable is any better than phone cord, but everybody seems in consensus, and it allows me to kick a larger cabling project down the road, so I'ma just roll with it I guess thanks

For short runs it's fine, I would try to push 10gig over untwisted flat though

LordOfThePants
Sep 25, 2002

Incessant Excess posted:

Are there any recommended Mesh systems that support wired backhaul? I recently put a cat cable into the room with my Desktop but the wifi is still spotty there, so I'm looking for a router/access point combo that let's me connect wirelessly to the access point which then exchanges data with the router via the ethernet cable.

Any wireless router should work for this. Just turn off the DHCP server, give it a static IP, set the default gateway to your main routers IP address, and set up the wireless radio with the same SSID and security as your current network.

I would recommend doing all that setup with the device connected to a laptop that’s not connected to your network at the time. The new router will come set up to be a DHCP server and having two of those going on your network is not usually a great idea.

There may be better ways to accomplish this but I’ve been running that exact setup (with multiple wired routers acting as APs) for years.

CaptainSarcastic
Jul 6, 2013



Bioshuffle posted:

I'm looking to buy a wireless router so I don't have to pay Spectrum 5 dollars a month to use what I assume is pretty subpar equipment. My house is about 2500sq ft, and the modem is located in my bedroom off in one corner of the house. All my computers are plugged in, but I use wireless for things like streaming 4k content from my TV. Can you recommend me a decent router so I can stream 4k from the living room? Ideally I'd like stick around $150 mark, but the budget is pretty flexible.

I have an Archer C8 and it has been doing well for me - every time I think about replacing it I can't find a good reason to.

The C7 is a little older (and the C8 isn't exactly new) but the C8 has significantly more robust hardware. There is also a C9 out there which looks like pretty much a slightly upgraded C8.

On the 5ghz band I get 867mhz of bandwidth between my computer and the router, and it has been handling two people working from home, videoconferencing, streaming 2K video, and everything else just fine. I assume it would stream 4K video fine if it needed to. Range has been good but I also have a fairly small place so it is hard to gauge.

I've been pretty happy with the TP-Link products I've owned in general.

Boner Wad
Nov 16, 2003
I have been looking to upgrade my USG 3P. I think the UDM Pro has had a lot of issues and I don't know if I want to keep waiting for the UXG Pro. I'll still run Unifi APs and switches. Will I have a bad time if I switch away from Unifi for routing? I'm confident in my networking skills. I have a dozen or so VLANs and run my own dhcp/dns, NSM, etc so I don't need that stuff built in.

I've heard pfsense was decent, what's a good go to pfsense router? I've heard the Netgate SG-1100 is good.

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

I wouldn't buy the C7 again in TYOOL 2020 even though its what I'm still running rn. I wouldn't buy anything without Wifi6 today

TraderStav
May 19, 2006

It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down
I still haven't seen the issues that others have with the UDM Pro, for what it's worth. It also wasn't clear what those issues were but after two weeks I've been happy with it as I've been slowly migrating my network over to it.

I'm not as advanced as you are in routing so have hit some obstacles with getting certain devices to communicate over VLANs but am working through that as I learn, but that's on me.

Rooted Vegetable
Jun 1, 2002
My UDM is working out similarly well. Been pretty solid and I've only got one client laptop that's slow to connect, but that's more likely the old rear end laptop than the router.

I'll admit that I wish it had WiFi6 for the price, but if that's really an issue in a few years I'll just add the AP I would have had to buy anyway with the UDM Pro.

Bioshuffle
Feb 10, 2011

No good deed goes unpunished

CaptainSarcastic posted:

I have an Archer C8 and it has been doing well for me - every time I think about replacing it I can't find a good reason to.

The C7 is a little older (and the C8 isn't exactly new) but the C8 has significantly more robust hardware. There is also a C9 out there which looks like pretty much a slightly upgraded C8.

