Changing ISP router with FTTP on the horizon? and complexity involved.

[Bilz19]

Hi All,

I currently have Plusnet "Fibre Extra" FTTC service with Plusnet Hub2 router.
I dont have FTTP in my area yet but when it comes I will likely use it.

I'm currently considering changing my router to something better to improve my security, and I believe a good way to do this is by having a good hardware router / firewall (better firewall, be able segregate devices / networks, enable guest networks, DNS filtering, router based VPN etc) so I've recently heard about DD-WRT, pfsense, OPNsense, OpenWRT, Unify etc (although admittedly don't know much about these and what would suit my needs yet).

Couple of questions..

1) Is using any of the options mentioned above likely to need in depth networking knowledge? I mean.. I know how to acces my router configs etc, but I'm by no means fully versed in modern networking principles and terminology. Would I be biting off more than I can chew by considering this?

2) Does it make sense to change the plusnet router to something else now if I will be upgrading to FTTP when it becomes available? I assume I would get a new router with a FTTP service, would I be able to do what I'm considering with it?

3) Is there anyway to get an estimate when FTTP will be available in my street?

I'd aprreciate any guidance.
Many Thanks

 

[gameinn]

Unless you have a really specific need for something then stick with what you have. It's one of those "you'll know if you need it" type stuff.

I feel like going with something such as a TP-Link or Asus router is a good balance between not being totally tied down to an ISP router and not going full blown tear your hair out like the other stuff can be. Either can do most of the things you listed aswell.

Depending on what tier of FTTP speed you get the Plusnet Hub 2 may hold your speed back slightly. Pretty sure it can't do 500 Mbps over wifi let alone speeds on the 900 Mbps package. That's when I'd consider getting a TP-Link or Asus.

As for availability: https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/where-when-building-ultrafast-full-fibre-broadband

Scroll down here a little and put your postcode in. It has a handy key telling you likely when FTTP will be available. Also https://bidb.uk/ but it's only good for stuff happening that month or maybe next month.

 

[Bilz19]

Thanks, that sounds like a sensible approach, as I don't want to jump into something that will then cause me months of torment, but I'm prepared to put in some effort to get to a more secure configuration with more flexibility to the current setup.

I've done the openreach availability check and it reports between now and Dec 2026. According to bidb.uk site, Openreach and Cityfibre are planned in my area so I assume I'd have to check separately for Cityfibre? I did check on the Cityfibre site but it didn't give me a timeframe.

I'm still unclear as to if buying something like a Asus or TP-Link router is a wise move now if signing up to FTTP in 1-2 years? Will I get supplied with a router with FTTP which will be able to do this stuff (and maybe should wait for this to save money and prevent ending up with two routers)?

 

[Barnet]

@Bilz19

Personally I would wait until FTTP comes along.

There are many better routers available than the Plusnet supplied Hub 2 but for many users the Hub 2 meets their needs.

When FTTP is installed an active unit (the ONT) interfaces from fibre to copper. If you are with Plusnet when that happens, the Hub 2 plugs in to the ONT (using a different connector to the current phone line).

Once you have fibre and the ONT then your choice of Hub 2 replacements becomes wider and you can chose something that meets your needs then (many find that something from Asus or TP-Link meets their requirements for a "better than the ISP provided" router).

In the meanwhile, contemplate what you want to do about any landline you currently have (cease it, migrate to VoIP) and how the FTTP install and the required components might work best in your home.

If you are mid contract with Plusnet at the moment, you may find the issue with the landline comes along when and if you wish to recontract (irrespective of whether that recontract is FTTC or FTTP).

 

[Bilz19]

If you are mid contract with Plusnet at the moment, you may find the issue with the landline comes along when and if you wish to recontract (irrespective of whether that recontract is FTTC or FTTP).

We don't use the landline for calls, so that's not really an issue. I'm not really familiar with VoIP so will read up on that to see if its something we may want to use.

Sounds like I will need to supply my own router for FTTP then, they just supply an ONT unit? If it's going to be up to three years I think I'll consider getting something now that I can then also use with the ONT unit when I transfer.

What would you recommend that Is good for security, but not too difficult to set up?
Budget upto £250. Ideally I'd like to get something that has flexibility so If I decide I want to use something more advanced later then I can.

Many Thanks

 

[gameinn]

It will likely be mid 2024. Nothing seems to happen then all of a sudden they bang out your area with fibre in like a month. I'd personally wait as routers are in a weird state right now. The change from wifi 6 to wifi 7 is happening faster than many anticipated so likely mid 2024 you'll get some really good deals on wifi 6 routers.

If you can't wait for some reason then in a couple weeks the Asus GT-AX6000 should be around £250. Would be surprised if you need more than that or it lacking features you think you might need.

 

[Anth]

My strong advice is; Aliexpress have its once-per-year 11.11 sale in 4 days time. (It's the Chinese Black Friday sale).

Buy a four (or six) Lan Intel Nuc in this sale. Then use it with your current FTTC setup with PFsense or Opnsense.

