Hardware idea for home network

Hardware MikroTik hardware general
1

Hi guys!
I need to implement some network stuff in my new home, but to be honest this is not something I’m very good at. So I need some ideas to start from.. meanwhile I’m trying my best to study and understand all the basics.
Here are some details:

  • the home is a 3 stories home, I have a rack available at floor -1 where all cables start/arrive
  • I need wifi access on each floor with the same ssid (plus an additional ssid for parental controlled access plus an additional guest access)
  • I have smart appliances here and there (lets say 7-8 cables and some wifi) that I’d like to manage on a dedicated VLAN
  • I have 5 reolink PoE cameras max 12w and other 4 wifi cameras that I’d like to manage on another dedicated VLAN
  • I have a mini PC (8 core, 16gb) to virtualize anything needed
  • I have a WD NAS
  • I’ll use home assistant to manage as much as possible

Here are a couple of options I figured out.
Option 1

  • hAP ax³ as router and AP wifi6 on floor -1
  • CRS328-24P-4S+RM switch
  • hAP ax³ as AP wifi6 on floor 0
  • hAP ax³ as AP wifi6 on floor 1
  • pros: (imho) a lot of PoE free port for any future improvement, all AP connected @2.5gb
  • cons: router and AP on same device (is that a con?) , switch is not tagged as “new”

Option 2:

  • RB5009UPr+S+IN (out of stock everywhere atm)
  • CSS610-8P-2S+IN switch
  • hAP ax³ as AP wifi6 on floor -1
  • hAP ax³ as AP wifi6 on floor 0
  • hAP ax³ as AP wifi6 on floor 1
  • pros: top router, all devices tagged as “new”
  • cons: nearly all ports will be used, router must be used also as a switch (is that a con?), not all AP @2.5gb

In both cases the total price should be around 1k€ that actually is my budget.
What is your opinion regarding this 2 options? Any alternative one?

Thank you for any advice!
Marco

2

I would prefer the second option, but it really depends a lot of how much inter-vlan routing you need. The CPU routing performance of the RB5009 is ~2.5 times the hAP ax³ from the performance tests.

I’m not a fan of “combo AP/Router/Switch” devices. I like dedicated stand alone AP’s that can be mounted on the ceiling for better “line of sight” and less obstruction of furniture when going through walls.

Do you plan to use the hAP ax³ as vlan-aware switches? They probably aren’t the best choice, because I think ROS supports HW bridging with the IPQ6010 SoC yet (I don’t know what the capabilities of the switch ASIC in the IPQ6010 SoC are, so I don’t know if this is a software/firmware limitation or a hardware/ASIC limitation. If I had to guess I would be surprised if the ASIC did not have the ability built in, but the “programming” of the ASIC is not currently built into the ROS support, but it could be that it is just a “dumb switch”). But if the only thing they would be used for is sensors/actuators used by home assistant, those usually have very low bandwidth. More concerning is the cameras that will generate a lot of traffic.

The CSS610 has some limitations (no IVL), but that doesn’t prevent the use of vlans, but it could cause some issue when used with other switches that do use IVL. But if you don’t have the same MAC addresses on different vlans, it should normally not cause a problem, and normally MAC addresses will be unique; the exceptions are rare (DECnet Phase IV).

I would prefer RB5009 for the router, plus dedicated vlan-aware switches (PoE where needed) and APs for each floor. How do you plan to route wires to cameras and access points? From central location, or from each floor? If you decide to go for the PoE version of the RB5009, be sure you understand the limitations of the PoE it provides. If you read the spec sheet it says “802.3af/at” but that’s “stretching the truth”. It is passive and depends on the input voltage. See this reddit thread PoE out voltage on RB5009, is it configurable?

Another option since you have an 8 core miniPC would be a virtualized router. I prefer dedicated hardware for the router, but it would be an option that’s available immediately, and it could be replace later with dedicated hardware if you determine that there would be benefits. No matter what you get, there will be something better available in a year, so if you keep waiting for the “best possible”, it will probably be an indefinite wait.

3

Hi Buckeye,
Thank you for your suggestions.

“it really depends a lot of how much inter-vlan routing you need”: not that much I guess.. maybe only NAS and cameras should need inter-vlan routing

“Do you plan to use the hAP ax³ as vlan-aware switches?”: I think the answer is no.. if I correctly understood “vlan-aware” meaning. AP will be used only as AP and only wireless (only the switch will be wired connected).

“no IVL”: I think/hope this won’t be a problem

“How do you plan to route wires to cameras and access points?”: All wires will reach direcly the rack at floor -1

“be sure you understand the limitations of the PoE it provides”: cameras work @48v, AP will have a supplier so I guess limitations will not impact the solution.

“Another option since you have an 8 core miniPC would be a virtualized router.”: I agree with you that the router might have his own hw.

What about the CRS328 as a switch vs CSS610?

Any valid alternative to the hAP? I was thinking to them for the wifi6.. but I have no device that works with wifi6 yet and if I have to choose between good future + so so present vs good present + so so future I choose good present!

