I’m looking at getting a gateway device to replace the ISP router that sits between the internet connection and the mesh WiFi.

I am running pi-hole on a (very old) raspberry pi, but I know some gateways get quite fancy so I’m wondering if it’s possible to have pi-hole on the gateway itself, to run as DNS and DHCP servers?

Other things I’m looking for in a gateway are VPN as a client (preferably Wireguard) and PoE ports for cameras.

If it’s possible to host something like pi-hole directly on the gateway then hardware recommendations are appreciated!

  • @[email protected]OPEnglish
    2•2 months ago

    Thanks for all the info and the detailed response!

    But it sounds like you only need it to be a wired router, which is good.

    Correct, don’t need wifi.

    PoE ports as a requirement is what narrows your options considerably I think

    I’m happy with doing this through a separate switch, but I’m happier if I can have less things to plug in. It’s not a must have though.

    Mikrotik has a lot of routers with PoE out. Their newest model in the RB5009 series can do either passive or 802.3af/at PoE out. Many of their older routers have passive PoE only. Make sure you know what your cameras need.

    I don’t have cameras yet, but I’m considering some Reolink ones. Happy to take suggestions. Am I likely to find a lot of difference in the PoE type or are most things compatible with each other?

    • drakz_au
      2•2 months ago

      As someone who is also a fan of having less things to plug in I must say, one pitfall of having an all-in-one device is that if it fails then EVERYTHING fails and you’re left having to replace a (probably expensive, possibly hard to get) all-in-one device.

      • @[email protected]OPEnglish
        1•2 months ago

        Well I was hoping to spend the same amount and get one that does everything I wanted 😆. I’m happy with separating things if it make sense, but I have two power points and already have too many devices in that spot (fiber connection modem + ISP router + two raspberry pi’s (one for pi-hole, one for home assistant) + a switch + RF sensor for detecting doorbell + more I’m probably forgetting). Some of these are powered from USB ports on other ones. Being able to replace the ISP router with a gateway that’s also a switch that also handles the pi-hole would mean three of those devices become one, and it seems feasible!

    • @[email protected]English
      2•2 months ago

      If you’re buying new cameras they’ll be 802.3af PoE. Passive is becoming much less common. So that model router I linked would work great.

      I think if you’re a moderately technically inclined person you would be happy with that solution. If you are intimidated at the idea of writing or adapting some scripts, I would probably recommend a router on one of the other platforms plus a PoE switch.