SDG #028 MikroTik RB2011UiAS Internet Gateway + A tired cat

This episode kicks off a home network rebuild, with the outgoing hardware examined first: a WatchGuard Firebox appliance that had been pressed into service for years as a router and VPN endpoint. Repurposed enterprise firewalls make sense on a budget, but they carry real penalties, namely noisy fans, high idle power draw for the throughput on offer, licensing that expires, and firmware that stops receiving attention long before the hardware dies. That context matters, because it explains the choice of replacement rather than simply defaulting to whatever the ISP supplied.

The MikroTik RB2011UiAS-RM is unboxed and looked over in detail. It is a rack mount RouterBOARD combining five Gigabit and five Fast Ethernet ports, an SFP cage, PoE input, a serial console port and a small LCD, all running RouterOS. For anyone weighing it up, the appeal is the feature set per pound: full routing, firewalling, VLANs, queueing and multiple VPN protocols in software that is normally reserved for far more expensive kit. The trade off is the learning curve, since RouterOS expects you to understand what you are configuring, and MikroTik’s browser based demo is a sensible way to explore the interface before committing.

The teardown also sets up the next stage of the project, which is a modification to how the board is powered rather than relying on the supplied brick. Alternatives such as a software router build get a mention for comparison, along with the access point that will handle wireless duties, since the RB2011UiAS-RM rack variant has no radio of its own. A thoroughly unbothered cat provides the intermission.