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l008com

l008com

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 20, 2002
Messages
374
I'm looking for a new router at home. And I need one of two features:

EITHER
- the ability to add time-based firewall rules, so I can block for example facebook.com from midnight till noon time. I'd like to add a whole array of blocks like this.

OR
- an API I could use to add and remove domain blocks on the fly, ideally through HTTP requests. So I could have a script on my home server basically manage the whole thing but the router would still be doing the blocking.

It doesn't necessarily have to even have wifi, I could easily just keep using my existing router in bridged mode to be an access point.

I don't really have a lot of money for this so I'd rather not go with something crazy like a $250 router.
Also DNS based solutions wont' really work due to caching.
Also while I do have a home server, I really don't want to route all my traffic through it so it can do the filtering. It has other things to do, and there are a lot of devices on my network. It would make things so simple if the router could just handle this.

Got any specific make/models you can suggest?
If you personally have one that does what I'm looking for, could you also post some screen shots of the admin panel for these features so I can see if it looks like what I'm looking for.
 
MikroTik RB750Gr3. Has time based firewall rules, a full REST API, and does TLS Host matching which would bypass the DNS caching issue you're mentioning.
 
Dopamin3 said:
MikroTik RB750Gr3. Has time based firewall rules, a full REST API, and does TLS Host matching which would bypass the DNS caching issue you're mentioning.
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I like that it doesn't have wifi. Do you have one of these? If so, can you send some screenshots of it's admin panel?
 
l008com said:
I like that it doesn't have wifi. Do you have one of these? If so, can you send some screenshots of it's admin panel?
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Mikrotik has a CLI (ssh or serial port) and a Windows app called WinBox. It pretty much looks like a Windows app from the 1990s. Mikrotik is business/pro gear and comes with all that complexity and flexibility, but it's popular among home users since it's cheap. You can get a hEX refresh for $60 with 5 1Gb ports, and it has enough CPU to route 1Gb if your firewall isn't too fancy.

I have an RB5009UG+S+IN router and a few of their switches. Almost all of their stuff, even switches, runs Mikrotik RouterOS, which is based on the Linux kernel. It's not a Linux system, just uses the kernel. What a given piece of hardware can do depends as much on it's CPU, RAM and ports as it does on what sort of thing they call it. Some of the switches and WiFi access points can route faster than the cheaper routers. For example a cAP ax access point has a quad core ARM-64 CPU and 1GB ram - lots more than the cheapest routers.

I'm not a fan of their WiFi gear. They're 2 generations behind (WiFi 6 without 6GHz band support) and last I checked they didn't support fast roaming. OTOH is is cheap and very configurable.

I'm not sure the RB750Gr3 is still in production. I don't see it on their web site.

They have a whole range of routers and other devices. How fast is your internet connection/how fast do you want to support?
 
So it has a CLI and it has a windows app, but does it have a web interface like most routers?
My current internet is 85/85 and ill be going up to 300/300 soon but probably not higher than that any time soon.
As far as LAN, I have a separate switch that will handle wired connections so the switch built in to the router is only handling internet connections, and wifi to ethernet connections as the wireless device will be connected via that switch.
 
l008com said:
So it has a CLI and it has a windows app, but does it have a web interface like most routers?
My current internet is 85/85 and ill be going up to 300/300 soon but probably not higher than that any time soon.
As far as LAN, I have a separate switch that will handle wired connections so the switch built in to the router is only handling internet connections, and wifi to ethernet connections as the wireless device will be connected via that switch.
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Actually yeah it does. I kinda forgot about that. I just use WinBox. It has some advantages, like it'll scan for devices and can connect using a MAC address if you really screw something up. The Web UI looks like WinBox.

For 300/300 you'll be fine with a cheap model like that $60 hEX refresh I mentioned.
 
Yeah I don't have any windows machines except a couple of gaming setups so web is a must. I'll check that thing out, it may be the winner. Do you have one?
 
l008com said:
Yeah I don't have any windows machines except a couple of gaming setups so web is a must. I'll check that thing out, it may be the winner. Do you have one?
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Not a hEX. I have >1Gb down so I needed something faster with faster ports. I have an Mikrotik RB5009UG+S+IN router with a 2.5Gb port I use to connect to my cable modem and a 10Gb SFP+ port that connects to my main switch.

Pretty much everything Mikrotik runs RouterOS, so they all look the same aside from a few of the cheaper switches that run SwitchOS. There are also a few models that can dual boot RouterOS and SwitchOS, but they seem to have given up on that. I can pull up the same web interface on my switches or connect to them with SSH or WinBox. They can route too, just not well enough to handle my internet connection. Not enough CPU/RAM on the switches.
 
