Which router? *sense vs Mikrotik vs mDNS/avahi solution

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Which router? *sense vs Mikrotik vs mDNS/avahi solution

rscole86

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#307078 16-Sep-2023 20:18

Apologies if this is a how long is a piece of string question.

I'm after a relatively straightforward solution that allows for multiple VLANs, trusted, IoT, cameras and guest.
A supported/integrated mDNS would be ideal.
And possibly future proofing by supporting hyperfibre, but happy to forgo that if it financially doesn't make sense.

I currently have an ER-4 which I'd like to retire, only due to the lack of support. Otherwise it does everything I need above.

I have a pihole doing my DNS only and smart switch that supports VLAN tagging.

I'm not sure I'm keen on spending big money to get something from overseas that I may end up needing warranty support on.

I had thought of getting the Mikrotik rb5009, but it appears they don't(won't) support mDNS.

Is there something that gives me what I need in a single package, at a similar price point to the Mikrotik rb5009?

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#3128707 16-Sep-2023 20:28

Rb5009 will do all that except mDNS out of the box. Often requested though. You can do mDNS in a container as ROS 7 has container support, but enabling containers does come with a security disclaimer.

https://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?t=194185

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rscole86

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#3128710 16-Sep-2023 20:32

Thanks RunningMan, I had seen that which is why I'm seeing if there's something else that will do what I need and is supported.

I should clarify, I'm needing to be able to cast from a guest VLAN device to a TV on the trusted, and possibly to support devices between Home Assistant and differing VLANs.

Handle9

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#3128727 16-Sep-2023 22:28

Good topic.

I’m in a similar position with an Edgerouter Lite 3 I’d like to retire. I’ve also got fairly similar use cases.

I’ve got a heap of Unifi APs so I’m toying between a UDM Pro, RB5009 and an X-sense network appliance.

Given the cost of network appliances it’s probably the cheapest route to go down but then there’s the whole maintainence/ learning curve. It’s be the same learning curve, or more, with Mikrotik.

Unifi is the least performant, most expensive but has the nicest UI. It gets a bit hard to decide.

Batwing

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#3128744 17-Sep-2023 07:57

I'm going to give you the same (bad) advice I always give you.
Cheap PC, or mini PC like one of them Beelink with a decent
NIC and opensense.

If you take the leap first and tackle the learning curve then I can follow.

BadCo

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#3128759 17-Sep-2023 10:37

Pfsense or opnsense would do all you request and can be run on any x86 hardware and select ARM, but the learning curve is big, and can take a while to get your head around.

They also have pfblocker and adguard built in so you don't need pihole, which frees up your pihole box for other tinkering.

rscole86

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#3128768 17-Sep-2023 11:49

Cheers Handle9, I've not really looked at the Unifi as I've got a few GWN7610, and since they dropped support for the ER, I'm not sure I want to stay in bed with them.

While the GWN7610=AP's are ok, their firmware/feature releases haven't been great to date. So also not keen on going for a Grandstream router.

Batwing, so which Beelink (or similar) has dual Intel NICs and won't underperform with a PPPoE connection?

BadCo, any recommendations on pre-built systems that have a similar footprint/power use as a mainstream router?

Any thoughts on a Draytek product, I've not used them for about 15 years, but they provided great support with customising firmware for ADSL connections.

BadCo

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#3128771 17-Sep-2023 12:40

rscole86:
BadCo, any recommendations on pre-built systems that have a similar footprint/power use as a mainstream router?

Any thoughts on a Draytek product, I've not used them for about 15 years, but they provided great support with customising firmware for ADSL connections.

Iainly use old enterprise gear so don't have any first hand experience, but Protectli are popular and servethehome has a series on mini PCs.

http://protectli.com/

https://www.servethehome.com/tag/mini-pc/

rscole86

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#3131312 24-Sep-2023 14:51

So the long list looks like...

Protectli FW4C: ~$650 incl shipping, 4 port 2.5Gb 4GB DDR3 64GB mSATA via direct
Bee-Link EQ12 pro N305: ~$550 incl shipping, 4 port 2.5Gb, 16GB DDR5 512GB NVMe, via direct
UDM-PRO: ~$1000 NZ supplier
RB5009: ~$420 NZ supplier
Topton N5105: ~$470 incl shipping, 4 port 2.5Gb, 4GB DDR4 128GB NVMe, via AliExpress

Shortlist being RB5009, Topton and the Bee-link. I don't have spare ram or drives so I can't get away with barebones.

