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Good bye FRITZ!Box

network

As I’ve previously regaled, I was on a mission to give my home network a futuristic makeover—think ‘Home Network 2.0’. The motivation? Well, some of my old gadgets started throwing tantrums. First off the bench was my ancient, yet trusty HP Enterprise switch. After a decade of non-stop spinning and winning, it finally decided to go on a permanent coffee break. I could’ve snagged a replacement from the tech graveyard, but let’s be real, it was time to embrace the new. So, here’s a toast to upgrading from the tech relics in my home network setup!

All the gear had been doing a stellar job for me over the years. Seriously, if you’re after rock-solid internet, WiFi that can keep up with your binge-watching gripes, and telephony that doesn’t drop your calls mid-gossip, then AVM’s your wingman. Affordable, reliable, and the santa claus of system updates—you know, gifting us with more bells and whistles when we least expect it.

However, and it’s a big however, when it comes to the fancier dancing moves in the networking ballroom, AVM is kind of like that guy who can only pull off the sprinkler dance. In my kingdom, VLANs were a no-show without my trusty HP Switch, which insisted on using its own unique language. Great for tech enthusiasts who treat Ethernet cables like LEGO bricks, but I needed a network Iron Man suit with everything integrated in one sleek console. Thus, the AVM suite had to do the walk of shame out of my tech sanctuary. Don’t worry though—they found sanctuary! I shipped them off to my daughter’s first pad, where I’m sure they’re now the life of the party.

So, I dove head-first into the virtual stacks, hunting for a vendor who could keep up with my networking waltz. Here’s what I had on my techno-wishlist:

  • simplified network management – easy to setup and manage via a centralized management interface,
  • enhanced gateway/router features – redundant WAN with failover and/or load balancing, WiFI QoS over all Access Points, application and device type identification , connection quality and outage reporting
  • enhanced security features – full stateful firewall, application aware firewall rules, signature based IPS/IDS threat detection, VLAN/subnet based traffic segmentation, domain & ad filtering,
  • advanced network features – license free SD-WAN, WireGuard or OpenVPN server built-in, policy based WAN and VPN routing, DHCP relay, customizable DHCP server, IGMP Proxy
  • gigabit switching
  • PoE support – to support all PoE capable devices like WiFi access points, cameras and access solutions (door bell and openers)
  • 19″ rackmount design – to fit into my existing 19″ housing

So, I launched a top-secret mission to sift through a veritable jungle of tech vendors. First on the list? Cisco with their Meraki Go products, flashing their fancy innovations like they’re the Next Big Thing. Next up, Netgear, the old reliable, standing tall with a smorgasbord of gadgetry.

And then there was Ubiquiti with their sassy UNIFI Line. It was love at first site (get it? Website? Site?) — UNIFI ticked all the boxes like a pro, boasting a smorgasbord of devices that just ‘get’ me and my tech woes. Plus, the UNIFI community? Imagine a buzzing beehive, but replace the bees with tech wizards all armed with magical tips and tricks, ready to swoop in and save the day the moment a technical gremlin rears its ugly head. No contest, really!

Stay tuned for my upcoming post where I’ll unveil my new network setup!

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