Broadband Related > Broadband Hardware
OPNsense, fanless N100/N305 barebone router options
Chunkers:
Hi guys
OPNsense, fanless N100/N305 barebone router options
I think I will upgrade my PCEngines APU2C4 home router running pfSense in the near future, it has been fantastic for 6 years but I think its time for it to be upgraded and I want to switch to OPNsense, be familiar / up and running before upgrading to (proper) fibre. Sadly PCEngines seem to have ground to a halt with their stuff EOL, no new boards.
Tenbury Wells is due to be upgraded to fibre in the next 12-24 months (we currently only have ADSL on Zen) so plan is to upgrade to a router capable of handling higher throughput before then, option to run with VPN, switch to OPNsense from pfSense, have 2.5 Gb lan capability and get something that will see me through another 6 years or so.
I am currently connected via an ancient Zyxel 8924 acting as ADSL modem and use two Ubiquiti WAP's to cover the house, its 11ac but can't see any need to upgrade wifi until fibre arrives. I have a NAS and a TV server running, 4 adults in the house a lot of the time, all fairly demanding users with lots of devices - we also have a quite a lot of cameras and smart home devices.
Started looking at my options, initially wanted to avoid Chinese stuff but now realise its pointless to even try so been browsing websites and looking at AliExpress / Amazon
Currently leaning towards N100 or N305 box, N305 obviously being more expensive but more cores and higher clock speed. I did like the N5105 also but the N100 offers what appears to be significant performance boost for small price increase, for future proofing I also am inclined to 'go overkill' slightly as long as the power consumption isn't massively increased.
I will probably buy barebone unit and buy my own branded DDR5 SODIMM and SSD drive, looks like I'm not going to save much (if anything) buying off Aliexpress and better off buying on UK Amazon - anyone tried this? If I add import duty to the Aliexpress prices its basically the same as UK.
Any thoughts or experience you can share?
Chunks
doofus:
I know the electric bill will be more, but I use standard PC parts.
I use a MicroATX MB, silent Seasonic PSU and a silent Passive CPU cooler (Noctua) on an i3 13100.
Then I can use a standard PCIe (QNAP) dual port Intel NIC, i225-LM
You will save some money and gain flexibilty using standard quality parts, and the box is silent.
But - the standby power consumption will higher.. and the box takes up more physical space.
Any extra heat goes into my room, so no big deal.
Swings and roundabouts ;D
Chunkers:
--- Quote from: doofus on January 01, 2024, 05:31:55 PM ---I know the electric bill will be more, but I use standard PC parts.
I use a MicroATX MB, silent Seasonic PSU and a silent Passive CPU cooler (Noctua) on an i3 13100.
Then I can use a standard PCIe (QNAP) dual port Intel NIC, i225-LM
--- End quote ---
That's interesting, I have an old PC here running OPNsense as a test but I hadn't considering the option of buying low-power new parts and self-build - I'll look into it, thanks!
doofus:
The main reason I do it this way is for any unexpected down the road hardware problems.
Imagine if the Chinese low power box suffers a motherboard failure? You would be completely fooked.
But if you built using standard parts, you could grab a spare/replacement motherboard easily.
Also standard CPU's are socketed - not soldered onto the MB, so easy to swap. Plus you can use cheap PC RAM vs more expensive Laptop RAM.
bogof:
I bought a Lenovo M720Q SFF PC, which has a PCIe slot that you can use via a riser board. I then added a cheap IBM/Lenovo Intel quad PCIe gigabit port card from ebay. There are also quad and dual 2.5G PCIE cards available, but if you don't need it yet, wait for them to come down and buy later. You can get the M720Q for around £150 on eBay, they're pretty plentiful. Not fanless, mind, but pretty quiet.
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