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What Router can you recommend?

Hi, I got a new router from my ISP, but it doesn’t even have an option to change the address of the DNS server…

So I’m gonna switch (if necessary also the ISP).

I have never used a custom router, so I would appreciate a push in the right direction. What can you recommend? Synology? FritzBox? Asus? Bridge Mode on the ISP router + RasPi?

The following I am running on a separate device, but if possible it would be nice to have it directly on the router device:

  • PiHole
  • Wireguard
  • DDNS updater
farcaller ,

One more for mikrotik (I run the VM version on a small linux box).

I tested a ton of those (pf/opn-senses, VyOS, even Cisco), and noone of the free ones can handle IPv6 in a reasonable way in 2024, which is slightly bizzare. Mikrotik has some annoyances, but it’s rock solid as a router.

I don’t use its container features and instead run podman in a vm next to it. Works great.

___ ,

How do you mean? IPv6 in OPNsense is working fine.

farcaller ,

OpnSense is incapable of proper DHCPv6-PD, that’s when your route receives a prefix from upstream and delegates parts of it downstream. More specifically, it does the delegation, but it doesn’t add the relevant routes, effectively blackholing the allocated prefixes.

VyOS fixed this specific bug since I reported it. RouterOS and IOS never had it.

___ ,

I’m isolated from this I suppose as I still use a separate line for upload. PD delegates and opens ports. What CIDR ranges do you use?

farcaller ,

PD delegates the whole prefixes, i.e. it allows the subrouters to ask for a subnet of the size they need.

Quill0 ,
@Quill0@lemmy.digitalfall.net avatar

I always liked Mikrotik. Not the most open of router but the most documented and configurable I’ve seen with a web, gui, ssh, or telnet I’ve seen

CoopaLoopa ,

+1 for Mikrotik.

Get one of their routers that have an Arm or x86 processor and you can run PiHole and a DDNS updater on there as containers. Wireguard support (client and server) is built in.

Even their cheapest hardware that runs routerOS has access to all the same features as their enterprise level gear.

Im_old ,

I have been using opnsense on a very cheap celeron nuc for a few years, very happy with it

kaboom36 ,

I can second this, I’ve been running openwrt on an old office PC for many years and it has been performant, flexible, and most of all reliable, it just works

smb ,

i am happy to have a raspberry pi setup connected to a VLAN switch, internet is behind a modem (like bridged mode) connected with ethernet to one switchport while the raspi routes everything through one tagged physical GB switchport. the setup works fine with two raspi’s and failover without tcp disconnections during an actual failover, only few seconds delay when that happens, so basically voip calls recover after seconds, streaming is not affected, while in a game a second off might be too much already, however as such hardware failures happen rarely, i am running only one of them anyway.

for firewall i am using shorewall, while for some special routing i also use unbound dns resolver (one can easily configure static results for any record) and haproxy with sni inspection for specific https routing for the rather specialized setup i have.

my wifi is done by an openwrt but i only use it for having separate wifis bridged to their own vlans.

thus this setup allows for multi-zone networks at home like a wifi for visitors with daily changing passwords and another fror chromecast or home automation, each with their own rules, hardware redundancy, special tweaking, everything that runs on gnu/linux is possible including pihole, wireguard, ddns solutions, traffic statistics, traffic shaping/QOS, traffic dumps or even SSL interception if you really want to import your own CA into your phone and see what data your phones apps (those that don’t use certificate pinning) are transfering when calling home, and much more.

however regarding ddns it sometimes feels more safe and reliable to have a somehow reserved IP that would not change. some providers offer rather cheap tunnels for this purpose. i once had a free (ipv6) tunnel at hurricane electronic (besides another one for IPv4) but now i use VMs in data centers.

i do not see any ready product to be that flexible. however to me the best ready router system seems to be openwrt, you are not bound to a hardware vendor, get security updates longer than with any commercial product, can 1:1 copy your config to a new device even if the hardware changes and has the possibility to add packages with special features to it.

“openwrt” is IMHO the most flexible ready solution for longtime use. same as “pfsense” is also very worth looking at and has some similarities to openwrt while beeing different.

chiisana ,
@chiisana@lemmy.chiisana.net avatar

If you’re new, something like Uniquiti UniFi stack is very beginner friendly and well polished.

If you’re planning to run your own hardware, the usual recommendation seems to be pfsense or opnsense on a modern lower end system (Intel N100 box for example).

Bearing in mind that a router is only responsible for routing (think directing the packets where to go). You’d also want to have access points to provide WiFi for your wireless devices. This is where UniFi stack makes it easier because you can just choose their access point hardware and control through single controller. Whereas rolling your own you’d be looking at getting something else to fill that role.

Zotora ,

he following I am run

I second everything said here.

UniFi is a good starting place, and pfsense is good if you really want to dig in.

kylian0087 ,

On one hand I love unify on the other I wish i never went this route. They do make it very simple to manage a whole suite of devices. But updates sometimes feel “Alpha/beta” some more advanced stuff requires editing jsons in the devices them self. Also recently the battery in my cloud key gen 2 has blown and their is no way to replace it without replacing the whole cloudkey. Thing lasted like 2 years. which is ridiculous. Personally I have started to look in to Mikrotik which is a load more advanced and has a higher learning curve. but if I am forced to edit jsons and use scripts to do some more advanced things i might as well.

Sorry for the slight rant… just be aware what you can get your self in to.

