Klox

For a Homelab, I cannot imagine going with anything other than older used SFF boxes for my router. I’ve been running PfSense and then OPNSense on them for over a decade.

[Mini PC] Very DIY, would feel afraid of misconfiguring the device and exposing myself to security issues

The risk is there for every router software, and the form factor won’t change that. The OPNSense software is pretty solid and the tutorials are less likely to lead you astray. You will learn a lot with a deep dive on OPNSense. So I’d say just go for the used hardware. The nice thing is your entire OPNSense config is a single file making it easy to back up and restore. If the hardware it craps out on you in 5 years, you take your OPNSense config (regularly back it up with one of the plugins) and a new mini PC and you are running again.

A general PC will crush most routing tasks. The only concern is encryption but anything newish should be fine. Multi gig connections and 10G inner network has been great on my Optiplex.

2. Does anybody have any suggestions for PoE capable switches and access points that play nicely with OPNSense - I’ve been considering MicroTik but I’m not entirely sure what to look for.

They should all be fine. OPNSense is your router and firewall, and IMO it doesn’t really influence my downstream hardware choices (switches, APs, etc.).

Not sure how the used market is in UK. Last year I decided to go 10G so bought a used Brocade ICX 7250 48x PoE+ RJ45 8x 1/10 GbE SFP+ Gigabit Switch for $78 on ebay. Its been so nice! 48x PoE ports and 6x 10G ports. It takes a detailed walkthrough and some head scratching to get it running well so I wouldn’t really recommend it specifically without a bit of experience. But it is easily the best bang for your buck. Throw in 10G SFP+ PCIE module into all your important machines and use passthrough DACs and you’ve got a flexible 10G setup for $200-$300.

I am not familiar with FritzBox so not sure how that changes the calculus.

The AI part is that the drug riddled CEO asked AI leading questions. The AI wholeheartedly agreed the company should speed run late stage capitalism. What more confirmation is needed that AI is the future?

Thanks! Adding those to my list.

Awesome. I’m back to PC gaming after a lonnggg hiatus. I’ve been playing on Switch 1 so wasn’t completely in the dark about games, but I’ve recently played through Half-Life 1+2+episodes, Star Wars Outlaws, Jedi Fallen Order + Survivor, SW Squadrons, KOTOR 1 + mod packs replay, RV there yet, Schedule I, Deep Rock Galactic, and couple rogue lites. Also playing Ark for the first time.

My immediate queue is HL Alyx in VR, Star Wars Squadron replay in VR, and KOTOR 2 replay + mods.

I got the Master Chief collection and am going to go through the games chronologically starting with Reach. I’ve already played 1-3 on Xbox when they came out.

My backlog is Fallout games, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Subnautica 1+2, Cyber Punk 2077, Arkham Trilogy. I’m on the fence about Mass Effect Legendary edition replay (I played the 3 games what they came out). There are a lot more that I’m not committed to yet: Eden Ring, Baulders Gate, Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Elder Scrolls Oblivion remaster. I should add Max Payne and The Last of Us to that list.

If there’s any obvious ones I’m missing please let me know! I’m also getting my young kids into PC gaming, so will be revisiting some classics.