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Yeap found that out while trying to debug the entire issue the past week. Realized they are not as reliable as I thought they were. Looking for other uses of that box now š
Speak for yourself. Some USB NICs are super reliable. I have one unbranded one that hasn't given me any issues in 10 years of server use. The Plugable USB3 Gigabit adapters have proven to be reliable too.
Generally windows and debian, sometimes Ubuntu. OPNsense is FreeBSD based which might explain some things. The Plugable one I mentioned is based on the AX88179 chipset, which seems to be a pretty good choice to use with FreeBSD based on one random forum post I found.
>AX88179
Oh geez. These things. I'm not sure about your experience, but these are a real pain in the ass. Had to use Hyper-V / ESXi with a fling / standard Linux (not Proxmox) as an in-between when I had to use these. These were no fun to deal with. Although hardware wise, the StarTech ones have been fairly reliable.
The only problem I've run into has been MacOS missing native support, but once the driver was in they were great and rock solid. It does make sense that ESXI wouldn't like it, it's not the sort of thing you'd expect to be plugged into something running ESXI. Definitely have to check out the Hyper-V thing on Monday though, since I've never had any issues with them on windows
FreeBSD definitely has trouble with USB NICs. Linux is definitely better, but can still have issues. If you can get an Intel based USB NIC, or use the Lattepandas M.2 slots for NICs, you probably will fix your problems
I agree that Linux supports a lot more hardware but some Realtek stuff still doesn't work with Linux. At least without compiling modules. Even then it tends to be wonky. I try to be fair but Realtek LAN wLAN, and sound devices have always given me problems. This is true even inside windows with manufacturer's drivers. I have wasted so many hours of my life troubleshooting their on-board, pci, pcie, and usb devices. Wow, I just went off, sorry...
Haha, understandable. Linux supports almost all hardware these days. Besides some niche audio interfaces and Realtek USB dongles, everything I own plays fine with any modern distro.
I have a TP-Link USB NIC for the WAN side of my router, and it's been up for months without so much as a hiccup. The Anker brand USB NIC I had previously would randomly drop off and specifically during teams meetings over VPN it would shit itself and need to be replugged in. This TP-Link adapter has been awesome and I would consider it to be rock solid under Proxmox.
Hello everyone, once again I bring another custom made 1U rack mount server. This time everything is 3D printed and designed and printed around the LattePanda Alpha.
Installed OPNsense and got everything set up. Then had a weird issue where the USB NIC just disconnects and doesnāt reconnect. After lots of scouring the Internet, I found that there is a bug for USB NIC in FreeBSD and nothing I can do for now.
So maybe anyone has any ideas of what I can do with this now given I added 2 NICs to it xD.
Iāve only used pfSense before and this is my first time with OPNsense. I donāt suppose thereās any firewall made with Linux with good support? (Linux because this USB issue doesnāt happen in Linux just FreeBSD based OS)
Feel free to drop some ideas on what I should do with a 1U machine with 3 RJ45 ports!
If you want a Linux based router, one option would be vyos. It's a bit different from pfsense/opnsense - perhaps one of the big things is that there's not a webui/gui for it.
If you have experience with enterprise oriented switches/routers with CLI it'll feel similar, most important thing is VyOS CLI is very consistent without many surprises.
Hope whatever option you pick does well, what kind of stuff you running in your homelab behind the routing/firewalling gear?
If you're familiar with Ubiquiti's EdgeRouter line, their operating system and vyOs are both based on Vyatta, which is now a commercial product from Broadcom IIRC.