If you buy a fairly decent spec model this should be all you ever need for the rest of your life. Buy one with 2.5Gb ports to future-proof yourself.

PFsense and Opnsense are fairly easy to set up to get a basic firewall protection that should be all you need to use to get going.

If you want to start adding more complex rules. There are walkthrough guides all over the place on setting them all up. Just follow them. And if there are no guides just go to their support forums or Reddit and people will walk you through what you are wanting.

The only way to learn how to use it, Is to actually get it, install it and use it.

After having PFsense for 7 years now going from FTTC with Plusnet to now FTTP with CityFibre I could never go back to a standard router.

If you find PFsense/Opnsense are too difficult to use you can get OpnWRT or IPfire on there which are much simpler to use.

To get a router as powerful as an intel NUC you would need to spend most likely twice to three times the price. But then you'd need to deal with locked-down software. An intel NUC and then OpnWRT would cost maybe £200 in the above sale.

 

[Bilz19]

Thanks for the replies. After contemplating on what's been said and watching some videos, I think I'm going to jump in and get started with OPNsense.

Anth, out of interest why do you recommend the Intel NUC units? could you provide a link to the type of thing you think would be suitable? I couldn't find one with 4 or 6 LAN ports? Also what are the benefits of getting a 4-6 port device if I can get a cheaper switch to connect to a 2 port device to extend connection availability?

I've also been looking at other options such as Protectli, Netgate, and other similar units. Would these also be available to bag for cheap in the 11.11 sale? If so it sounds like it would be a good idea to try to take advantage of any deals.

So far I think I will want to use Firewall rules / VLAN's / VPN / Parental controls / DNS filtering. Maybe more stuff in due course when I understand more. It looks like you need to know what you intend to do in order to buy the right hardware, so I guess I need to shoot for something that has scope for future proofing, but it looks like I could end up going massively overkill if just taking a stab on something.

Oh and one last thing is I currently use NordVPN, do I need to consider that in any decisions?

Thanks for all the help

 

[Anth]

This is the model I have its a Topton intel Nuc with a N6005 Pentium Quadcore processor

169.89€ 45% OFF|2023 neue 2,5G Weiche Router Pentium N6005 N5105 V5 4x Intel i226 Nics 2 * NVMe 2 * DDR4 fanless Mini PC Firewall Appliance VPN Server| | - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

There isn't any need to get a 4xLan Nuc if you intend to use a switch. At the minimum, you just need two Ethernet ports - one for WAN and the other to connect to your Switch for LAN.

The reason why I suggested the Intel Nucs is because they are tiny, have very low power usage and run quietly and cool without the need for any fan. But if you wanted to, you could use an old PC for your router. But the power usage would be significantly higher and take up a lot more space.

Another option that some people do is to forgo the router entirely and set up a Virtual PC inside their own Windows install using something like VMWare, install Opnsense onto that virtual PC and have this be their router on the same hard drive and PC they use as their main PC.

 

[Bilz19]

Thanks for the link - it was helpful in making a decision. Which version did you go for? (EDIT: I see you also went for the 6005). I've been looking on AliExpress all week trying to decide what to go for. I've been reading that a lot of these mini pc's run hot and require additional cooling so I was looking for a unit with a larger / better heat sink to avoid having to add an additional fan.

I've been torn between going for the N5105 / N6005 vs the N100.
Link for the N5105 / N6005 : Here
Link for the N100 : Here

N5105 case A/B £144
N6005 case A/B £193
N100 £170

I noticed the 5105 / 6005 look to have the blue USB3 ports and also a USB-C port whereas the N100 didn't. Also preferred the case for better cooling capability.

I've opted for the N6005 case A type, which I managed to get down to £155 with some codes.

Reckon I've made the right choice for the N6005 over the N100?
Regardless it's done now and I'll see what it's like when it arrives

 

[Anth]

My Topton 6005 model B has not once ever budged from 27c. Some people said Topton were at one stage sending out engineering sample CPUs that were running around the 40-50c range but I think I got lucky and avoided receiving one of these.

If I was going to buy one now I would buy the Model A 6005.

When I bought mine a year ago there was no Model A or B's. There were just the one that is now called Model Bs. It seems the model A is the newer improved model of the two.

 

[Bilz19]

Sounds like it's always hit & miss from AliExpress so I guess i'll just have to wait and see. The cpu benchmarks for the N100 generally looked better but it was the case and the better USB connectivity that eventually swayed me towards the N6005-A.

Thanks for your advice on this, I'll post again once I've received it and got it up and running.

I went for the barebones version. I read that the ram and storage they supply are often cheap and crappy so I'll source my own locally.

I've also been reading up about the possibility of backdoors in the firmware of these cheap chinese pc's, many people opting to go for Protecti devices because they can be supplied with the "coreboot" open source BIOS. Did you just use the firmware supplied with yours? do you know if running an alternative open source firmware such as coreboot is possible on these?

 

[Anth]

I went for the barebones version. I read that the ram and storage they supply are often cheap and crappy so I'll source my own locally.

Yes definitely do this. The cheapest place to buy memory and hard drives is CEX.