Zotora , (edited )

Thing lasted like 2 years. which is ridiculous. Personally I have started to look in to Mikrotik w

Good points – I’ve never ran into any issues with UniFi personally.

At the time I was self-hosting the UniFi Controller on my Proxmox server for a switch and an AP. So i suppose your mileage may vary with UniFi.

As far as routers go, I’ve been running a pfsense for a while and its been great. There is definitely a bit of a learning curve and it’s not something that I’d recommend to someone who has little networking knowledge. Once you understand how to work with it, there is very little you can’t do.

Mikrotik has pop-ed up on my radar recently too, might have to give them a look.

Edit: Phrasing.

towerful ,

All ill say is ROS script is a huge PITA.
So, making a script that takes an object of vlan/port assignments, and running the required commands to ensure the config of the mikrotik matches the declared vlan/port assignments.

The besy way ive seen to build/manage them is to use a compile step to go from some sane declarative config in order to build the actual ROS script to make the changes.
I just havent got round to making that a thing.

I hope they are working on a native python API, so i can script in a sane language, and run it directly on the mikrotik.

Config files are easy to import/export/edit/read, tho.
It does mean you have to reset to default when you update a config file (or configure the device live, then export the config)

qjammer ,

I recently bought an x86 passive cooled box from Topton, an aliexpress merchant, that was recommended by ServeTheHome, a great youtube channel/blog that reviews all kinds of networking equipment for homelabs. Since it’s x86, you can pretty much install anything on it, in my case OPNSense. I recommend you watch some of their videos/read their blogs and see what fits!

drkt ,
@drkt@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Wireguard and DNS filtering (albeit not as fine tuned and automatic as pihole) can all be done on OpnSense

I recommend OpnSense on whatever modern low-power hardware you can get your hands on, ThinkCentre, NUC or whatever, if you are okay with a separate device for WiFi or do not need WiFi. WiFi APs can be had for as low as 20 bucks and are usually straight forward to set up, but you gotta shell out more if you want the latest and greatest connectivity.

There is also the possibility for adding WiFi directly to OpnSense but I have not even bothered touching it. If you love tinkering and suffering, that’s a route you can go.

For the love of God, if you’re going to install PfSense, just get OpnSense instead. It’s just better.

dukatos ,

I always use separate router / firewall and WiFi AP. That way I can upgrade WiFi to any device I like without touching the router.

drkt ,
@drkt@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

what do you mean upgrade WiFi to any device?

dukatos ,

For example, upgrade /n AP to /ax. The router may keep working for LAN connections while you are playing with WiFi.

possiblylinux127 ,

How much bandwidth and flexibility do you want? OpenWRT is what I use on consumer hardware but many people here also swear by custom hardware with opnsense

TCB13 ,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

swear by custom hardware with opnsense

…which is completely unnecessary and overkill for most people, even those with home labs, since OpenWrt can do it all.

possiblylinux127 ,

I won’t disagree but not everyone is the same

redcalcium ,

Homelab is a hobby, and like other hobbies, people actually loves doing the “unnecessary and overkill” stuff.

TCB13 ,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

Think about it… with OpenWrt you can spend even more time tweaking around and doing things that may be more automation under OPNsense. :P But yes, fair point.

Gooey0210 ,

I thought “unnecessary and overkill” is our actual name, and selfhosting is just a nickname

Swarfega ,

I have a Unifi router, switch and four access points. My setup works fine. Stable.

I see other people from work say they get dropouts over the work VPN but I have no issues at all. I’m not saying the hardware is their cause but ISP provided all in one boxes are just that. An all in one solution.

ElderWendigo ,

Jack of all trades, master of none. Forcing a router reboot to get the home Internet working again has become a thing of the past since I set up a unifi router and APs.

I’d had router/WiFi combos before running either dd-wrt, open-wrt, or tomato. None of them were stable. But I suspect that was because the hardware just couldn’t keep up, not because the open source software was faulty.

Xanxia ,

I have a Netgate 3100 that I bought used. Workes fine and at full speed with my 1000/1000Mbit connection.

tritonium ,

I went tplink omada router, switches, and aps, very happy.

different_base ,

I use an entry level router ASUS RT-AX53U with OpenWrt. WiFi 6, IPv6, Guest VLAN, DNSCrypt (DoH), Adblock, Firewall are few things I have configured with OpenWrt.

Even if you don’t buy ASUS, make sure your router is supported by OpenWrt. It’s a Linux distribution that runs on routers and PCs to configure home networking.

dukatos ,

I am using NanoPi R5S. I am using debian system but there is also openwrt image for it, if you are not experienced Linux admin.

Works for over a year without problems. It runs PiHole and Wireguard client on docker, ddclient, unbound and reverse proxy.

UltraBlack ,

you can convert really any computer into a little router using the help of an ethernet card. I’m planning to do exactly that for my homeserver

Cobrachicken ,

Fritzboxes are rock stable, and support Wireguard from FritzOS 7.5 onwards, see https://avm.de/service/vpn/wireguard-vpn-zur-fritzbox-am-computer-einrichten/

(Apparently NOT the cable versions!)

What nags me most with them is that you have no separate Firewall controll over their WiFi, and the WiFi range is not really great. So probably consider going with dedicated APs instead.

Atemu ,
@Atemu@lemmy.ml avatar

They are quite solid but be aware that the web UI is dog slow and the menus weirdly designed.

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