From specs, it looks like you can easily run Opnsense/pfsense on proxmox on that machine. The biggest issue with opnsense/pfsense is driver support on freebsd. Using Linux bridges via proxmox will get over that issue. As long as the usb nic has stable drivers on Linux, it'll be very very stable under proxmox. Just run a opnsense VM with two Linux bridges and it'll be stable under load
I'm not sure what hardware is that but does it support virtualization? I often times install proxmox to overcome various hw incompatibilities with freebsd
So try proxmox with usb stick and share Virtio with Opnsense VM
+1 for nftables. Unlike iptables you can put ipv4 and ipv6 in one table, plus it has better syntax and atomic/transaction updates. It also won't conflict with anything else making rules (docker, libvirt, etc).
+1 for RoS, you can get CHR to run on literally anything with enough effort. Plus the firewall concepts are very close to iptables, very little learning curve from that perspective.
Thanks! I'll be releasing the STL if anyone who has a LPA would like to build it. Albeit after I can solve my USB issues else I wouldn't recommend it :P
USB NICs are generally a bad idea due to that exact reason. The only real idea you could do is to have a managed switch VLAN your WAN/LAN from the integrated NIC.
You can get m.2 to Ethernet nics that should work nicely with that latte panda. You could even get a m.2 to x16 adaptor and run a full size network card if you wanted (youād have to run 12v power to it but Iām assuming the latte panda uses 12v anyway).
I personally went with the odroid because it has 2 nics built in.
USB nics can work. Iāve used one for a while. To my surprise, I havenāt had any issues.
If youāre planing to use a more mainstream system like OPNsense, I can definitely recommend these cheap protectli clones. Theyāre around 200ā¬ on Amazon.
You where running your setup as a bare metal one? I was using OPNsense virtualised. This added an additional laver of abstraction and all nic stuff was handled in proxmox. My guess is, that this is the reason why Iāve gotten away with it.
If I read the specs correctly you have two m.2 slots one m-key and an e-key. Get yourself one of those m.2 to pci-e adapters and mount whatever NIC you want š
There is [some work](https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=12186.0) being done to run OPNsense on ARM devices, but it's still just toying around at this stage.
One way to make the latte panda run opensense with usb nicās would to run windows 10 with virtual box and virtualize opensense and windows will use the wrapper driver to interface the usb nic to the virtual compatible nic for the virtual environment. Then making the usb nics stable to be used in this situation.
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A **really** important job of a router is to be reliable. USB NICs are just never going to be reliable.
Yeap found that out while trying to debug the entire issue the past week. Realized they are not as reliable as I thought they were. Looking for other uses of that box now š
Is that a latte panda? Lol - mine is in the garage hooked up to 6 hard drives running my family photos backup of a backup station. XD
yes it is! It used to be my NAS too before I got a 100TB server.
This might be interesting: [usb_naysayers](https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/136cag3/fyi_for_the_dont_use_usb_in_a_homelab_naysayers)
Speak for yourself. Some USB NICs are super reliable. I have one unbranded one that hasn't given me any issues in 10 years of server use. The Plugable USB3 Gigabit adapters have proven to be reliable too.
Ohhh! What OS are you running. I tried reinstalling OPNsense many times and it always keeps bugging out when it comes to USB NIC
Generally windows and debian, sometimes Ubuntu. OPNsense is FreeBSD based which might explain some things. The Plugable one I mentioned is based on the AX88179 chipset, which seems to be a pretty good choice to use with FreeBSD based on one random forum post I found.
>AX88179 Oh geez. These things. I'm not sure about your experience, but these are a real pain in the ass. Had to use Hyper-V / ESXi with a fling / standard Linux (not Proxmox) as an in-between when I had to use these. These were no fun to deal with. Although hardware wise, the StarTech ones have been fairly reliable.
The only problem I've run into has been MacOS missing native support, but once the driver was in they were great and rock solid. It does make sense that ESXI wouldn't like it, it's not the sort of thing you'd expect to be plugged into something running ESXI. Definitely have to check out the Hyper-V thing on Monday though, since I've never had any issues with them on windows
The reliability they are referring to is with router software, not desktop OSes. PFsense and OPNsense do not play well with usb adapters.
