So, while the second set of three drives is pre-clearing, and the  SAT2-MV8 cards and SATA cables and a lot of other thingies are still in the mail... I have some time to bother this great community some more.

 

Playing with new pair of NETGEAR Powerline 500 Mbps Nano adapters (thanks again for the advice, garycase, they wouldn't serve for my main intended purpose, but I've found another good use for them) I accidentally discovered that my WiFi router (Linksys WRT120N) does not actually have Gigabit wired LAN, 100 Mbs only. Besides, I grew tired of it dropping connection regularly, sometimes couple of times per day. So it's time to upgrade - hurragh! Perfectly legit excuse to get something new and shiny.

 

Requirements for the router:

1. Must have at least 3 Gigabit wired ports. (well, they all actually do...)

2. Must support VPN... in most simple-easy and at the same time most powerful way.

 

For WiFi-side of the router I don't have any special thoughts (all my wireless clients are laptops with at most 802.11-ABG), although stability and good range would be highly appreciated.

 

My main candidate is  ASUS RT-AC66U or its newer incarnation ASUS RT-AC68U, mostly because of this phrase: Also, the Asus router has a full built-in VPN server, not just VPN passthrough support as many consumer routers only offer.

 

I'am also looking at NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900 (R7000), but it only says "VPN Support", not "VPN server". Not that I'd really know the difference... but "server" definitely sounds more promising than "support" .

 

I need VPN 'cause in near future, few month from now, I will need remote access to the unRAID server. I need VPN support in the router  to be both simple and powerful 'cause as of now I am complete dummy with VPN... but I will learn.    I assume that with "full VPN server" on the router I would not need any additional VPN software on the unRAID server, only a VPN client on the remote computer.

 

Please tell me what is wrong and what is right in my considerations.

 

...and many thanks in advance!

I don't have either of them, but several folks have indicated they have the Asus routers and are VERY happy with them.    For a VPN-enabled router that's probably your best choice in consumer-grade equipment.

 

Don't toss your WRT120M => if you need a 2nd access point, it will do nicely for that.  [You may not need it with the excellent range folks have reported for the Asus units]

 

.. glad you like the powerline units => they can certainly be very handy.    I've solved quite a few access issues for folks using these when they couldn't (or didn't want to) have Cat-6 conveniently pulled.

 

I used a Linksys E3000 loaded with Tomato's VPN firmware and it was awesome. I would venture to say that any router that you can load either tomato or DD-WRT firmware should be able to support a VPN server?

 

I now use a 10 year old Dell desktop loaded with pfSense as my home router/firewall and connect my E3000 to get wifi and it is fantastic! The 10 year old Dell has more processing power than any consumer grade router on the market today. Also pfSense has a really nice VPN interface.

 

pfSense does take a little bit of time to setup but there are plenty of youtube videos / guides out there.

 

So if it where me, I would find an old computer and load pfSense on it, buy a PCI Intel Nic card ($30), buy a gigabyte 8 port network switch ($25) and then use your current router to transmit a wifi signal and you just saved yourself $150 and you have a better router...

I now use a 10 year old Dell desktop loaded with pfSense as my home router/firewall and connect my E3000 to get wifi and it is fantastic! The 10 year old Dell has more processing power than any consumer grade router on the market today. Also pfSense has a really nice VPN interface.

 

So if it where me, I would find an old computer and load pfSense on it, buy a PCI Intel Nic card ($30), buy a gigabyte 8 port network switch ($25) and then use your current router to transmit a wifi signal and you just saved yourself $150 and you have a better router...

 

It's actually debatable whether or not a modern high-end router has less computing power than a 10-year old Dell;  but one thing that's not debatable:  a computer of that vintage likely draws around 100 watts at idle.  That's about 876kwh/year => at a US average of $0.125/kwh that's a cost of $109.50/year.    A router would use about 1/20th of that      ... so while this approach MAY result in "... a better router", it certainly is NOT true that you would have "... saved yourself $150".

 

So if it where me, I would find an old computer and load pfSense on it, buy a PCI Intel Nic card ($30), buy a gigabyte 8 port network switch ($25) and then use your current router to transmit a wifi signal and you just saved yourself $150 and you have a better router...

