I’m looking for recommendations for a managed network switch that either comes with open source firmware or can have open source firmware flashed onto it.
I read that some old TP-Links let you do this but the modern ones don’t. I also read some ZyXELs allow it, and I’m looking at the GS1900-8, but it doesn’t say anywhere in the description about the firmware.
Does anyone have any ideas or knowledge to share? Do I need to buy an old one second-hand?
I’d prefer something with 8 ports, but 4 or 5 is probably enough, honestly. 8 would just be more future-proof if I decide to expand my setup.
PoE isn’t a dealbreaker for me but I consider it a nice-to-have. And I don’t need SFP (unless someone can explain why I might?). I do want something managed though, for setting up VLANs, QOS prioritization, NGFW, etc.
Thanks in advance!
The OpenWRT table of hardware should point you in the right direction. Even if you end up not using OpenWRT, it gives a fair idea of hardware capable of running alternate operating systems, https://openwrt.org/toh/start
If you are going the OpenWRT route, also consider https://openwisp.org/
Aha! That’s perfect, thanks. It turns out the GS1900 is compatible with OpenWRT. Good to know!
OpenWisp sounds interesting. Is that similar to Prometheus or Grafana, or does it do more? And should I put that on my router or network switch?
I suppose you could deploy OpenWISP in a container on your router if it has the capacity.
It is more akin to Ubiquiti’s Unifi I would say. Allows you to manage multiple OpenWRT devices centrally, or at least the common configuration elements.