TPLINK OMADA? Pfsense specs?2 isps, one deco mesh. Any ideas?

[Indian pc builder]

Ok. So I have a tolink archer a x20 and an re 605x plugged into the wall in a hallway. If I plan to replace this setup with decos, I will need 2 nodes, one where the ax 20 is, not a problem as it already sits on a desk, but as for the range extender, I have nowhere to set down a deco, and I don’t want to have to drill holes in my walls for some crappy third party mount. Is there a deco model that can be self contained in its own power adapter and it need a shelf to be kept on and an external power brick?

 

 

while we’re at it, I have 2 isps and a will to somehow connect them both together to split traffic and or establish automatic failover for my decos for cheap ?

[Sant_HH]

You're giving some conflicting requirements. Is this what you are looking for? https://www.tp-link.com/th/home-networking/deco/deco-m3w/

[Indian pc builder]

8 hours ago, Sant_HH said:

You're giving some conflicting requirements. Is this what you are looking for? https://www.tp-link.com/th/home-networking/deco/deco-m3w/

I thought I was being specific. 
even then, it’s prefect 

 

 

the second thought is part of a different phase of the project to have one and only one Wi-Fi ssid. Any ideas?

[Indian pc builder]

8 hours ago, Sant_HH said:

You're giving some conflicting requirements. Is this what you are looking for? https://www.tp-link.com/th/home-networking/deco/deco-m3w/

Also does there happen to be a Wi-Fi 6 version of this? Not really interested though.

 

 

also this plan is only viable if I can connect my 2 isps to the same network 

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

while we’re at it, I have 2 isps and a will to somehow connect them both together to split traffic and or establish automatic failover for my decos for cheap ?

You specifically need a router that does Dual WAN and has load balancing and fail over. I highly doubt the Deco's will have such a feature but I could be wrong.

[Indian pc builder]

On 1/17/2024 at 7:10 AM, Donut417 said:

You specifically need a router that does Dual WAN and has load balancing and fail over. I highly doubt the Deco's will have such a feature but I could be wrong.

They don’t, what’s the cheapest box that does? Also does pfsense or opnsense or (was there another one? I can’t remember ) have this feature? If the cheapest dual WAN box is not cheap, I may upgrade an old computer to be a router. Btw for the best pfsense experience I should probably not use a core 2 duo system right?

[Donut417]

16 minutes ago, Indian pc builder said:

They don’t, what’s the cheapest box that does? Also does pfsense or opnsense or (was there another one? I can’t remember ) have this feature? If the cheapest dual WAN box is not cheap, I may upgrade an old computer to be a router. Btw for the best pfsense experience I should probably not use a core 2 duo system right?

PFsense should. As far as what hardware to use, thats a bit outside my knowledge as Ive never used PFsense or Opensense for that matter.

 

As for an off the shelf solution I know my router the Synology RT2600AC does and I know some of the Ubiquti stuff does.

[Indian pc builder]

12 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

PFsense should. As far as what hardware to use, thats a bit outside my knowledge as Ive never used PFsense or Opensense for that matter.

 

As for an off the shelf solution I know my router the Synology RT2600AC does and I know some of the Ubiquti stuff does.

Ok so the synology one you mentioned costs more than building a brand new crappy 2 core 12th gen pentium celeron system here, does the ubiquiti cloud key gen 2 or dream router support it? I’m not buying a switch for load balancing, I can build a pc for cheaper.

[Donut417]

1 minute ago, Indian pc builder said:

Ok so the synology one you mentioned costs more than building a brand new crappy 2 core 12th gen pentium celeron system here, does the ubiquiti cloud key gen 2 or dream router support it? I’m not buying a switch for load balancing, I can build a pc for cheaper.

The Dream Machine router is $299 USD and I paid $200 for the Synology router. On top of it the product page doesn't show dual wan. The cloud key is not a router, its for managing Ubquiti equipment. Dual WAN is not a typical feature as most people dont have multiple internet connections.

