Comment on Just got my OpenWrt switch - what configurations / preparations should I do?
Clearwater@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Building on the advice others gave:
- Make a list of the precise goals you want to achieve. Even if you don’t know precisely what you’re trying to do, if you can describe the intent well, someone who does know can point you in the right direction.
- Networking is not super hard, but it is not easy. You should take note of every configuration change from stock, and you should optimally have an understanding of what a majority of those do. Ticking boxes at random will have results varying from “nothing happens” to “nothing happened… yet” to “the network is suddenly down” to “my switch is on but I can’t even ping it anymore.”
krash@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Thank you for taking the time to answer throughly! I noted your advice and chunked up my goals into “mini-projects”, once I have all the configurations set and all devices connected to the new router. I did check what I bought is a router, not a switch (I find the naming of the device acting as the gateway between the LAN and WAN to be a bit ambigous: switch, router, gateway…).
As for the IDS capability, this is something that would be done by a raspberry pi being fed packets from the router. I don’t know if I will ever undertake that task, but I keep it in mind if I’ll feel adventorous 🙃
(for those wondering: Linux Magazine #279 has a guide on how to accomplish this with a Fritz!Box 7583).
Clearwater@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
For all intents and purposes, “gateway” just means “router,” especially in consumer/home networking. Routers act as a gateway, routing traffic from one network to another network. On one end of the router is your WAN (ISP / internet at large / etc.), and on the other end if your LAN.
Switches on the other hand are “dumb” and only act to expand a network. They basically act like a power strip does: What was one port is now more. (This example will probably upset someone for reasons, but they’ll also understand that it works well enough.)
Thought exercise: What happens if you plug the WAN cable from your ISP into a dumb switch (like www.amazon.com/dp/B00A128S24), and from there you plug in several devices (PC, printer, etc)? I am not answering that question because just about anything can actually happen. It depends on how your ISP is configured and will almost certainly not work 100% correctly.
Now onto the actual response: For the most part, every consumer router is a router/switch/wifi AP combo box, and are capable of being used for all or any combination of those features.
If you’re not planning to use your device as a router, then we’ll ignore the routing functionality. All prior points where I say “this happens at the router, not the switch” still apply. (Your device can still be called a router, as that’s what it’s sold as, but you’d be using it with the all routing functionality disabled, only using the switch and possible WiFi features)
If you do plan to use your device as a router, then the prior points where I say that now apply.
Anyway, you’re in luck since the switch built into your device is almost certainly VLAN-capable (it’s quite rare, but some devices are not capable of it). If you’re not using the device as a router, that’s where things probably end, since (at the switch level) VLAN support is pretty much the only thing of note.
I spent so long writing this I actually forgot what I was trying to say initially. I’ll likely draw a diagram to explain some things for you.
krash@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Thank you for taking the time to write this! Well, first stage of my project (getting openwrt my router) has gone according to plan, and now to strive for the next objective 😏