this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2025
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Home Networking
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Cheap N150 box off Amazon or Aliexpress with four network interfaces, install PfSense or OPNSense, make a separate network for each of the 3 drops and use the last port for WAN.
If I were to take a mikrotik router, would that work as well and what would be the general configuration?
I like/trust their hardware a little bit more than some random box from amazon
Oops didn't see your reply. Yes, it would, though RouterOS is a bit difficult to use. I have some Mirkotik gear and it's a pretty great hardware if you're willing to learn the software. General configuration is the same -- buy one of their routers (not the stuff like the switches that can kinda do routing, you want one of the actual routers) with enough ports, put a dedicated network with DHCP on each port, WAN on another, firewall rules to keep the networks separate.
Beware that Mikrotik hardware has some subtleties with what capabilities each box has because they rely heavily on having hardware acceleration, so you wanna read the specs and documentation carefully to make sure the one you pick that meets your needs. PfSense/OPNSense don't really have that caveat because they do all the routing on the main CPU and just use a more powerful CPU than Mikrotik usually does (though still lower power generally... a lowly N150 CPU can route like 2-3 GBPS of traffic easily).
FWIW PfSense and OPNSense are both open source software from reputable companies built on FreeBSD. For the random cheapo boxes from Amazon/Aliexpress you absolutely want to wipe them and install a fresh copy. You can also buy official hardware from the company, but it's more expensive. Protectli is also a reputable brand of mini PC that is sold specifically with PfSense/OPNSense in mind that isn't crazy expensive.
Edit: just so you know, any "real" (as in, not the home router all in one junk you can buy at the electronics store) router can do what you're asking as long as it has enough ports, be it Cisco or Ubiquiti or any other. This is a very common use case, and a core feature of a router.
Alright, thank you. Is the mikrotik hex one of the actual routers? Have you tried connecting dsl to an ethernet router before? I have read somewhere that you can get dsl to SFP modems pretty cheap, do those work?