 

Just bare in mind that with PFsense you still need an wireless AP if you want WiFi and you need a network switch because those are two functions that PFsense sucks at. I would probably also watch some setup videos on YouTube as well. Because setting this up is not going to be as easy as using an off the shelf router solution. Also I know Amazon and Ali Express have small mini computers who are generally built for this purpose, not sure on the cost but it might be a more affordable solution.

[Falcon1986]

On 1/16/2024 at 8:10 PM, Indian pc builder said:

the second thought is part of a different phase of the project to have one and only one Wi-Fi ssid. Any ideas?

You should read the Deco documentation. It goes through different configurations and explains what features are lost/retained by converting to AP mode from router mode.

 

1 hour ago, Indian pc builder said:

They don’t, what’s the cheapest box that does? Also does pfsense or opnsense or (was there another one? I can’t remember ) have this feature?

They definitely do. It's up to your hardware/NICs to be supported by the relevant firewall OS and to have at least 3 assignable ethernet ports (1 for each WAN, 1 to output to a switch).

 

1 hour ago, Indian pc builder said:

If the cheapest dual WAN box is not cheap, I may upgrade an old computer to be a router. Btw for the best pfsense experience I should probably not use a core 2 duo system right?

I've used both the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter-X and USG and they both support dual-WAN with the ability to load balance or failover. The UDM-Pro/SE should be able to manage these as well (more at the managed switch level) but I wouldn't invest in one just for that if you're not all in with UniFi hardware.

 

TP-Link and D-Link have "VPN routers" that have dual-WAN support as well, but they might cost slightly more than the ER-X or USG. They offer multi-gig ports.

 

While I don't think pfSense will have any issue running on a Core 2 Duo, the cost to power that system 24/7 might negate any cost savings that you planned on building your own. Firewall appliance hardware exist to bring a balance between performance and power consumption. The Netgate 1100 runs pfSense and shouldn't consume as much power.

[LIGISTX]

1 hour ago, Falcon1986 said:

ption. The Netgate 1100 runs pfSense and shouldn't consume as much power.

FWIW, myself and some friends have had horrendous issues with sg1100’s. Avoid them like the plague. 
 

I have 1 for a family members house, 2 buddies have them for their houses, I have had one corrupt it’s EMMC randomly, then I had it corrupt again upon doing an update. A buddies arrived brand new with overheating issues and needed to RMA. My other friend has had his corrupt on him after doing an update twice. To netgates credit, taclane support is very responsive, but this amount failures are way beyond acceptable. I run pfsense in a vm on my homelab and have been for years, never once had a single issue. Those sg1100’s tho… stay away. 

[Indian pc builder]

3 hours ago, Donut417 said:

The Dream Machine router is $299 USD and I paid $200 for the Synology router. On top of it the product page doesn't show dual wan. The cloud key is not a router, its for managing Ubquiti equipment. Dual WAN is not a typical feature as most people dont have multiple internet connections.

 

Just bare in mind that with PFsense you still need an wireless AP if you want WiFi and you need a network switch because those are two functions that PFsense sucks at. I would probably also watch some setup videos on YouTube as well. Because setting this up is not going to be as easy as using an off the shelf router solution. Also I know Amazon and Ali Express have small mini computers who are generally built for this purpose, not sure on the cost but it might be a more affordable solution.

So the best off the shelf option according to you is the synology?

2 hours ago, Falcon1986 said:

You should read the Deco documentation. It goes through different configurations and explains what features are lost/retained by converting to AP mode from router mode.

 

They definitely do. It's up to your hardware/NICs to be supported by the relevant firewall OS and to have at least 3 assignable ethernet ports (1 for each WAN, 1 to output to a switch).

 

I've used both the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter-X and USG and they both support dual-WAN with the ability to load balance or failover. The UDM-Pro/SE should be able to manage these as well (more at the managed switch level) but I wouldn't invest in one just for that if you're not all in with UniFi hardware.