On the 5ghz band I get 867mhz of bandwidth between my computer and the router, and it has been handling two people working from home, videoconferencing, streaming 2K video, and everything else just fine. I assume it would stream 4K video fine if it needed to. Range has been good but I also have a fairly small place so it is hard to gauge.

I've been pretty happy with the TP-Link products I've owned in general.

One thing that confuses me is the lack of claimed bandwidth. For example, Netgear Nighthawk routers have a claimed square footage, like covers up to 1500ft. etc etc etc. Is that basically a marketing gimmick?

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

Bioshuffle posted:

claimed square footage, like covers up to 1500ft. etc etc etc. Is that basically a marketing gimmick?

100%. Think about all the different types of houses and construction types. There are too many variables to be able to give a number like that that would actually mean anything.

Bioshuffle
Feb 10, 2011

No good deed goes unpunished

codo27 posted:

100%. Think about all the different types of houses and construction types. There are too many variables to be able to give a number like that that would actually mean anything.

So, I should get a TP-Link Ac4000 with Wifi 6. After randomly searching on Amazon- something like.. this? https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wire...ctronics&sr=1-3

I am going to wait until Amazon Prime Day, but are there any models I should have book marked? My budget is around $150.

codo27
Apr 21, 2008

The AX10 is probably a decent bet on the cheap. TP Link is usually recommended here.

admiraldennis
Jul 22, 2003

I am the stone that builder refused
I am the visual
The inspiration
That made lady sing the blues
Having been long fed up with the 25Mbps max upstream RCN will let me pay for, and being that I will be 100% WFH for another year+, I started checking into my eligibility for the 2Gb/2Gb (+1/1 bonus line) Comcast Gigabit Pro. Initial outlook is good ("just barely" according to the rep) and the on-site survey is scheduled for the Monday after next.

If all goes well (not sure the % chance), I will soon be paying a lot of money for a lot of internet.

My current home infrastructure, which I have been very happy with, is:

- Netgear CM1200 (basement) w/ 1Gb/25Mb service
- EdgeRouter-4 (basement) w/ 1.x firmware
- UniFi US-16-150W (basement)
- Unifi Cloud Key Gen 1 (basement)
- 3x UniFi UAP-AC-HD (basement, 2nd floor front-mid, 3rd floor rear-mid)
- 4x US-8 (1st floor, 2nd floor, 2x 3rd floor)

This is a rather stable and performant setup. Not all setups at this house have been so. When I first upgraded to DOCSIS 3.1, I bought an Arris SB8200, but after a few months it started regularly dropping the connection and requiring resets (RCN was stumped; swapping to the Netgear solved all the issues). I used to use a nicely-specced QOTOM with pfsense, but it would kernel panic or become despondent once every other month or so, even with fresh installs of the latest. My ER-4 currently has a nearly 11 month uptime and reliably routes a couple TB a month at gigabit speed, no sweat or slowdowns. I have kept to firmware 1.x as I have heard tell of terrible issues with 2020-era 2.x on some ER-X units in use at work (fixed by reverting to 1.x). This ER-4 is maybe the most stable router I've used at home since m0n0wall on a random x86 box way back in the day. Unfortunately, it won't cut it for >1Gbps. 

The UDM-Pro is very nicely priced but I'm not sure it will work for me. I've seen recent reports of instability and I'm concerned the UniFi platform won't let me do some of the things I desire, including setting up a WireGuard VPN server (easy via CLI on ER) and routing different host:ports to the two different WAN lines. 

I'm eyeing the EdgeRouter Infinity (ER‑8‑XG). It's a lot more expensive, and I have some questions! 

- I have copper (Cat 6) running from the basement to various points in my house, including the 3rd floor where my main workstations are. I have experience with 10GbE and 40GbE connections over fiber (I use these to connect my main workstations to a fileserver in the same room) but have never dabbled in copper 10GbE. Can I just stick a 10Gb RJ45 SFP+ module into the ER Infinity and use the existing wire run? I'd say it's maybe 60ft at most. Ubt makes such an SFP+ module but the compatibility here is unclear.

