OPNsense > jaw-dropping goodness!

[pablo]

Hi everyone,


I wanted to say thanks ... ...


Background

We're setting up one-to-one mapping between ISP drops and homes using our private, wireless network.  Think of the wireless network as the last mile. 


We plan on having eight Cable Modems (we cannot afford a fibre-drop).   We have a Smart Switch with VLANs for each Cable Modem.


Current Gateway

The current gateway solution is limiting.  In fact, it's always been limiting but I've put up with it.  For example, any change to a IP rule results in a complete tear-down and rebuild.  While making changes to the gw is rare, it's always bugged me. 


Also, if I need to make multiple changes, they are not queued until an apply all is pushed.  This means certain changes take a long time because I have to wait for the full tear-down/rebuild cycle.


OPNsense

Last week I started looking at alternate gateway solutions.  Using VirtualBox, I set up a lab to simulate my environment.  This allowed me to plug in different gateway solutions.


I've been testing OPNsense and it does everything that I need.  Straight out of the box.  It does it well and it does it fast.  It queues up changes and allows me to persist them all.


Last night I set up WAN High-Availability.  I have three flavors:

• The default:  balanced across my co-geek neighbor and me.  This is used for our internal systems such as the gateway, monitoring server and the wireless monitoring server.
• G1_G2:  suppose my geek neighbor is G1 and I am G2.  This set up allows me to back him up so if his modem blows up, he can use my connection.  Typically he'll use his connection.
• G2_G1:  the flip of the previous:  he provides me back up.

The regular neighbors each map directly to their Cable Modem.  No HA for them.  Legal reasons and all.


OPNsense handles it all beautifully. 


I have even conducted tests by simulating a lost of service.  No problem.


If I have questions, I google it and because of the maturity, someone else has already asked it. 


The documentation is great as well. 


All in all, pure goodness!


Thank you everyone for your contributions.  I'm truly standing on the shoulders of everyone else!
-pablo

[Mr.Goodcat]

We plan on having eight Cable Modems

In case these modems are deployed in the same DOCSIS subscriber group, their combined bandwidth might be more than the entire cable network can provide. Even with DOCSIS 3.1, total available data rate in most areas is below 2Gbps, i.e. what can be provided by ~two devices. Just wondering if this might be relevant for you. 

[pablo]

... combined bandwidth might be more than the entire cable network can provide ... Just wondering if this might be relevant for you.

Thank you for responding.  The overarching issue is we need to map each home to their Internet drop.  No sharing.  The ISP is very clear about this and we don't want to upset them.   

The solution will afford each home to buy the package that fits their needs.

[franco]

Hi Pablo,

Thanks for posting a success story. Nice to see one every once in a while to remind us it's not all bugs and security fixes and such.


Cheers,
Franco