 

TP-Link and D-Link have "VPN routers" that have dual-WAN support as well, but they might cost slightly more than the ER-X or USG. They offer multi-gig ports.

 

While I don't think pfSense will have any issue running on a Core 2 Duo, the cost to power that system 24/7 might negate any cost savings that you planned on building your own. Firewall appliance hardware exist to bring a balance between performance and power consumption. The Netgate 1100 runs pfSense and shouldn't consume as much power.

As much as I like ubiquiti, I don’t have the space to keep any rack mounted devices in my apartment where I am implementing this. Also the ER-X and the USG are not sold directly by ubiquiti in India and shipping and taxes double the prices so……no. 
 

As for the tplink ’vpn router’ option it’s definitely in budget

opinion?

Also remember I only have a 300meg Wi-Fi connection here anyway.

I would like to update that I do already have deco and a cheap tplink lite wave gigabit switch running as LAN

1 hour ago, LIGISTX said:

FWIW, myself and some friends have had horrendous issues with sg1100’s. Avoid them like the plague. 
 

I have 1 for a family members house, 2 buddies have them for their houses, I have had one corrupt it’s EMMC randomly, then I had it corrupt again upon doing an update. A buddies arrived brand new with overheating issues and needed to RMA. My other friend has had his corrupt on him after doing an update twice. To netgates credit, taclane support is very responsive, but this amount failures are way beyond acceptable. I run pfsense in a vm on my homelab and have been for years, never once had a single issue. Those sg1100’s tho… stay away. 

Got it, stay away from stuff I’ll have to import and is crappy

[Indian pc builder]

Btw what’s the difference between the deco m4 and e4 ?

[Indian pc builder]

5 minutes ago, Indian pc builder said:

Btw what’s the difference between the deco m4 and e4 ?

Also is the m3 just a bundle of the m3w and m4?

 

btw is the m3w going to die or will there be a Wi-Fi 6 version that can be plugged into the wall for applications where wall mount is the only option?

[Donut417]

11 minutes ago, Indian pc builder said:

So the best off the shelf option according to you is the synology?

No. That just the router I have and I know its capabilities. I haven't used Ubiquti or other options that are out there. Keep in mind, I said that this is not a typical use case for most. You are treading in to high end consumer gear or business gear at this point. OR you build something yourself, but that comes with its own issues.

[Falcon1986]

8 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

FWIW, myself and some friends have had horrendous issues with sg1100’s. Avoid them like the plague. 

Good to know.

 

6 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

Got it, stay away from stuff I’ll have to import and is crappy

That’s for you to figure out. We all don’t have access to the same markets. You have to state your limitations up front if you want better recommendations.

 

Also, while the Netgate 1100 might have its issues, that’s not to say that that their other products are “crappy”. They’re the pfSense people after all.

 

6 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

Btw what’s the difference between the deco m4 and e4 ?

See here.

 

Main difference is that the E4 utilizes fast ethernet (10/100Mbps) ports, whereas the M4 has gigabit. Otherwise, the WiFi features seem the same.

 

6 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

Also is the m3 just a bundle of the m3w and m4?

 

btw is the m3w going to die or will there be a Wi-Fi 6 version that can be plugged into the wall for applications where wall mount is the only option?

Manufacturers who make a lot of affordable consumer-grade network hardware like TP-Link will quickly come out with something new quite soon leaving the last thing a bit closer to EOL. Doesn’t mean that the old thing won’t work; it just won’t receive any more firmware updates or support. Is that a big deal? I don’t think so. Major issues are generally patched within a product’s life cycle after which nothing more can be done. If issues still persist, consumers will complain or start a Reddit thread to rant and probably figure out a likely fix.

 

When it comes to “business grade” or enterprise hardware, you don’t see this quick EOL or turnover of hardware. Businesses wouldn’t invest in a product that won’t have support within a year.