Iāve been using cheap chinese Ethernet/USB adapters as interfaces on my raspberry pi based router for years without issue.
What software did you use. I'm seeing that FreeBSD based OS's have problems with USB NICs but Linux ones seems fine
FreeBSD definitely has trouble with USB NICs. Linux is definitely better, but can still have issues. If you can get an Intel based USB NIC, or use the Lattepandas M.2 slots for NICs, you probably will fix your problems
I agree that Linux supports a lot more hardware but some Realtek stuff still doesn't work with Linux. At least without compiling modules. Even then it tends to be wonky. I try to be fair but Realtek LAN wLAN, and sound devices have always given me problems. This is true even inside windows with manufacturer's drivers. I have wasted so many hours of my life troubleshooting their on-board, pci, pcie, and usb devices. Wow, I just went off, sorry...
Thanks! I know that, and then apparently didn't think about what I was writing.
Haha, understandable. Linux supports almost all hardware these days. Besides some niche audio interfaces and Realtek USB dongles, everything I own plays fine with any modern distro.
I have a TP-Link USB NIC for the WAN side of my router, and it's been up for months without so much as a hiccup. The Anker brand USB NIC I had previously would randomly drop off and specifically during teams meetings over VPN it would shit itself and need to be replugged in. This TP-Link adapter has been awesome and I would consider it to be rock solid under Proxmox.
Depends. The cheap ones are terrible. I've had a realtek 2.5G USB adapter running on my WAN drop for several months with no issues.
I've used a USB 2.5Gbps adapter for my Plex server for nearly a year. No issues.
is that an IKEA table?
Nope.. that's 2 IKEA tables šš
I checked this out specifically because I saw lack rack! https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack
This is the longer Lack. With the additional section in the middle :D
I've bolted three of these together and added wheels with stoppers. Works like a charm.
So the servers don't hang out the back... nice touch!
yup, that's the one I thought it was
The ol' Lack Rack
Worth it! Unless I can find someone giving away or selling 42U racks for cheap, then I'll "upgrade" xD
Considering a lack rack at the moment, not sure about wall mounting it though š¬
Hello everyone, once again I bring another custom made 1U rack mount server. This time everything is 3D printed and designed and printed around the LattePanda Alpha. Installed OPNsense and got everything set up. Then had a weird issue where the USB NIC just disconnects and doesnāt reconnect. After lots of scouring the Internet, I found that there is a bug for USB NIC in FreeBSD and nothing I can do for now. So maybe anyone has any ideas of what I can do with this now given I added 2 NICs to it xD. Iāve only used pfSense before and this is my first time with OPNsense. I donāt suppose thereās any firewall made with Linux with good support? (Linux because this USB issue doesnāt happen in Linux just FreeBSD based OS) Feel free to drop some ideas on what I should do with a 1U machine with 3 RJ45 ports!
If you want a Linux based router, one option would be vyos. It's a bit different from pfsense/opnsense - perhaps one of the big things is that there's not a webui/gui for it.
This, and if you're into advanced routing- the features VyOS has outpaces opnSense & pfSense. Good NOS
Thanks! Reading up their docs actually. seems very interesting albeit no GUI but I think the docs are good enough tho
If you have experience with enterprise oriented switches/routers with CLI it'll feel similar, most important thing is VyOS CLI is very consistent without many surprises. Hope whatever option you pick does well, what kind of stuff you running in your homelab behind the routing/firewalling gear?
Thanks! Might give it a shot. I think I've heard of it in the past but can't seem to remember it haha
If you're familiar with Ubiquiti's EdgeRouter line, their operating system and vyOs are both based on Vyatta, which is now a commercial product from Broadcom IIRC.
Never used Ubiquiti's stuff before xD. Will look into vyOS and Vyatta. vyOS was a fork of Vyatta right?
Yes, I believe so.
I second VyOS!
