Hi,

Im curious to hear your thoughts about which router to choose:

Situation: 2 story + basement house. Verizon Fios comes in through the basement. I have an Ethernet cable running from the basement to the first floor. So, looking for 2-devices to provide full coverage including backyard/garage and front yard. I have some IOT devices (video doorbell, smart deadbolt (planned), security cameras, smart plugs, etc.) that I would like separate these from the network with computers, cell phones, and server. Nothing is PoE. Not sure if there is anything important I should know about Matter/Thread as I keep hearing about this new standard or how it works with regard to routers.

I have a Synology NAS for back ups and bulk multimedia. There is mini-computer which mostly runs plex. These are all networked with ethernet cable (6E). Ideally, I’d like to maximize my LAN speed for local streaming of media. Future proofing for higher gigabit speeds seems like a good idea (2.5Gbps?)

Some other features I’m interested in is adblocking (I’ve been playing with a GL.inet travel router which has ad blocking built in). I’d like to be able to use it as a VPN client occasionally through the router. I’m also interested in a subscription-free parental-control feature. I’ve heard that Synology ax6600 has some good options in that regard but is lacking in other software packages.

Anyway, just curious if anyone has any thoughts they’d like to share about your own experience. All these features are swimming around in my head and it’s hard to make sense of which features are high value. Thanks.

  • SP3NGL3R@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I feel like you’re interested, but nervous about, going with a little bit more powerful of a home setup. Would that be true? If yes, I’ll take the time to not just say “get a 3 node deco unit on sale right now. Hardwire basement+main to each other and stick the third in good proximity to the main, but on the top floor. Then look into setting your DHCP to tell all clients to use AdGuard as their DNS host (family filter version). And lastly, tell the deco to offer a guest network that is isolated and point your IOT stuff to that”.

    Do you want the uber-solution, or you’re happy with the consumer version?

  • 613377@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I have a very similar setup…

    FiOS ingress in the basement. I converted a storage space below the stairs with a 1/4 rack which holds a 6E patch panel, PoE switch, router (OPNsense), UPS and a SFF server.

    I have 6E ran to all three floors and six exterior runs for motion lights and cameras. The exterior runs have a surge protector at the egress point and the cable transitions to 6E burial where I’ve ran within innerduct. The switch, lights, cameras, and APs are all Unifi with a Unifi controller. The router is a super micro sys-302 (fatless).

    My OPNsense is configured for multiple VLANs (IoT, Guest etc…) with a VPN server and Unbound (ad blocker). It works great…no issues however, I don’t have any parental controls enforced but rather I send all my router/firewall logs to my server (review and refine firewall rules). With Unbound, filtering is feasible to block porn and others…alternatively a UDM-Pro should be able to provide similar functionality.