As I'd only be using it as as router I'm not sure I'd see any benefit to the mini-pc, unless someone has real world experience and can say otherwise?

BadCo

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#3131314 24-Sep-2023 14:58

The Beelink looks good, any idea what NICs it uses?

rscole86

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#3131367 24-Sep-2023 15:19

I think it's an i225, but I'm not sure.

Handle9

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#3131470 24-Sep-2023 20:14

rscole86: So the long list looks like...

Protectli FW4C: ~$650 incl shipping, 4 port 2.5Gb 4GB DDR3 64GB mSATA via direct
Bee-Link EQ12 pro N305: ~$550 incl shipping, 4 port 2.5Gb, 16GB DDR5 512GB NVMe, via direct
UDM-PRO: ~$1000 NZ supplier
RB5009: ~$420 NZ supplier
Topton N5105: ~$470 incl shipping, 4 port 2.5Gb, 4GB DDR4 128GB NVMe, via AliExpress

Shortlist being RB5009, Topton and the Bee-link. I don't have spare ram or drives so I can't get away with barebones.

As I'd only be using it as as router I'm not sure I'd see any benefit to the mini-pc, unless someone has real world experience and can say otherwise?

Your topton pricing seems extremely high. It should be more like $355

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003744743799.html

The N100, which is better comes in cheaper

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004360072281.html

MaxineN

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#3131471 24-Sep-2023 20:15

rscole86: I think it's an i225, but I'm not sure.

You'll want to be careful with some i225 nics, some of the revisions had issues. B3 stepping fixes issues with EEE. Meant to reduce power and step down however that causes disconnections.

See it here. https://www.anandtech.com/show/18755/intel-shares-stopgap-solution-for-intermittent-connection-drops-on-700series-motherboards

Although the latest drivers bandaid this by disabling EEE on a software level past 100mbps. Of course if you're doing 2.5 gig you probably wouldn't see this.

I don't see the issue on my i226 Topton unit. None of the 6 ports either gig link or 2.5 see these issues in my experience. My desktop's i225 B3 and my Fiancee's expansion card don't see this issue either and we're all 2.5 gig.

If you go down the OPNSense I'll know another so I don't have to bare the weird ness that is some of the defaults :~) (fun fact my webui was exposed for over a month because I had no idea by default OPNsense webui listened on ALL interfaces).

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Tinkerisk

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#3131474 24-Sep-2023 20:19

I use OPNsense on a coreboot platform. But the fact that I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me. 😉

- NET: FTTH, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs, ipPBX
- SRV: HA server cluster, 0.1PB storage capacity on premise
- IoT: thread, zigbee, tasmota, BidCoS, LoRa, WX suite, IR
- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter

MaxineN

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#3131475 24-Sep-2023 20:24

Handle9:

rscole86: So the long list looks like...

Protectli FW4C: ~$650 incl shipping, 4 port 2.5Gb 4GB DDR3 64GB mSATA via direct
Bee-Link EQ12 pro N305: ~$550 incl shipping, 4 port 2.5Gb, 16GB DDR5 512GB NVMe, via direct
UDM-PRO: ~$1000 NZ supplier
RB5009: ~$420 NZ supplier
Topton N5105: ~$470 incl shipping, 4 port 2.5Gb, 4GB DDR4 128GB NVMe, via AliExpress

Shortlist being RB5009, Topton and the Bee-link. I don't have spare ram or drives so I can't get away with barebones.

As I'd only be using it as as router I'm not sure I'd see any benefit to the mini-pc, unless someone has real world experience and can say otherwise?

Your topton pricing seems extremely high. It should be more like $355

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003744743799.html

The N100, which is better comes in cheaper

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004360072281.html

Could spend a tiny bit more and have 5 nics spare rather than 3.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004680185160.html

Also the J series can route a lot... haven't tried what it's like on PPPoE.

Don't think I'm keen to either. Don't think it's up to that.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

I use quic. They're a great ISP for techies. Use my referral I get money off my bill! You can get the setup fee waived too via this code when you order! R177510EBNVXP

Handle9

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#3131477 24-Sep-2023 20:28

MaxineN:

Handle9:

Your topton pricing seems extremely high. It should be more like $355

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003744743799.html

The N100, which is better comes in cheaper

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004360072281.html

Could spend a tiny bit more and have 5 nics spare rather than 3.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004680185160.html

Also the J series can route a lot... haven't tried what it's like on PPPoE.

Don't think I'm keen to either. Don't think it's up to that.

The j series ends up 33% more than the N100 once you add ram and an SSD. Horses, courses etc I guess.

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