UPDATE — So I decided to try for a slightly cheaper pfSense solution. I snagged a quad port NIC from StarTech and hooked it into my VM Linux host running VirtualBox. I virtualized pfSense and exposed the quad ports via bridged adapters. So far, so good. My latency and speeds are even a little better than they were with DD-WRT. I’m a little nervous that I’m making my VM machine a huge single point of failure. But since it already does DNS, among other things, it’s already in that spot already. I can always fall back to my Asus (now relegated to AP duty) if I need to.
So I’m always planning (or scheming) new things I want to do when I get the time and money. Well, mostly the money. Ha! Most of the projects are tech related, but there’s the occasional home improvement project.
- A new computer chair
- Yeah, it’s an Aeron. My old chair is an Office Max special from 2008 and is practically begging for a replacement. Since I spend a good portion of my time in this chair, I might as well do it ergonomically and comfortably.
A new LAN setup with a better firewall and backup solutionI’m currently running DD-WRT on an Asus RT-N16. It’s not a bad setup, but DD-WRT can be a pain in the ass. A friend showed me pfSense and it’s been really hard to ignore. My current thought was to retire the Asus and use the Time Capsule for its 802.11ac functionality. I’ve already got a 10/100/1000 Cisco switch to work with, so scrapping the Asus isn’t a terrible thought.
- A new desktop and a new gaming rig
- My Mac Mini desktop harkens back to 2010. My “gaming” rig is even older; top of the line 2008. A pretty heavy duty 690 GTX spurred some new life into the latter. I’d honestly love to dual 27″ the Mac Pro and bring in a decent gaming rig. I play more console games these days, but I still like to play the majority of my FPS games on PC.
It’s a shame all this easily adds up to the thousands, if not the early tens. Shame money doesn’t grow on trees, right? Now it’s really just a matter of prioritizing everything and deciding what I really want.