Routers & Other Networking Stuff

Control

Control

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I'd like make a home server closet and then be able to use any of the computers in the closet in any room in the house with whatever screens/peripherals I had in the room, basically a terminal setup I guess. I know I could do this with a bunch of cables/extenders/splitters or whatever, but it seems like this should be a solved problem with better solution than that. I know I could also remote into them, but I'd rather not need separate computers to do the remoting. Seems like something that should exist, but I feel like I'm missing the right keyword here.
 
Captain Suave

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Control said:
I'd like make a home server closet and then be able to use any of the computers in the closet in any room in the house with whatever screens/peripherals I had in the room, basically a terminal setup I guess. I know I could do this with a bunch of cables/extenders/splitters or whatever, but it seems like this should be a solved problem with better solution than that. I know I could also remote into them, but I'd rather not need separate computers to do the remoting. Seems like something that should exist, but I feel like I'm missing the right keyword here.
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I don't know what else would work beyond fiber HDMI and a long-distance powered USB repeater. The latter can be a couple hundred bucks or more if you want USB 3.0 over >25 ft. There's cheaper stuff, but it tends not to work reliably.

I have a server closet, but it just houses my networking gear and a headless server that I remote into.
 
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Intrinsic

Intrinsic

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Pretty sure Linus did a whole video series on trying to set this up for his house and eventually abandoned the idea. That was a while ago so memory is fuzzy. May be worth seeing if they’re out there or he has a wrap up/summary of his experience with the attempt.
 
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Control

Control

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Thanks, maybe it really is a strange ask. It doesn't seem like it should be crazytalk to want to compute at your desk in your office and then also compute on your couch without multiple computers and/or remoting, but maybe it is. I was hoping there was some sort of everything-hub that I just couldn't find the name of.
 
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Captain Suave

Captain Suave

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Control said:
Thanks, maybe it really is a strange ask. It doesn't seem like it should be crazytalk to want to compute at your desk in your office and then also compute on your couch without multiple computers and/or remoting, but maybe it is. I was hoping there was some sort of everything-hub that I just couldn't find the name of.
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Looks like he managed to get it to work. I didn't watch closely enough to see what his budget was.

 
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Control

Control

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Captain Suave said:
Looks like he managed to get it to work. I didn't watch closely enough to see what his budget was.

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Thanks! I watched that one last night after linus's channel was mentioned, but it looks like he's mostly just going from one point to another instead of switching between computers/locations. The forum thread in the comments links his gear and some alternatives, which look like they might be good for spanning long distances though. It did help me run across this though, which might help: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JSYF8J3 basically a kvm with multiple inputs and outputs that will let you switch between multiple screens and computers at once. A little spendy though since I would need more than one, and still god knows how much cabling.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Captain Suave said:
Looks like he managed to get it to work. I didn't watch closely enough to see what his budget was.

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he's had to redo the rack like 3x, everything becomes an issue and is more exacerbated that he wants each "gaming" sytem to fit in the rack
 
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sukik

sukik

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Tesmart makes good stuff, but I’ve personally given up on kvm’s for my home setup. I’ll do a usb switcher for peripherals and run the video straight to the monitor.

Although, for my living room setup, I bought an onkyo tx-rz30 and I love it. After getting it setup, I’ve yet to have any issues going from tv to, ps5 to Xbox sX in 4k/60. I’ve only had it a month, so heard hoping it lasts.
 
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Captain Suave

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Control said:
it looks like he's mostly just going from one point to another instead of switching between computers/locations.
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He had his media/movie room set up as a secondary display. Looked like he was using windows display settings to choose which screen he wanted rather than fully switching the signal.

Can't speak to the troubles Lanx referenced, but I totally believe that setup is finicky.
 
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Intrinsic

Intrinsic

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Oh nice, I must not have made it that far into the videos or seen the update. Interesting concept. Maybe in our next home / home build we'll try to plan something like this. I definitely want a better Ethernet / Cable management system to each room or down from the attic / up from crawl space built into the plans.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Intrinsic said:
Oh nice, I must not have made it that far into the videos or seen the update. Interesting concept. Maybe in our next home / home build we'll try to plan something like this. I definitely want a better Ethernet / Cable management system to each room or down from the attic / up from crawl space built into the plans.
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in the video click
81cc5302286a885f39b6cc37e9f95248.jpg

from the series, it should be the house playlist (i don't think it's complete)
 
Khane

Khane

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Think its time to upgrade my cable modem and my router. What are the reliable, high quality brands these days?

Currently have an Arris surfboard and Asus RT-AC68U but the Asus has been giving me trouble lately.
 
B

bolok

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Khane said:
Think its time to upgrade my cable modem and my router. What are the reliable, high quality brands these days?