No way. Because that would mean instead of getting something new and shiny, I would (again!) get something old and dusty! And I'm already building my first unRAID server out of mostly old and dusty! I did not have anything new and shiny in years! (cries like a baby)

 

Seriously, I'm tired of my current router. It's got to go.

Don't toss your WRT120M => if you need a 2nd access point, it will do nicely for that.

Good idea, thanks.

 

.. glad you like the powerline units => they can certainly be very handy.

Yeah, they are. Too bad my poolroom where I normally sit, has an AC wiring which is, in addition to be some 40 years old, also set up awkwardly. Wires - at least where I can see them - are copper, but still, using the Powerline adapters I was getting like under 50 kBytes/sec connection speed. Inside the house adapters communicate properly, but not from the house to the poolroom... anyway, they have found good use inside. Will see, if WiFi will be not enough, I'll put CAT6 in. It's not actually that difficult... just dusty. 

 

 

 

it certainly is NOT true that you would have "... saved yourself $150".

 

I can say that the computer will handle around 5 times more client VPN network transfer speed than my E3000 but you make a very valid point on the cost that I never thought of.  It is another device running 24/7. Although it was really fun to learn more about routers in the process.

Inside the house adapters communicate properly, but not from the house to the poolroom...

That sounds as if your poolroom is wired to another electrical phase than your house.

To enable powerline communication you will need to install a so called phase coupler. 

 

But still there is no better way then CAT cables!

ASUS RT-AC66U here.  Recent firmware update has helped VPN performance (now limited by my 12 Mbit/sec uplink). 

Inside the house adapters communicate properly, but not from the house to the poolroom...

That sounds as if your poolroom is wired to another electrical phase than your house.

Good idea... that's quite possible but I'll have to check at the main distribution box... To be precise, I know for sure that there are BOTH phases wired to the poolroom (I used them to run a 200V 220V welder), but it's quite possible that in the combinations of wall sockets I tried the powerline units were sitting on different phases...  thanks, good insight!

To enable powerline communication you will need to install a so called phase coupler. 

You mean something like this? This I could do fairly easy.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Smarthome-SignaLinc-Phase-Coupler-Hardwire-2406H/100654877

 

But still there is no better way then CAT cables!

That's for sure. But the elegance of powerline solution is still appealing.

 

I love my Asus RT-56u.

 

Its gigabit ports were acting weird (it and my 8 port gigabit switch would talk at Gb, but the throughput was like 2MB instead, easily solved by my 24port gigabit switch)

My point there was that you don't need Gb on the router, that can be solved with a cheap 8 port switch. But if you have fewer than 4 things that need hardwire, then it is a great saver.

 

I think Linksys is the worst in the router dept, they always need rebooting, or the radios just burn out on the ones I've had. I used to recommend the WRT54G like candy, but now I always suggest something different (though its hard to argue some of those less expensive refurbed Linksys's)

You mean something like this? This I could do fairly easy.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Smarthome-SignaLinc-Phase-Coupler-Hardwire-2406H/100654877

Although they say it's "tuned for INSTEON signals" I suppose it will do the job.

 

How do I Know I Need a SignaLinc?

Here is an easy test you can perform to see if your home would benefit from a SignaLinc.  Find the X10- or INSTEON-compatible transmitter and receiver that never seem to work together and try sending a signal between the two right now (still not working, right?).  Then, turn on a 220-volt appliance, like your electric oven, clothes dryer, or central air conditioning.  It has to be an all-electric appliance; turning on a gas dryer won't work.  Now, go back to the transmitter and re-send the signal to that problematic module.  If it now works, then you've proven that a SignaLinc will help the X10 and INSTEON signals in your home.  In this test, the 220-volt appliance acted like a phase coupler.

 

I accidentally discovered that my WiFi router (Linksys WRT120N) does not actually have Gigabit wired LAN, 100 Mbs only.

 

This could be solved simply by adding a Gigabit switch, and only using a singlr port on your router.

 

Besides, I grew tired of it dropping connection regularly, sometimes couple of times per day.

 

Ah, okay .... if you're absolutely sure that it is the router causing the dropped connection.

