X86 NICs and in-stock alternatives to PC-Engines APU2?

[Leonardo]

@Barney

And in practice? Less or more?

@CopperCassette needs 3 ethernet ports based on post: WAN1, WAN2, LAN
I was suggesting a SFF with 2 ports or even 1 port may be enough, if a managed switch is used and VLAN configured.
WAN/LAN traffic is only 100Mbits, plenty of bandwidth.
LAN can be segmented even more and have more VLANs, but hen 1Gbits may not be enough.

[bobafetthotmail]

@Barney

Thanks for your reply.

I think @Leonardo is talking about OpenWrt router devices, not any other equipment like switches etc.

If you do VLANs on the router you need a managed switch to split them into non-VLAN ports for other devices.

Unless you enjoy setting VLANs on all nodes in your network. Fun for printers and other dumb embedded devices that just don't have that setting at all

[slh]

@Barney

Are there any limits set up by OpenWRT (beside the 4096 limit)?

Yes, but those limits depend on the underlying switch hardware and their drivers (the actual limits vary, but can be very limiting for some hardware).

[RaylynnKnight]

I ran across another ebay item that might meet your requirements. See Lanner Electronics FW-7541C-E01/A | x86 Firewall | 6 PORT | 4GB RAM 30GB SSD listed for $70 each plus shipping with multiple available.

[ulpian]

@RaylynnKnight

Search for SimpleWAN or SW301DA or SW302DA. The SW301 is the APU1 the SW302 is the APU2. I managed to get an SW302DA for $50 a month ago.

^^ this
SW302DA is such a nice device for 50 bucks.

[diizzy]

That thing is also very outdated and borderline e-waste

Regarding the SW302DA

Tips for getting cheap used x86-based firewall with full Gbit NAT (a PC Engines APU) if you are in the US

It's also worth noting that in many cases (Asrock Rack and Supermicro and Synology NAS boards) there is a hardware mod that can work around the problem and resurrect a board that died because of this CPU bug. It usually consists of soldering a 220 Ohm resistor between a 3.3v pin and another pin, on a TPM header or a debug serial port. So if you are into this kind of thing and you think you can figure it out by googling the guides for those other devices and adapting it to your own, more power…

[frollic]

The post describes an issue with the intel C2000 chipset/platform, which has nothing to do with SW301DA/SW302DA, nor has it anything to do with the D525 based router RaylynnKnight posted.

@diizzy

That thing is also very outdated and borderline e-waste

I'd rather re-use e-waste for as long as possible, than spend my money on new, future, e-waste.

[diizzy]

@frollic

SW302DA

I apologize, Google listed it as a C2***-platform. If you want to buy old obsolete hardware sure, make little sense for longetivity, reliability and power efficiency though.