this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2024
12 points (92.9% liked)

Selfhosted

39980 readers
781 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

  1. Be civil: we're here to support and learn from one another. Insults won't be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.

  2. No spam posting.

  3. Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it's not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).

  6. No trolling.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Hello All!

I just purchased a Intel Celeron box from AliExpress to replace (and hopefully improve) the functions of my raspberry pi running wg-easy and pihole. I'd like this new box to handle DHCP, firewalling/ad blocking, and act as my wireguard server.

Currently I'm connecting my Internet modem (thankfully not a router, so no NAT) to my TPlink Archer AX21's WAN port and then using the LAN ports to connect to my devices. I see that I can turn off NAT on the TPLink, but I assume I wouldn't be able to use the new device as a DHCP server if I do, right? I could put the TPLink in AP mode but I'm not sure if that shuts off the WAN or LAN ports.

Is the best move to leave the TPLink in router mode (I'm not sure this matters) and plug the firewall into one of the LAN ports? I can do this but it'll require some re-running of cables so I wanted to check first.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] ShellMonkey@lemmy.socdojo.com 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If I'm picturing the gear right, putting the TP into AP mode would just make it a client of the network that would then serve as your WiFi and the new box could be set up as the router/gateway for both the TP and the other clients formerly plugged into the TP.

Usually, changing the mode from router to AP would keep the LAN side active as an unmanaged switch, and may even add the wan port to it. So if all above holds true go modem, Celeron (opnsense), TP (LAN to LAN) and then plug the remaining Ethernet either into the TP or the other LAN ports on the Celeron box, both should be the same local network.

[–] doctorzeromd@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That would be great, and if the WAN port becomes a LAN port, even better. I don't see anything about that in the manual, but I'll cross my fingers

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

You could try OpenWRT

Edit: its not supported. You would need to go buy a device with support.

[–] doctorzeromd@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Worst case I'll just use the 4 LAN ports on the TPLink and leave the WAN on the TPLink unused

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 8 months ago (2 children)
[–] doctorzeromd@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Modem to WAN port of firewall, LAN port of firewall to wireless router in AP mode, other lan ports to other devices?

[–] ShellMonkey@lemmy.socdojo.com 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It works so long as you're not trying to create separate networks. When/if you decide to start with some vlan madness and such the AP likely won't work for that, unless it's fancy and can do multiple SSID on separate clans, but most WiFi/router combos don't go that far.

Basically the new firewall/router box becomes the boss of everything done ng DHCP, likely DNS relaying, and all the monitoring. Simple and efficient, just wouldn't go hosting public services with the setup since there's no 'DMZ' to keep it separate from you personal devices.

[–] doctorzeromd@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Cool, that's exactly what my plan is currently. I will eventually run all the cables but I want to drop in this firewall and start learning it in the meantime.

I may even go the route of some managed switches and WANs that do support multiple SSIDs on different VLANs, but first I want to get comfortable with my new single network.

[–] Still@programming.dev 1 points 8 months ago

another roart of the thread suggested using the Celeron box as an OPNsense router