Currently have an Arris surfboard and Asus RT-AC68U but the Asus has been giving me trouble lately.
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Check the supported list for the modem. Routers are kinda a crapshoot. I think I have a slightly newer version of that asus, which I like. But there’s an ongoing security thing going on with older asus ones. Might just throw a router in a vm and just use mine as a wireless ap.
 
Quevy

Quevy

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Khane said:
Think its time to upgrade my cable modem and my router. What are the reliable, high quality brands these days?

Currently have an Arris surfboard and Asus RT-AC68U but the Asus has been giving me trouble lately.
Click to expand...
For routers, I really like Ubiquiti. I picked up their UDM Pro Max (total over kill for my needs, but I have a couple servers for home labing, and it's a good way to learn networking stuff). They have several routers with wifi built in like the Dream Router 7. They made their name off their access points, so the wifi is solid.
 
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Quevy

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Captain Suave said:
At this point I'm in the ecosystem for a couple thousand bucks, but everything has worked flawlessly. Router has enough horsepower to serve the full capacity of my gigabit fiber, I get usable wifi on my entire property from two access points, including outdoors and the detached garage, and the five cameras provide 2 weeks of continuous playback and a few months of AI-detected event clips on a 2 TB drive. You can set up an arbitrary number of WLANs including scheduling (I have my kids on a restricted network that disconnects their devices at bedtime, IOT network forbids gadgets from interacting with each other), run a personal VPN, good interface for device filtering and port forwarding, etc, etc. Full admin access from offsite through mobile apps, along with real-time notifications from the doorbells and cameras.

Not cheap, but worth it IMO. 9/10 value at the price point because it "just works". People who dislike the platform tend to be professional IT administrators who recreationally roll their own linux servers for all this, which I don't have time for beyond my NAS, or pony up for enterprise-level hardware that most of us can't/won't afford.
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What kind of doorbell did you go with? I'm debating whether to get the G4 Doorbell or wait for G6 entry pro.
 
sukik

sukik

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Quevy said:
For routers, I really like Ubiquiti. I picked up their UDM Pro Max (total over kill for my needs, but I have a couple servers for home labing, and it's a good way to learn networking stuff). They have several routers with wifi built in like the Dream Router 7. They made their name off their access points, so the wifi is solid.
Click to expand...
I started buying Ubquiti, and now I’m 7 devices deep. Router, flex & poe switches, WAPs. Next is cameras to replace my blink stuff.
 
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Quevy

Quevy

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sukik said:
I started buying Ubquiti, and now I’m 7 devices deep. Router, flex & poe switches, WAPs. Next is cameras to replace my blink stuff.
Click to expand...
Nice. They are such an underrated company. Which cameras are you looking at? I bought a bunch of g5 turret ultras.
 
Quevy

Quevy

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bolok said:
I've got an older version of that- This guy Are you doing a proxmox dealy and running the router in a vm with a passthrough nic? I half ass started to run pfsense in a vm on my server which is running truenas core, but my brain started hurting about cabling, and passing through the nic was a bit squirrely when i tried last. I do want to get a 10g connection between my nas and main pc at somepoint, but that's a few nic purchases out.
Definitely have been eyeballing random sff machines for a pf or opnsense router box tho.
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I was running pfsens on a vm using one of those network appliances until recently. My wife accidentally unplugged the computer, thinking it was the plug for the vacuum cleaner. All the virtual lan interfaces were reassigned. That was the end of the pfsens as a vm experiment for me. I also didn't want to do through the trouble of passing through the physical. It can be a bit if a headache, for sure.
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

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Thinking about going all Ubiquiti for our new build. I have a Reolink NVR and 4 cameras + doorbell today, but it isn't going to hurt my feelings to start fresh in the new house. Planning 3-4 drops per office and bedroom, living room, doorbell, cameras. Back of the envelope kind of guess as a starting point:

RoomDrops
4 Bedrooms (4 each)16
2 Offices (4 each)8
Living Room6
Kitchen2
Garage4
APs4 (3 interior [2 down / 1 up], 1 outdoor)
Exterior Cameras8 (6 + 2 expansion)
Doorbell1
Miscellaneous4
Total52

Obviously not all of these are active Day 1, but buying new I think I'd rather just go in with a 48 port switch than having to expand. Threw together the below Ubiquiti list pretty quick (I wouldn't use black doorbell / AP, just didn't change the option). The G5 bullets seem fine but may replace with turrets, I like our PTZ today even thought we don't use it too much. The Pro Max seemed like overkill but it was like $100 difference from the less expensive. Obviously will still need NVR HDDs and probably do a NAS as well. Will need other ancillary devices, this was just the U list.

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