Submitted 2 weeks ago by krash@lemmy.ml to selfhosted@lemmy.world
I have solid experience configuring and maintaining Linux, but my knowledge in networking is quite basic. What should my first configurations and preparations should I do before flashing Openwrt and setting it up for my home network?
PS. If I can use the switch as a NAS, I’d be delighted.
So, this question is very difficult to answer. I don’t want you to be discouraged though.
I can’t answer you because I don’t know your goals. Since we’re in /c/selfhosted, I assume you’re experimenting with some self-hosted setups, which is awesome! But what exactly are you hoping to do with OpenWRT? And what’s the plan for the switch? Are you aiming for better network control, VLANs, firewall rules, or…?
If you can share more about what you’re trying to accomplish, folks here will be much better equipped to help you figure out your next steps."
Thank you for all the questions to help me clarify my use case 🙂
At the very basic, I’d like to:
Once the basics are in place, I’d like to elevate my netsec game and implement:
The NAS part is just for convince, it would be nice to have a samba / NFS with my files available when I need them.
Maybe run a bandwidth speed test, and enable/set qos to 95% of that value… I found that’s an easy way to kill the buffer bloat (way better latency).
should I do
Read. For example the tutorials in the openwrt wiki. I found them quite helpful.
before flashing Openwrt
Nothing… except the exact prerequisites for the flashing itself.
Your network config comes afterwards.
Be prepared for your router to not work until you figure out how to set stuff up. So hopefully this isn’t your only router. I converted a router to OpenWRT and my knowledge of networking was super basic. It was very confusing but I did get it working in a few days. However, I couldn’t get some things working like a VPN or updating without wiping all my settings. OpenWRT is router firmware, not NAS software. You’ll need to run something like CasaOS, OpenMediaVault, TrueNAS, etc for that.
This website is a great starting point for router configurations: routersecurity.org/#StartHere
Clearwater@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Building on the advice others gave:
krash@lemmy.ml 1 week 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 1 week 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.