Router on Julien Mérieau

Seral - Part. 1 - Internet & Firewall

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Seral’s first pillar is simple: take back your network equipment.

The router sits at the centre of a home network’s security. Every packet goes through it. It decides which ports are open, acts as the gateway to the internet, and does (or does not) protect personal data. It is the first line of defence.

These days we have less and less control over that box. ISPs push their own routers, lock the MAC address, add custom authentication, and ship a pile of proprietary code. Hard to know what is actually running in there. And what confidence can you have in a router whose admin UI is sometimes reachable over Wi-Fi and rarely patched properly?

Seral - Part. 1a - OPNsense router 1-10 Gbps

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article covers building your own OPNsense router, based on a Lenovo m720q and a Nokia XS-010X-Q ONT, for 1 Gbps fibre, with a path up to 10 Gbps.

Hardware

Fibre connection

First job: find a rootable GPON ONT, i.e. a box you can actually take over.
hack-gpon.org has a fairly complete list, plus tutorials and datasheets. Read them. It is a goldmine.

Seral - Part. 1b - OPNsense router 25 Gbps

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

How to build and configure your own OPNsense router for a 25 Gbps fibre link.

Hardware

Fibre connection

My ISP (Init7) does not use GPON. You plug in a fibre NIC and you have internet. Dedicated P2P fibre.
Result: no forced ISP box, a very stable fast link… and savings (no GPON). Well. Wait until you see the final bill.