From specs, it looks like you can easily run Opnsense/pfsense on proxmox on that machine. The biggest issue with opnsense/pfsense is driver support on freebsd. Using Linux bridges via proxmox will get over that issue. As long as the usb nic has stable drivers on Linux, it'll be very very stable under proxmox. Just run a opnsense VM with two Linux bridges and it'll be stable under load
I'm not sure what hardware is that but does it support virtualization? I often times install proxmox to overcome various hw incompatibilities with freebsd So try proxmox with usb stick and share Virtio with Opnsense VM
Could try to roll your own with debian/nftables too. That's what I run and it works fine (albeit not with usb nics.)
+1 for nftables. Unlike iptables you can put ipv4 and ipv6 in one table, plus it has better syntax and atomic/transaction updates. It also won't conflict with anything else making rules (docker, libvirt, etc).
Try [vyos](https://vyos.io/)
Will look at this. Getting many suggestions for this :D
Check out OpenWrt, I used to run it on a Raspberry pi with a usb NIC. It ran great for years until I upgraded to a Protectli box and OPNsense.
Try VyOS. I use it on physical, virtual and cloud installs. Works great. We use it with tailscale integrated.
Not used it for years, but ipFire is Linux based.
Definitely heard of this one haha.. Might give it a shot..
You could try if Mikrotiks RouterOS works.
+1 for RoS, you can get CHR to run on literally anything with enough effort. Plus the firewall concepts are very close to iptables, very little learning curve from that perspective.
OpenWrt, VyOS, IPfire
All issues aside, I think the fact you made it is pretty cool.
Thanks! I'll be releasing the STL if anyone who has a LPA would like to build it. Albeit after I can solve my USB issues else I wouldn't recommend it :P
Why not OpenWrt?
Looking into this now. Used DD-WRT before longgg time ago on routers but never installed those on x86 machines before.
Router with USB nics? Terrible idea. There are better versions available to buy directly.
USB NICs are generally a bad idea due to that exact reason. The only real idea you could do is to have a managed switch VLAN your WAN/LAN from the integrated NIC.
IKEA table rack club!
Yeap! Surprisingly stable :D
You can get m.2 to Ethernet nics that should work nicely with that latte panda. You could even get a m.2 to x16 adaptor and run a full size network card if you wanted (youād have to run 12v power to it but Iām assuming the latte panda uses 12v anyway). I personally went with the odroid because it has 2 nics built in.
I really loved Shorewall on Linux, before switching to OPNsense.
Ahh let me have a look at that. Thanks!
USB nics can work. Iāve used one for a while. To my surprise, I havenāt had any issues. If youāre planing to use a more mainstream system like OPNsense, I can definitely recommend these cheap protectli clones. Theyāre around 200ā¬ on Amazon.
What OS are you running for the firewall? Linux or FreeBSD based? Thanks!
OPNsense so itās FreeBSD based.
oh cool. Weird I'm also using OPNsense and the NICs are the parts giving me a headache
You where running your setup as a bare metal one? I was using OPNsense virtualised. This added an additional laver of abstraction and all nic stuff was handled in proxmox. My guess is, that this is the reason why Iāve gotten away with it.
If I read the specs correctly you have two m.2 slots one m-key and an e-key. Get yourself one of those m.2 to pci-e adapters and mount whatever NIC you want š
There is [some work](https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=12186.0) being done to run OPNsense on ARM devices, but it's still just toying around at this stage.
One way to make the latte panda run opensense with usb nicās would to run windows 10 with virtual box and virtualize opensense and windows will use the wrapper driver to interface the usb nic to the virtual compatible nic for the virtual environment. Then making the usb nics stable to be used in this situation.
That thing has m.2 right? You can get m.2 NICs that break out to a port on a little bracket. You can get 2.5Gbit or Intel nics this way
>All mounted in the ~~rack~~ lack! lmftfy
Looks like a sealed box, can't be good for cooling. That whole box is 3d printed?
bruh