Currently acts as the DHCP server for the home and the strongest WiFi transmitter
Set up in the center of the home in the basement
RE200 v5.0
Latest firmware
Set up as an ethernet backhaul AP with DHCP turned off
Serves 5-7 devices from the garage
RE205 v2.0
Latest firmware
Set up as an ethernet backhaul AP with DHCP turned off
Serves 10-15 devices, set up in the office with the desktops still being hardwired in to the router
General Hardware
Proxmox "Cluster"
Beelink SEi 12 (Intel i5 1235U)
Beelink SER 5 (Ryzen 5 5600H)
unRAID dedicated NAS
102 TB of storage across 8 drives
Supermicro X9SCL-F (Two gigabit NICs)
Intel i3-3220 @ 3.3GHz
The Questions
The TP-Link Router has maxed out a 64 address reservations and that frustrates me. I wanted to install OpenWrt but dicovered that it is not available on my (what most consider bad ) Archer model.
Should I buy a new device dedicated to running OpenWrt exclusively? Something like the Archer A9 or a Banana Pi?
If I'm perfectly happy with my WiFi performance (for now) should I just be looking for a wi-fi-less router to run the DHCP etc?
Do I lose out on the benefits of OpenWrt by not having it on a device that is simultaneously broadcasting WiFi?
Could my wants be accomplished with an LXC of OpenWrt running on my preexisting hardware?
Is there anything with a smaller footprint so that I could try to fit it into a mini-rack (8 inchs wide) that I'm building. (This one is stupid and not a requirement)
Given the relatively high wan speed (even considering its shameful uplink), it might make sense to just replace the AX21 with a wired-only OpenWrt router.
and in particular the alderlake-n N100 based 4-port systems in the 130-230 EUR range come to mind, keep the ax21 as mere AP (if it can be configured as such).
The obstacle is that you'll need to replace your Motorola ARRIS SURFBoard SB6141 - 8x4 DOCSIS 3.0 Modem to reach anything over +300Mbps. 1Gbit needs DOCSIS 3.1 unless your provider is honest (99.999% aren't).
Downstream
Modulation 64 or 256 QAM
Capture Bandwidth Dual 96 MHz Capture windows
Maximum Theoretical Data Rate**
***DOCSIS 343.072 Mbps (8 channels)*** / 42.884 (single channel)
@ 256 QAM at 5.36 Msym/s
EuroDOCSIS 444.928 Mbps (8 channels) / 55.616 (single channel)
@ 256 QAM at 6.952 Msym/s
Bandwidth
DOCSIS ≤ 48 MHz
EuroDOCSIS ≤ 64 MHz
Symbol Rate
DOCSIS 64 QAM 5.057 Msym/s; 256 QAM 5.361 Msym/s
EuroDOCSIS 64 QAM 6.952 Msym/s; 256 QAM 6.952 Msym/s
Operating Level Range –15 to 15 dBmV
Bonded Channel RF
Level Tolerance 10dBmV
Input Impedance 75 Ω (nominal)
Frequency Range DOCSIS and EuroDOCSIS 108 to 1002 MHz (edge to edge)
Frequency Plan
EuroDOCSIS Annex A
DOCSIS Annex B
J-DOCSIS Annex B, modified for Japan Frequencies
Security DOCSIS 3.0 Security (BPI+, EAE, SSD)
Network Management SNMP v2 & v3
Provisioning Supports IP addressing using IPv4 and/or IPv6 (dual stack)
MoCA Interference Rejection 1 GHz Low Pass filter at tuners input
I personally use an Arris (formerly Motorola) SB8200 with 32 download x 8 upload channels.
Oh wow! Here I am asking about the quality of water I get, but insisting I fill my Olympic swimming pool with a straw. I'll look for a DOCSIS 3.1 modem ASAP to see if that improves my QoL.
Next up would be a better router, so I'll keep an eye out for deals on wired-only.
Maybe go with some nice ap like zyxel nwa50ax pro , some nice multigig switch with 10gig uplink , put some nice 10/25gig nic in nas and virtualize router with openwrt/ pfsense /opnsense/ tomato64 ? Profit? Near 2gbps over wifi and very fast wired network?
