[ale] Firewall convo

[Robert Story]

On Thu 2020-04-09 09:23:07-0700 Alex wrote:
> No subscription required for the ER-X.  I have one and I have an RPi
> set up as my main firewall.  Both work fine.
> 
> The ER-X is most certainly an appliance.  It can also be powered by
> passive 24V PoE if that is useful (it doesn't do 802.11af/at at this
> time).

I also have an ER-X.

Pros:
- small and cheap
- 5 ports; can be used together like a switch, and/or use one or more
  ports for different networks
- customized Ubuntu guts

Cons:
- limited space for local storage (if you install extra packages)
- might not be able to keep up with higher bandwidth (>200Mbps; varies
  depending on whether or not you're using features that disable
  hardware off-loading)
- administration is via their GUI or cli interface. You can ssh and get
  to shell, but config changes you make without using cli will probably
  be overwritten.


I also have a few gl-inet devices. 2 tiny travel wifi routers (wan +
2xlan). One in my backpack, and the other as an access point for a
small apartment. The ar 750 slate is around $70-$85 depending on where
you buy. It runs openWRT, and supports a minisd card for expansion (or
filesharing). The also have a new product I'm curious about, which is
just a router with no wifi for around $120:

https://store.gl-inet.com/products/brumegl-mv1000-edge-computing-vpn-router

It runs openWRT by default, but apparently they also have a custom
ubuntu build for it as well.

All of these are about the size of a deck of cards. (The ER-X is a
little bigger, but not much.)

Robert