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Is there a reason to use a dedicated switch with a home router? (lemmings.world)

submitted 1 year ago by moody@lemmings.world to c/networking@sh.itjust.works

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My work gave me a L2 switch because they were going to toss it out. Is there any reason for me to use that over the built-in switch from my ISP's router/modem?

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[–] moody@lemmings.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Anything connected to that switch can continue working when the router is unavailable due to restart or whatever

That's something I hadn't considered.

[–] med@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It also means that the majority of your intra-network traffic won’t be forwarded to your router, even when the router is online. The switch will just pass it on to the correct MAC address directly.

Edit: for reference, this is know as the router on a stick configuration

The next part is decoupling your your dhcp and dns and firewall from your ISPs router. I’ve done this with a raspberry pi, but you could buy or acquire a drop in replacement.

Get control over your core and edge network. Then you’ll have the freedom to do lots more with your home network, and the privacy to do it with.

For example, my streaming devices go over dedicated vpns to different countries so I can get different content, but the rest of my devices don’t. I can still connect, control and cast to them because my phone is on the same network, just going to a different gateway.

My current plan is to drop my ISP line speeds by half, and pick up a competitors line to have a dual-WAN load-balanced setup at home. I’m sick of being beholden to one company’s whims on when it wants to reboot my router for ‘maintenance’