I'd go with a cheap used Watchguard Mx00 or Mx70 series. Can do all you need with the time based schedules and far more if you want it to.
 
What is your goal here? I've got network ability as above, and kids. And i still pay for a per device management software because its better than network tools. Network options are too easily subverted. I've seen, and heard of way too many kids using custom scripts and more to get around school filters on their chromebooks. Ingenious really what they get up to these days.
 
I would pay attention to my own needs when making a choice. It is better to buy a proven mid-range model than to overpay for marketing.
 
Ya I am still looking for a Non generic ISP Fiber Optic Modem. :D

Boi willy gee can't wait for that XB10 to come out for Comcast!!
 
Trying to set up my new MikroTik router right now and honestly, I'm not a fan so far. This interface is truly terrible. Setting up simple port mapping doesn't seem to work. The router makes loud beeps that I'm sure sleeping roommates just love, and I can't find a way to shut that off (it only happens on boot but still)(edit: found the silent setting but it won't let me change it). Plus I'm not seeing time-scheduleable firewall rules anywhere. This router might not have been the right choice here, it might have to go back. I'm not looking to write firewall routing rules by hand. Thats not AT ALL what I'm looking for. I'm looking for something with an fast and easy to use web based interface and that is not this.
 
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MIkroTik is full bore commercial grade stuff. It's not easy. Guess I/we could have been more clear about what you were getting yourself into. You're going to have to write firewall rules if you want to do anything remotely interesting with the firewall.
 
Mikrotik, networking for the RedHat crowd, yay. /s

Ubiquiti would be a strong contender for your asks. there could be others with refinement.
 
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Valnar said:
A $58 MikroTik is anything but that.
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Don't base it on the price. I mean commercial/business features. Commercial != expensive. "Enterprise" is expensive. "Commercial" includes budget hotels and coffee shops that have an IT contractor who manages their stuff for them. They often need more than home/consumer grade stuff can do, but aren't going to pay gobs of $ for Cisco, etc. That's a big market for Mikrotik. That little $58 Mikrotik can do all sorts of stuff no consumer device will do without 3rd party software/firmware.
 
Ok I spent a few more hours trying to make the MikroTik work and I give up, its going back. I didn't even get to scheduling firewall rules, I couldn't get simple port mapping to work. MikroTik is *NOT* in any way what I want in a router.

Any other suggestions? I guess I need to add "User Friendly" to the list of features I need:
- NAT
- Port Mapping
- time-scheduleable firewall rules
- user friendly web based configuration

Thats really it, pretty basic.

Also I searched fore WireGuard and I'm getting $2000+ routers, thats out of budget :D
 
l008com said:
Ok I spent a few more hours trying to make the MikroTik work and I give up, its going back. I didn't even get to scheduling firewall rules, I couldn't get simple port mapping to work. MikroTik is *NOT* in any way what I want in a router.

Any other suggestions? I guess I need to add "User Friendly" to the list of features I need:
- NAT
- Port Mapping
- time-scheduleable firewall rules
- user friendly web based configuration

Thats really it, pretty basic.

Also I searched fore WireGuard and I'm getting $2000+ routers, thats out of budget :D
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Your best bet is something like pfsense or opnsense to be honest, anything basic is not going to have advanced firewll rule support. Perhaps ubiquiti unifi might but I haven't used their equipment. "Professional" firewall / router equipment won't support wireguard so I wouldn't bother looking there.
 
pfsense is great but I think theres a huge hole in the market here for what OP wants, or even people with less technical skill or free time to devote to setting this up... a nice friendly GUI that allows custom controls on the network, on a small cheap device would (maybe?) sell like hotcakes.
 
by 18-20 replies im sure all the elite pro's gotcha great suggestions

outside and or addition to that you can also consider putting your own custom hardware firewall inbetween your main router and the rest of the network. This would be a dedicated laptop or desktop probably running some unix or linux where you configure all the protocals and send receive settings.

would need two NIC ports so it would go, ISP Modem to your Router of choice to the dedicated hardware firewall then to powered switch for the rest of your network.

There are tons of opinions and guides on this, but it is what I see a lot of Elite's and Cra cra people do!
 
myzz said:
pfsense is great but I think theres a huge hole in the market here for what OP wants, or even people with less technical skill or free time to devote to setting this up... a nice friendly GUI that allows custom controls on the network, on a small cheap device would (maybe?) sell like hotcakes.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say its a huge hole, you described Ubiquiti and the Alien range and somen of their Unifi stuff. It is a market that could have more growth. Definitely a hole in the above 1gbps routed space along these lines.
 
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