 

So if you’re doing this on a budget with consumer-grade hardware, then don’t expect enterprise-grade longevity when it comes to support. Maximize the hardware features with the budget you have and leave it like that. If your budget improves later on, then you can look at upgrading where necessary.

[Indian pc builder]

6 hours ago, Falcon1986 said:

Good to know.

 

That’s for you to figure out. We all don’t have access to the same markets. You have to state your limitations up front if you want better recommendations.

 

Also, while the Netgate 1100 might have its issues, that’s not to say that that their other products are “crappy”. They’re the pfSense people after all.

 

See here.

 

Main difference is that the E4 utilizes fast ethernet (10/100Mbps) ports, whereas the M4 has gigabit. Otherwise, the WiFi features seem the same.

 

Manufacturers who make a lot of affordable consumer-grade network hardware like TP-Link will quickly come out with something new quite soon leaving the last thing a bit closer to EOL. Doesn’t mean that the old thing won’t work; it just won’t receive any more firmware updates or support. Is that a big deal? I don’t think so. Major issues are generally patched within a product’s life cycle after which nothing more can be done. If issues still persist, consumers will complain or start a Reddit thread to rant and probably figure out a likely fix.

 

When it comes to “business grade” or enterprise hardware, you don’t see this quick EOL or turnover of hardware. Businesses wouldn’t invest in a product that won’t have support within a year.

 

So if you’re doing this on a budget with consumer-grade hardware, then don’t expect enterprise-grade longevity when it comes to support. Maximize the hardware features with the budget you have and leave it like that. If your budget improves later on, then you can look at upgrading where necessary.

What about the vpn router should I buy that or try to figure out how to load balance and failover with my deco x20’s

[Falcon1986]

4 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

What about the vpn router should I buy that or try to figure out how to load balance and failover with my deco x20’s

It has already been established that the Decos have absolutely no ability to handle multiple WAN connections.

 

So if the TP-Link dual-WAN router is within your price range and accessible to you, then go with that.

[Indian pc builder]

46 minutes ago, Falcon1986 said:

It has already been established that the Decos have absolutely no ability to handle multiple WAN connections.

 

So if the TP-Link dual-WAN router is within your price range and accessible to you, then go with that.

Nothing concerning about the specific router right ? 

[Falcon1986]

14 hours ago, Indian pc builder said:

Nothing concerning about the specific router right ? 

Has positive reviews on Amazon. Have never used it, unfortunately.

But I don't doubt that Omada is maturing.

[Indian pc builder]

4 hours ago, Falcon1986 said:

Has positive reviews on Amazon. Have never used it, unfortunately.

But I don't doubt that Omada is maturing.

Explain. I was looking over the so vs router mode deco function differences, I saw that I’ll be losing parental controls which I use to arrange all the devices on the mesh by person and block any unknown devices, is there any Omada equivalent to that 

Also is it somehow possible to run the deco in router mode still? 
 

see the main issue is that while one of my isps allows me to bring my own router, the other one is not as good and doesn’t let me use any other router, leaving me with the only option to pull a LAN cable from their box and plug it into the WAN port on the VPN router, so if a router can be connected to a router and still be a router, can I keep the deco in router mode? Bc the wan connection type can just be set to dynamic in and then connected to the lan, only thing is that the routers always warn me about dual NAT when I do this? Does the matter? I’m not familiar with what NAT is 

 

edit: I misread that as omada isn’t maturing, but my isssue still remains 

[Falcon1986]

On 1/22/2024 at 3:08 AM, Indian pc builder said:

... so if a router can be connected to a router and still be a router, can I keep the deco in router mode?

Yes, you can.

 

If you do this, I'd recommend you assign the primary Deco unit a static LAN IP address within the multi-WAN router's client list, so you don't get disconnections during DHCP IP renewals.

 

On 1/22/2024 at 3:08 AM, Indian pc builder said:

Does the matter? I’m not familiar with what NAT is 

Do some reading.