If CRS328 is not << CSS610 I think it may be good a option too: I can start with hAP as a router (or a virtualized one if it’s better) and then add a dedicated device only if it’s not enough.

Thank you for the advices,
Marco

4

But those are the things that will generate the most traffic. One camera is going to generate more traffic than 50 IoT sensors. You should plan to have your NVR on the same vlan as the Cameras, then all the camera to NVR traffic will bypass the router.

If I understood you are going to have at least 3 separate subnets. Main, Camera/NVR, IoT/Appliance/HA

Do you have any wired devices on the other floors? Will all the wired devices be on the same subnet (vlan), or will there be some on the the “IoT/Appliance/HA” vlan, or Camera VLAN?
Will you have mulitiple SSIDs, one for each vlan? The hAP ax³ can be configured as a vlan-aware (by that I mean it understands vlans, and can untagged vlans on specific ports from the “trunk” link back to the main switch, so it could for example, have ether1 as the trunk link to the main switch (in the rack at floor -1), and then ether2 and ether3 as an access ports for a PCs on the Main lan, ether4 as an access port for the IoT vlan, and ether5 as an access port for the Camer/NVR vlan. That’s about the only advantage I can see of using the hAP ax³ as an access point, otherwise a dedicated AP is better in my opinion. But it also requires the ability to get a wire to above the ceiling, and between floors, that can be a challenge unless there is a “dropped ceiling”. In your case between 0 and 1 would be the most challenging.

If you don’t have two devices using the same MAC address, it won’t be.

The CRS328 is superior, but more expensive (and uses more power), and under load can make fan noise. See ServeTheHome review here MikroTik CRS328-24P-4S+RM Video Review Neither supports 2.5Gbps on the 24 ports. And if you are looking at wifi6, having support for 2.5G may be useful.

I tend to buy on what’s currently available, not the promise of what is coming. Otherwise you will never get anything. I have Ubiquiti UAP-AC-LR APs, but I only use wifi for things that require it, IoT devices primarily. I don’t stream TV over wifi, all my computers (including laptops) are usually used in places with wired access available. I use wifi for convenience, not performance. The only video streaming is to mobile devices like phones or tablets. Music/audio streaming to Amazon Echo or Google Home devices.

There are many APs to choose from. I haven’t switched to wifi6, because I don’t see the benefit based of my usage and like you none of my wifi client support wifi6 anyway. So I will probably use what I have until I find a need to upgrade. If you don’t need wifi6, you may consider the hAP ac² or if you want more RAM and Flash, the hAP ac³ (but only if you plan to use dedicated APs, as from what I have seen reported, the wifi in the hAP ac* isn’t stellar). And once you get to the hAP ac³, you may as well go for the more powerful hAP ax³, as it isn’t that much more expensive. (although the street prices of the hAP ac³ have dropped since the hAP ax³ became available. You may be able to get a “deal” on a used hAP ac³ from someone that wants to have the “newest model”). But be careful when buying used, and always factor in shipping cost when comparing prices.

If you keep the top talkers on the same vlans with the main devices they are talking to, then you won’t be routing much local traffic. And I think you will find the hAP ax³ to be adequate for your needs. But I have no experience with any MikroTik devices other than the CSS106-5G-1S and the RB760iGS.

5

Yep, tht’s already planned. I will have no NVR, but a virtualized FTP server on the miniPC connected to the cameras’ vlan

Yes, but all wires are going directly to the rack. I don’t need to plug any cable on the other floors.

I have a dropped ceiling in both floors 0 and 1 with LAN cable inside.. so I can install the AP there.

It’s more expensive but in my budget, so it’s ok. Power is not a problem, I produce it with solar pannels. Also the noise is not a problem because it’s in a room where people never stands (I guess that the washing machine in the same room will be more noisy lol).
I think it’s better to give up wifi6 for now.. maybe in the future I’ll change my APs if needed.

At this point, I think that I don’t really need hAP ax3 as an access point.. maybe it’s better to add 3 cheaper AP wifi5 (like the cAP ac that is even poe-in) and use saved money for the RB5009 (that has the 2.5Gb for any future wifi6).
In this case I’ll have:

  • RB5009
  • CRS328-24P-4S+RM
  • 3x cAP ac
    If I find some discount on the net I’ll stay in my budget (full price is approx 10% over budget).

Edit: I may consider also a CSS610-8G-2S+IN and a CSS610-8P-2S+IN instead of the CRS328-24P-4S+RM to save money.. together they will provide me all the needed ports costing 30% less.. does it make any sense?

6

Hi,

In addition to dedicated vlan-aware switches (PoE when necessary) and APs for each level, I would prefer RB5009 as the router. How will the cables be run to the cameras and access points? From the main area or from each floor? Make sure you are aware of the RB5009’s PoE limitations before purchasing the PoE version of the device. Even though the specification sheet states “802.3af/at,” that is “bending the facts.” It depends on the input voltage and is passive.Also do have a some bed, chairs and outdoor furniture.