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Hi, it’s me again. I like to think that my endless questions help fuel community engagement to feel less bad :sweat_smile:

So like the title says, I’m interested in running an OPNsense router for my home network so I can do better firewall filtering for both security and privacy (ad-blocking, phoning home, etc.) purposes. I found this video by Dave’s Garage that talks about running OPNsense in Transparent Filtering Bridge mode. I also researched that it’s better to use a switch and APs for any wireless traffic rather than having the router/firewall combo do it, so any hardware suggestions there? Here’s info about my network:

• 500 Mbps download and 50 Mbps upload speeds (stick with 1 Gbps ports right?)
• My Proxmox homelab is wired connection only, so I need to use one of the switch ports for it
• We do have a door camera (I pray it’s not Ring…), so I should set up VLANs right?
  • VLAN ideas: Guests, Family/Home, IoT, Homelab specifically? (any others suggestion VLANs/segmentation???)
  • Maybe I’ll do selfhosted IoT devices in the future because of this? The homelab must grow
• My mom watches a lot of YT on our FireTV, so any guides on what IPs to block for that?

So what Mini PC should I stick with (just 2 ports for WAN & LAN is fine right)? Do I need to avoid any specific brand NICs (do Mediatek cards suck)? What 4-port switch would be good? What wireless AP is recommended? Furthermore, how do you go about running cables in your home? The coax plate that my modem is connected to is literally in the corner of my house. The Wifi is bad in some spots because of this, so we’ve thought about extenders. But if I do my homelab and have a wireless AP, I can just run an Ethernet cable from the switch to a properly placed AP (I guess I’d need PoE then…) right? My mom is afraid of tripping on wires and while I say to just run them along the baseboard, she’s doubting me.

PC prices are crazy right now, but if you can find a used Lenovo ThinkCentre, I’d go for that.

I’m running an m720q and it’s neat because you can get a riser board and install an extra PCIe NIC of your choosing.

If you don’t want to go that route try to find a mini PC with 2 intel NICs, since they’re historically the most reliable and well supported.

Depending on the firestick you may be able to jailbreak it.

I would go with the separate AP route unless your firewall device is conveniently located and want to add a wireless card to whatever firewall box. You’ll need something new for wireless anyway once you plop the firewall in front of the modem.

Used enterprise APs can be good value. Unifi is super easy, reasonably priced, and you can run the controller/management thing as a container on your proxmox for localamagemrnt. Then probably ly anything supported by OpenWRT you can find cheap. Their hardware db might be helpful for comparing models/features in general.

Power for AP can use a poe injector at the switch or AP side of the run. Or whatever power adapter (many “APs” still have some DC power).

Cable runs along baseboards is fine. You can get cable channels and have it look super neat. Way cheaper, there’s little nail in cable rings for exactly that too. Pick a cable color that matches, or paint the channels. If there’s decent coax run all over the house, you could do adapters to avoid a cabling job.

Some random (GMKtek?) N100 dual nic thing runs my opnSense (VM on proxmox) at 1Gbps throughout, through I have minimal filtering applied now. I haven’t tested wireguard/VPN throughput or anything heavy though.

Switch you need anything managed for the VLANs. “Smart” or “Lite” I think get thrown around a lot too for basic managed. If you’re into labbing, again the used business/enterprise can get any range of features. Just have to deal with the noise/power/heat.

Look at protectli, there are equivalent devices on aliexpress if too expensive. If you’re particular about open source, try finding ones with openboot.

Use a PoE switch, or a power injector for AP. If open source, OpenWRT APs.

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

[Thread #138 for this comm, first seen 6th Mar 2026, 11:40] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

Second Protectli. They are solid little x86 boxes with no moving parts.

Furthermore, how do you go about running cables in your home?

You watch some Youtube videos about how to do it and then you follow the instructions.

It’s going to depend a lot on the construction details of your house: * Do you have wooden framing (common in the US), masonry (common in Europe, as I understand it), or something else? * Do you have access to an attic or basement/crawlspace? * Do you need to run wires on exterior walls (which means dealing with insulation), or just interior ones?

For me (wooden frame construction, accessible attic and basement), I didn’t find it to be too difficult. Is it work? Yeah, of course. But it’s not that bad, and I recommend spending the effort because having proper wall plates wtih in-wall wires is way nicer than having stuff snaking along surfaces.