- The ER Infinity has a lot of ports. I'm wondering if I can get away without a 10GbE switch in the basement (especially since I'm probably buying one for the 3rd floor office) to save some cash. Would it be crazy to use, say, three ports of the ER all as "LAN" ports with switch-level communication amongst them? Using a router as a switch seems like perhaps a bad idea. But if I could, say, use ER ports for: 1) the existing 16 port switch, going to lots of gigabit destinations, 2) the 10GbE run to my office, 3) a future 10GbE run or two and have them all switched, it would be convenient. Is this setup even possible, and if so, what are the downsides? 

- Is there a recommended copper 10GbE NIC for Windows 10 desktops (not server-level cooling)? I'm all about stability as the #1 factor. I had a nice Chelsio T580-CR but it constantly overheated in my desktop PC (it's ok in my FreeNAS server tower w/ more space and more fans), so now I'm using a cheaper Mellanox ConnectX-3 Pro for 40GbE which has worked pretty well. 

KS
Jun 10, 2003
Outrageous Lumpwad
10gbaseT via SFP+ is a fairly new thing. The SFP power budget didn't allow it until recently -- you had to choose between a fixed copper switch and an SFP-based switch and use twinax or fiber. It's a niche product in my world because it adds some latency and the cable length limitations are onerous. It's probably fine for home.

The ER Infinity doesn't have a switch chip, so traffic between 10gig interfaces will hit the CPU. That generally sucks. There's going to be a level of "good enough" performance somewhere where further upgrades don't matter, and you're going to have to figure out if it satisfies what you need. That said, if you're considering paying for Gigabit Pro, you probably don't want to go that route. I'd look for a used 10gbit fixed switch with some SFP+ uplink ports, I think.

BTW gigabit pro is pretty :krad: as it's essentially their business metro-e circuit. They provision a 2gbit fiber port and a 1gbit copper port on a Juniper router that lists for about $8k, and you can actually use both ports if you have the gear. e: Ah, you said that.

Raymond T. Racing
Jun 11, 2019

admiraldennis posted:

Having been long fed up with the 25Mbps max upstream RCN will let me pay for, and being that I will be 100% WFH for another year+, I started checking into my eligibility for the 2Gb/2Gb (+1/1 bonus line) Comcast Gigabit Pro. Initial outlook is good ("just barely" according to the rep) and the on-site survey is scheduled for the Monday after next.

If all goes well (not sure the % chance), I will soon be paying a lot of money for a lot of internet.

My current home infrastructure, which I have been very happy with, is:

- Netgear CM1200 (basement) w/ 1Gb/25Mb service
- EdgeRouter-4 (basement) w/ 1.x firmware
- UniFi US-16-150W (basement)
- Unifi Cloud Key Gen 1 (basement)
- 3x UniFi UAP-AC-HD (basement, 2nd floor front-mid, 3rd floor rear-mid)
- 4x US-8 (1st floor, 2nd floor, 2x 3rd floor)

This is a rather stable and performant setup. Not all setups at this house have been so. When I first upgraded to DOCSIS 3.1, I bought an Arris SB8200, but after a few months it started regularly dropping the connection and requiring resets (RCN was stumped; swapping to the Netgear solved all the issues). I used to use a nicely-specced QOTOM with pfsense, but it would kernel panic or become despondent once every other month or so, even with fresh installs of the latest. My ER-4 currently has a nearly 11 month uptime and reliably routes a couple TB a month at gigabit speed, no sweat or slowdowns. I have kept to firmware 1.x as I have heard tell of terrible issues with 2020-era 2.x on some ER-X units in use at work (fixed by reverting to 1.x). This ER-4 is maybe the most stable router I've used at home since m0n0wall on a random x86 box way back in the day. Unfortunately, it won't cut it for >1Gbps. 

The UDM-Pro is very nicely priced but I'm not sure it will work for me. I've seen recent reports of instability and I'm concerned the UniFi platform won't let me do some of the things I desire, including setting up a WireGuard VPN server (easy via CLI on ER) and routing different host:ports to the two different WAN lines. 

