I am helping out a local church to set up a decent wireless network. Internet coming in is Comcast Business Class 150/20mbps. I am not a big networking guru but I understand the basics. What should I use in between the model and the access points for routing/firewall/dhcp? I need to be able to do traffic shaping and content filtering for the wired clients. Any recommendations on a switch? In simplified terms: Modem Router/Firewall Switch Meraki Access Points (3-4) Thanks!!
What's the budget? I use an Ubiquiti Edge Router Lite at home to do routing/firewall/DHCP, with my former wireless router setup as an AP. It handles a million packets per second and it's inexpensive. https://www.ubnt.com/edgemax/edgerouter-lite/ Ubiquti also has the Edge Pro Otherwise, if you want something that's is a bit more enterprise, you can get a sonicwall but you'll likely have to pay a subscription fee for any CFS.
How does edge pro compare to something like the Sonicwall Tz400 http://www.sonicwall.com/us/en/products/TZ400.html Also..can the ubiquiti stuff be configured fully via a GUI? Budget is ~1000 for the router/firewall.
Sorry to hijack your thread Sajan, but I have small question regarding building a home network. I hope you don't mind. I (stupidly) purchased about 300ft of CCA CAT6 UTP cabling before I realized just how bad it was compared to solid core and wouldn't be up to code if it was run through walls. My question is whether or not there is some housing I can run it through to salvage my original purpose or do I just have a bunch of short patch cables now?
Unless you have serious security concerns, spending more than $500.00 is overkill. Something like the Edge Router Lite should be plenty for your application. If you want entry level (serious) enterprise gear, go with Mikrotik. While it has a GUI, it is not a point and click interface like most products out there. Its closer related to Cisco's, Junipers and Brocades at a fraction of the cost. Ubiquiti and Mikrotik are high impact low cost solutions. If you do choose this route, check out balticnetworks.com. They have the best prices out there.
I don't have any major security risks. Since it's at a church, just want to make sure adult content is filtered and I have the ability to restrict bandwidth for the wired clients. I think I can make bandwidth restrictions for the wireless clients using the Meraki APs. Someone at church said they can donate the sonicwall NSA 220. DPI Throughput is 110 Mbps. Would this be an issue since my connection is 150mbps? I guess i would have to play around with it and turn on only a few options...and not the full suite of security options.
