Edgerouter 4, RB4011, or parts for a rackmountable box running pfsense?

Extreme Gamer

Extreme Gamer

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I have an edgerouter lite which broke down. So I need a new router to replace it.

I'm leaning towards the RB4011 but a pfsense box doesn't sound like a bad idea. Problem is, I'm completely clueless about what parts to get with a Rs. 20k budget.

Another option is the Edgerouter 4 but the only distributor willing to get one for me can't guarantee when one will arrive - they said 15th of this month, but that's not a guarantee.

Reason I want rackmount is that this box will be installed in a standard rack when I move to a new place, which is not very far into the future. Both the ER4 and the RB4011 are compatible with rackmount brackets.
 
OP
Extreme Gamer

Extreme Gamer

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Several computers wired on my LAN and a wireless access point which hosts another ten devices or so. I used the edgerouter lite because it gave me exactly the kind of configurability I needed.

The router I choose now will move with me to a new place sometime near the end of next year, and form the backbone of a multi-storeyed network install, and each room in the building, plus any additional equipment will have their own rules on the network.

Like I know normal consumer routers that have the same feature set, but they're not nearly as configurable as this kind of equipment. Nor are their cpus that powerful.
 
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whitestar_999

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You are right,consumer routers don't have similarly powerful hardware & are never as much configurable as enterprise class routers. You can make a pfsense box with cheap dual core pentium processor which should be powerful enough but size/power consumption will be more(still not much though) compared to a dedicated router.
 
OP
Extreme Gamer

Extreme Gamer

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Where should I look for parts? I want to keep the footprint small and I'm having trouble finding those Asrock and Gigabyte mITX embedded boards online.

After coming back to India I have not had to do any serious PC parts shopping.
 
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whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
Buy Online ASRock H310CM-ITX/ac LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel H310 SATA 6Gb/s Mini ITX Intel Motherboard - in India combine with pentium gold g5400.

Or you can go for something like this if you think its hardware is enough *www.amazon.in/Intel-BOXNUC5CPYH-Processor-Integrated-Graphics/dp/B00XPVRR5M/
 
OP
Extreme Gamer

Extreme Gamer

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Could I just use the USB3 port with a basic ethernet-usb converter dongle? Or is that going to eat too much cpu?

First preference of course is an embedded cpu+dual LAN kind of setup.

In any case I still need a compact chassis, especially one that can be mounted to a 19" rack with/without adapters.

Aliexpress has a lot of options for what I want. Does anyone have experience with them? Regarding shipping times and customs duties.
 
Nerevarine

Nerevarine

Incarnate
BPI-R1

would this suite your purpose ?

its an SBC meant for an open source router.

More info here Banana Pi BPI-R1 - Banana Pi Wiki
 
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Extreme Gamer

Extreme Gamer

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Nerevarine said:
BPI-R1

would this suite your purpose ?

its an SBC meant for an open source router.

More info here Banana Pi BPI-R1 - Banana Pi Wiki
Click to expand...

Correct me if I am wrong but there's only a single realtek NIC bridged to a broadcom switch in that right?
 
OP
Extreme Gamer

Extreme Gamer

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Well, it should be much faster than the ER4 or the RB4011. I went for a J3160 CPU and 4x Intel NICs. 4GB RAM and 32GB SSD.

For reference, my current NAS from Asustor has a J1800 in it.

I think I overkilled it a little too much.

Also the whole thing cost me $205 after the measly discount.
 
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whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
Extreme Gamer said:
Well, it should be much faster than the ER4 or the RB4011. I went for a J3160 CPU and 4x Intel NICs. 4GB RAM and 32GB SSD.

For reference, my current NAS from Asustor has a J1800 in it.

I think I overkilled it a little too much.

Also the whole thing cost me $205 after the measly discount.
Click to expand...
You are most likely going to pay $70-80 as customs duty on this.
 
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Extreme Gamer

Extreme Gamer

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Hmm really? I paid some Rs. 400 when I ordered a replacement keyboard for my thinkpad. The keyboard cost me Rs. 4k.

Maybe the seller under-invoiced the shipment and the same may happen here.
 
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whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
Extreme Gamer said:
Hmm really? I paid some Rs. 400 when I ordered a replacement keyboard for my thinkpad. The keyboard cost me Rs. 4k.

Maybe the seller under-invoiced the shipment and the same may happen here.
Click to expand...
When was this? Situation changed a lot in last 1 year.Because of the misuse of under-invoicing when ordering from aliexpress,people actually started ordering kgs worth of goods & items to resell here & make a profit.Because of all this govt issued strict regulations regarding shipments coming from China/similar countries so now customs officials strictly implement the rules & anything worth more than 4-5k "in their eyes(they take help from google too) irrespective of invoice value" attracts customs duty. See this recent thread(your city only): BDF Tablets from SHENZHEN China
 
OP
Extreme Gamer

Extreme Gamer

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This was quite literally only a few weeks ago. I did have to go through hell and a Rs. 1000 name change penalty because the KYC regulations are extremely ******** (btw, are the rules on abusive terms still the same as back then?).

It's entirely possible that I'll have to pay 4-5k in duties and GST but it's still a lot cheaper than what resellers are currently charging. It's also a lot more powerful than the RB4011 and ER4 AFAIK so I suppose it's worth the premium.
 
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whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
As you said,keyboard cost was 4k & probably even less in the eyes of customs officials(after all,for them a keyboard is not a "costly item" being most likely they never ventured into pro/serious gaming :) ). You are right about it still being cheaper & better than what is available here even after incl the customs duty so I guess it is fine.Btw you used aliexpress standard shipping or something else.
 
OP
Extreme Gamer

Extreme Gamer

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Aliexpress standard shipping, which was free, or rather built into the cost. There was one listing by the same seller where the shipping cost was separate and the list price would go down by around $25-ish, but shipping was $30+ in that listing so it made more sense to go with the other listing.

Anything I should know?
 
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