I'm eyeing the EdgeRouter Infinity (ER‑8‑XG). It's a lot more expensive, and I have some questions! 

- I have copper (Cat 6) running from the basement to various points in my house, including the 3rd floor where my main workstations are. I have experience with 10GbE and 40GbE connections over fiber (I use these to connect my main workstations to a fileserver in the same room) but have never dabbled in copper 10GbE. Can I just stick a 10Gb RJ45 SFP+ module into the ER Infinity and use the existing wire run? I'd say it's maybe 60ft at most. Ubt makes such an SFP+ module but the compatibility here is unclear.

- The ER Infinity has a lot of ports. I'm wondering if I can get away without a 10GbE switch in the basement (especially since I'm probably buying one for the 3rd floor office) to save some cash. Would it be crazy to use, say, three ports of the ER all as "LAN" ports with switch-level communication amongst them? Using a router as a switch seems like perhaps a bad idea. But if I could, say, use ER ports for: 1) the existing 16 port switch, going to lots of gigabit destinations, 2) the 10GbE run to my office, 3) a future 10GbE run or two and have them all switched, it would be convenient. Is this setup even possible, and if so, what are the downsides? 

- Is there a recommended copper 10GbE NIC for Windows 10 desktops (not server-level cooling)? I'm all about stability as the #1 factor. I had a nice Chelsio T580-CR but it constantly overheated in my desktop PC (it's ok in my FreeNAS server tower w/ more space and more fans), so now I'm using a cheaper Mellanox ConnectX-3 Pro for 40GbE which has worked pretty well. 

Looks like someone has done WireGuard on the UDM-PRO (I can't vouch for it, merely Google can)

https://github.com/tusc/wireguard/blob/master/compiling.md

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admiraldennis
Jul 22, 2003

I am the stone that builder refused
I am the visual
The inspiration
That made lady sing the blues

KS posted:

10gbaseT via SFP+ is a fairly new thing. The SFP power budget didn't allow it until recently -- you had to choose between a fixed copper switch and an SFP-based switch and use twinax or fiber. It's a niche product in my world because it adds some latency and the cable length limitations are onerous. It's probably fine for home.

Gotcha, makes sense. I remember once looking into 'can I use an RJ45 SFP+ in my Mellanox/Chelsio cards?' (the answer is no). It would be real nice to avoid running fiber to my basement -- it's a complicated run that professionals did a while back.

KS posted:

The ER Infinity doesn't have a switch chip, so traffic between 10gig interfaces will hit the CPU. That generally sucks. There's going to be a level of "good enough" performance somewhere where further upgrades don't matter, and you're going to have to figure out if it satisfies what you need. That said, if you're considering paying for Gigabit Pro, you probably don't want to go that route. I'd look for a used 10gbit fixed switch with some SFP+ uplink ports, I think.

That's kinda what I feared - thanks. Probably can't really cheap out here and be happy :)

KS posted:

BTW gigabit pro is pretty :krad: as it's essentially their business metro-e circuit. They provision a 2gbit fiber port and a 1gbit copper port on a Juniper router that lists for about $8k, and you can actually use both ports if you have the gear. e: Ah, you said that.

I'm hoping it works out!

My plan would be to use the 2/2 as the primary but have some things isolated to the 1/1 (Plex server on the upstream, perhaps, and/or other services). Going from 25Mbps to 3Gbps aggregate upstream is such a ridiculous jump - I'd be thrilled to pay something more than my current $100/mo now for even 250 up (10x!). RCN has honestly been a great ISP with very reliable service and speeds and no data caps (1TB/mo would not do it for me) but I'm dying with this upstream.

It's very expensive for a residential product ($320/mo + $1k install) but I think that's actually a lot cheaper than what we pay for our single 1/1 fiber line at the office.

admiraldennis fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Oct 9, 2020

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