I get that OPNSense can do this, but do you need a switch with a capability to make sense of this?
I'm considering moving from Unifi USG to OPNSense and have two Cat6a runs from one end of the house to the other (through the loft and it's not possible to add more runs without building/decorating work). Presently the two cables do WAN and LAN, but I've been curious about putting something closer to the modem and to somehow use both cables for the LAN.
LAGG looks like it can do this and isn't something I knew about for the home.
Would I need a special switch on the other end? I've currently got Ubiquiti switches but as I'm already looking at binning the USG I'm fairly open to reconsidering a lot of the network.
PS: The reason to abandon the USG is heat issues. Packet loss when the ambient room temperature exceeds 30'c, and serious packet loss when the room temp is 35'c. This is no longer rare, and the USG is only rated to ambient temp of 40'c and there are many Reddit threads of people ripping the case apart and fitting fans. I'd rather just have stable internet with better hardware.
You need a switch that can handle LAGG but I don’t think you need a particularly expensive or fancy switch. I run a TP-Link jetstream switch that supports LACP and was only $110 (same price as a 8 port lite ubiquti switch). It has 8 port PoE+ AND 2 port SFP. You have to run a omada controller (similar to a unifi controller) but you can buy a box (OC200) or just run a Docker image which is what I do. I find tbe TP-link APs much better performing at a reasonable price too. Ubiquti with their no free shipping and price increases has gone completely out of hand since the pandemic. Made me switch out all their hardware because of it. Ubiquti hardware was simply not worth their price and OPNsense + omada had blown my Ubiquti setup out of the water.
Alternatively, you can pick up a used switch from Cisco, Dell, etc. that have excellent support for LAGG and other useful things for significantly less than the TP-Link (as long as you don't need 10G). I think the last 2960Gs I picked up were less than US$30/pc. Down side is 1) they use more power, 2) bigger switches (24- or 48-ports) are much louder, and 3) not going to see any new OS updates for most of them. So you have lots of options.
I shall check those out; thanks for the tip. I will say I checked and it looks like my elderly Dell switches have gotten an update in the 2020s, so perhaps it's just Cisco who said "nope...we're done with IOS 12".
I think there are multiple ways to set up a lagg, but the one I've tried and works fine is LACP. This requires an equipment that can handle this at the other end, though. I'm not familiar with Ubiquiti kit, so you'd have to check if it's supported.
if you want to have two links grouped together so that a single transfer uses both links together (2gbps) then the switch has to support it. default is for two separate transfers to each get one gbit, which is good enough for most applications.
packet loss at summer temps is indicative of faulty hardware (maybe just the thermal paste or other parts of the heat management)
> packet loss at summer temps is indicative of faulty hardware (maybe just the thermal paste or other parts of the heat management)
there is no heat management in the Ubnt USG. no thermal paste on the hot network ports, no cooling design beyond passive cooling (little air holes in the side of the case) that doesn't work when it's laid flat (need to vertically mount to encourage airflow).
I get that OPNSense can do this, but do you need a switch with a capability to make sense of this?
I'm considering moving from Unifi USG to OPNSense and have two Cat6a runs from one end of the house to the other (through the loft and it's not possible to add more runs without building/decorating work). Presently the two cables do WAN and LAN, but I've been curious about putting something closer to the modem and to somehow use both cables for the LAN.
LAGG looks like it can do this and isn't something I knew about for the home.
Would I need a special switch on the other end? I've currently got Ubiquiti switches but as I'm already looking at binning the USG I'm fairly open to reconsidering a lot of the network.
PS: The reason to abandon the USG is heat issues. Packet loss when the ambient room temperature exceeds 30'c, and serious packet loss when the room temp is 35'c. This is no longer rare, and the USG is only rated to ambient temp of 40'c and there are many Reddit threads of people ripping the case apart and fitting fans. I'd rather just have stable internet with better hardware.