Blown away by the response chaps. Thank you. I'll clarify some details below, chuck some questions your way if that's alright, and lay out my revised options.
Budget
I am eternally skint
The UDM and Vigour 130 is all I can stretch to for the internet side of things.
So about £400, preferably (much) lower.
Maintenance
One important aspect that probably should have occured to me sooner, is that this needs to be relatively bullet proof, not to mention set & forget if needed.
I'm not well, and whilst I love a project, sometimes I won't be in a place to faff about with it.
More importantly, if something happens to me, I don't want my wife to be stuck with a bunch of expensive paperweights, no internet, no TV, and no idea where to start.
My requirements
1.
IoT devices on a separate VLAN which would only be able to talk to devices on my main VLAN when in use. I'd like this to be seamless. I'm confident the UDM does this, although I've read about some limitations on VLANS on the non-pro version?
2.
Guest network with some parental / dodgy site restrictions. No access to IoT or NAS. Access to printer, and a splash screen, would be nice.
3.
Functional & Secure; Basic static IP assignment, robust security / firewall, port forwarding & blocking, DNS server assignment. VPN would be nice too.
4.
Future expansion into IP cameras. Doesn't have to be built into the router, just want to be able to remotely access live feeds / recordings, much like I do with my current Arlo setup.
@visibleman Great minds think alike fella, I'd been looking at the
Draytek 2862ac.
Could you advise if it can do all of the above?
Can I throw a total curveball in here and suggest the QNAP QGD-1600P Guardian? As well as being a QNAP NAS, it’s also a powerful router.
You certainly can mate, love a curveball! This looks like a phenomenal bit of kit. Exactly the sort of thing that gives me the nerd-tingles. Unfortunately, it's way out of my budget. Awesome suggestion though, thank you.
Question : Do you know if my TS-453 would be suitable for managing at least 4x 1080p cameras?
The NAS mainly handles backups in the wee hours, and stores my film library which I transcode and stream at 480p. It has a container running PiHole, and I'm in the middle of adding one for Canary. These could be moved to a Raspberry Pi I could spare 1-2gb of capacity on it.
Components
Modem
What’s the Vigor 130 specifically going to do for you that an £10ish HG612/ECI won’t?
As for Avalon’s suggestion on the second-hand ECI or Huawei modems from eBay. Yes, they’re great. Buy two!
Brilliant. I am
all about second hand. Saves dosh, and it's good to re-use something rather than it go to landfill. If I choose a seperate modem solution, this is a no-brainer
you could use the Zen supplied Fritzbox modem/router in PPPoE Pass-through mode
Zen informed me they would supply a Technicolour router for this purpose, as the Fritzbox doesn't support it?
Another great option though. I could use the HG612 with Sky, and decide which to keep when Zen is installed.
Solution : HG612 second hand and/or Technicolour from Zen
Router
After all of your particularly sage advice, revised options are:
- Unifi Dream Machine. Does everything I want. Looks great. Could integrate my AC-Lite for the garden / any dead spots. Pricey. Not perfect. Requires seperate modem. All in one solution means faults could be costly.
Thanks for setting my mind at rest @Avalon and @WJA96
- OpenWRT solution. Eg; Linksys WRT3200. Flexible, powerful, potentially cheap if I can get the right model, or pick one up second hand. Requires more setup, no tech support.
Question : Any other router suggestions?
- All-in-one solution. Eg; Draytek 2862ac. Lacks the continued development of the UDM, but second-hand is much cheaper. No modem needed. The Draytek doesn't look like a beautiful space alien suppository.
Question: Any other all-in-one recommendations?
- Self built solution; pfSense / Untangle. Most flexible. Fun. Containers; PiHole, Canary, BluIris etc. Have parts, cheapest option? Bulky. No warranty or support.
Questions:
Is a 4790k, Z97M and 16gb of Ram suitable?
Should I get a separate Network card? Which one?
Any vulnerability concerns on older Intel hardware?
Note : I've removed the USG and Mesh solutions from the list.
Landline
@Avalon Don't get me started mate. The Mrs bought these (admittedly rather spanky) DECT Panasonic handsets, after deciding that we needed a landline, even though we've not used one for years. She is otherwise rational and awesome, so this is a concession I'll begrudgingly make.
I'll probably go Zen as you suggest once we switch. Was initially put off by their rates, and packages, but we'll never use it anyway.
Voipfone looks like an excellent solution. If I eventually use Zen it's still a good stopgap. Needs an adapter, Voipfone offers the Cisco SPA112 for £60 which seems about the going rate. Even better, I can get one second hand for about £30.
Question:
Any suggestions for a cheaper VoIP adapter?
Are these just plug and play?
Television Packages
In addition to changing TV package, the Mrs wants a kitchen TV so I've been looking at using a Chromecast. Could apply this to the main TV as well. I believe we could watch live channels, as well as catch-up and streaming services. I'm assuming we can pause and rewind, but no recording.
Question: Is the Chromecast a good choice for this?Any other suggestions?
- Sky, TV Only package. We pay very little already, mainly just Freeview channels. Recording etc. No up front payment. Contract.
- FreeView - Costs nothing per month. Same channels as now. Need aerial and box; £200 minimum. No contracts. 3 years to break even!
- FreeSat - Have dish. Less channels & Box selection than FreeView. No contracts. 2 years to break even.
Question: Anyone have any experience with FreeSat they can share?
- ChromeCast / NowTV - Flexible, streaming services and Live TV. Passes as needed. No contracts. No aerial costs. Small cost of entry. Big drawback is we can't record.
Question: As above. Is the Chromecast a good choice for this? Any other suggestions?
Conclusion
Seems there's about a dozen ways I could approach this, all with their pros and cons, and I can't reasonably ask any of you to definitively tell me what I should go for
That being said, I very much appreciate answers or advice you're willing to provide to any of the myriad questions I've posed. You've already been a massive help, thank you!
That's all for now. Sorry about the ridiculously long posts. Stay safe, have a fab Christmas, and may 2021 be a better year for us all!