 

So it's time to upgrade - hurragh! Perfectly legit excuse to get something new and shiny.

 

That's probably the best justification!!!

 

I have been using Draytek Vigor routers ever since my first dsl connection in 2001, and have not been disappointed with them.

 

Current offerings of 28xx series (adsl) and 29xx (dsl) are comprehensive.  I used to have four separate company offices, all connected via Draytek routers - the transparent lan-lan vpn worked excellently - as though all the locations were on a single lan (except for the bandwidth limitation).  No special software or configuration was needed on any device, and it is totally transparent to the network protocols - we were using DEC VAX/VMS, Windows, *nix etc.

I think Linksys is the worst in the router dept ...

I think so, too... now.

 

I've bought the Linksys WRT120N in a hurry, my previous router died, I did not have time to research, so I relied on recommendation of a selling guy at Fry's. AFAIK, his main point was "It's a Cisco, man"! "Cisco cant' be bad", I thought, plus, at that time the  WRT120N was nowhere  damn near to "cheap". Too soon I had started experiencing dropped connection, checked the reviews at Newegg and Amazon... just to find out that I'm not the only one to suffer.

You mean something like this? This I could do fairly easy.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Smarthome-SignaLinc-Phase-Coupler-Hardwire-2406H/100654877

Although they say it's "tuned for INSTEON signals" I suppose it will do the job.

 

How do I Know I Need a SignaLinc?

Here is an easy test you can perform to see if your home would benefit from a SignaLinc.  Find the X10- or INSTEON-compatible transmitter and receiver that never seem to work together and try sending a signal between the two right now (still not working, right?).  Then, turn on a 220-volt appliance, like your electric oven, clothes dryer, or central air conditioning.  It has to be an all-electric appliance; turning on a gas dryer won't work.  Now, go back to the transmitter and re-send the signal to that problematic module.  If it now works, then you've proven that a SignaLinc will help the X10 and INSTEON signals in your home.  In this test, the 220-volt appliance acted like a phase coupler.

Ah! Good idea, thanks again. I was thinking how do I check if active phase in the poolroom is different from the one in  the house, since visual wire tracing is impossible in my case - both phases go underground from main distribution box to the garage distribution box, and phase wires are not marked from each other. My clothes drier uses 220V for heat so this test should work.

Definitely worth trying => it's very likely that will resolve your issue with the powerline modules, as about the only reason they wouldn't work is if they're not on the same phase.

 

... of course, wired Cat-6 is still the best alternative if that's a reasonable possibility (you indicated you could do that) 

Besides, I grew tired of it dropping connection regularly, sometimes couple of times per day.

Ah, okay .... if you're absolutely sure that it is the router causing the dropped connection.

Well, the wireless connections restore immediately after rebooting the router, without rebooting the cable modem, so I just don't know what else could it be.

 

So it's time to upgrade - hurragh! Perfectly legit excuse to get something new and shiny.

That's probably the best justification!!!

I think Linksys is the worst in the router dept ...

I think so, too... now.

 

I've bought the Linksys WRT120N in a hurry, my previous router died, I did not have time to research, so I relied on recommendation of a selling guy at Fry's. AFAIK, his main point was "It's a Cisco, man"! "Cisco cant' be bad", I thought, plus, at that time the  WRT120N was nowhere  damn near to "cheap". Too soon I had started experiencing dropped connection, checked the reviews at Newegg and Amazon... just to find out that I'm not the only one to suffer.

 

Yes Linksys has gone bad but I blame the firmware. Like many routers these days a simple flash of DDWRT or Tomato will get it working better and have more features then most SOHO routers. I would recommend before purchasing a SOHO router check and see if it supports one of these firmwares. Any router from ASUS right now has really good Hardware and most support Custom Firmware.

 

Budget RT-N16 (300N)

Medium RT-N66U (900N)

Beast RT-AC66U (1750ac)

Altered Beast RT-AC68U (1900ac)

 

Or if you have a old PC build a router with PFSense/Monowall etc.. I was going to buy a new router but decided on PFSense. Couldn't justify the high price tags that all the new routers have. $150.00-$200 for SOHO Routers   Now Ill just buy a router for an AP.