Help us make the Firewalla Switch

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    john oconnell

    my dream unit would be a semi-managed unit aka vi toggle switches

    12port 110watt Poe unit with per port auto Poe volt switching (12v/24v/36v/48v)

    (10x2.5gb Poe's with dedicated on/off power switch in two 5 port sections) &

    (& 1 auto vlan switch per group to work with/without Poe option)

    (&2x10gb sfp ports) &

    (a vlan toggle switch option that ties either 1 or 2 10gb spf ports to 1 2.5gb group)

    finally a large copper heatink an twin 40mm noctua exhaust fans in the chassie

    with a small power brick an a usb-c power option

    for a max of 250$

     

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    DanM

    My first priority is a FW core switch (AP’s, 2 laptop ports, NAS, FW Router, 2 stack switch ports). Targeting 10G RJ45 core PoE+ with SFP+ for stacking with other 2 other switches ( 1GB and 2.5GB) until I can afford to swap out with FW hardware.

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    deadnull

    @Firewalla same drill as last time? As long as we filled out the form we will get notified when ready to pre-order?

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    Firewalla

    Yes, we will notify you once we are ready. Usually, we also give you a coupon for waiting as well

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    Firewalla

    It took less than 10 min to swap our office network over to the Firewalla Switch X

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    Mark9

    How do you recover from a VqLAN equipment failure, either the router, the switch or an AP7 access point?  I am getting excited by the potential release of switches but want to know what spares I must buy versus using my existing backup routers, switches and eero’s.

    Are all of the ACL’s duplicated in each Firewalla device; router, switch and AP7?  And are the ACL’s based on MAC addresses?  Can I unplug a device from one Firewalla switch and plug it into another Firewalla switch or AP7 and expect VqLAN to work without any reconfiguration?

    - Firewalla Router failure: Can I use a Peplink router that I have on hand as a backup to replace my Firewalla router as long as all devices are going through a Firewalla switch or AP7 rather than being connected directly to the Firewalla router?  And can I expect VqLAN to be working 100% with the Firewalla switches and AP7 restricting devices on the internal network as if the router was Firewalla? (Yes, I know that I have to have the same network segmentation rules like VLAN's in my Peplink.)

    - Firewalla Switch failure: One option would be for me to have an extra Firewalla switch that is live but is a spare with no connected devices which hopefully has all of the ACL’s in it so I can just swap it with the failed Firewalla switch with no reconfiguration.  If I don’t have a spare, can I move Firewalla switches around without reconfiguration, perhaps unplugging one on the edge of my network to become a core switch hooked up to my Firewalla router without the Firewalla router having to reconfigure anything (or do this when I am running my backup Peplink router)?  And then plug in a non-Firewalla switch into the edge of my network recognizing I will lose some VqLAN protection (unless I try something like port isolation or maybe even configure some ACL’s on the non-Firewalla backup switch if I get paranoid enough).

    - Firewalla AP7 failure:  AP7’s will be connected to Firewalla switches to communicate with the Firewalla router.  No current plans to hook any hardwired devices or switches on the other side of the AP7.  My backup are eero’s.  So I have to live without some VqLAN protection being provided by the AP7, making use of the eero guest network isolation when appropriate.

    Note: My configuration has two core switches hooked up to two LAN ports on my Gold Plus with a rule to completely block all traffic between them.  That hopefully will have no bearing on switch configuration if all ACL’s are resident in all switches.

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    Firewalla

    If you want full VqLAN functionality, your devices need to connect to Firewalla units. (switch or AP7). Since everything is within our "scope of influence", the experience will be seamless. So, in the failure cases you mentioned, you should expect a freeze of Layer 2 policies. (including VLAN configuration, VqLAN rules) Your network should be operational. Enough to get you by until replacing the faulty part.

     

     

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    Mark9

    Sounds like VqLAN is another great design from Firewalla.  I would appreciate more information though.

    I am interpreting that a “freeze of Layer 2 policies” means no changes of ACL’s in the switches and AP7’s can be done unless there is VqLAN policy change made via a Firewalla router.  I am also interpreting this to mean the ACL’s are MAC based, not IP address (layer 3) based. Thus, VqLAN continues to work if another router (like Peplink) temporarily replaces the Firewalla router since there is no need for reconfiguration of the ACL policies.

    However, what happens if there is a second failure that occurs on a Firewalla switch or AP7 if I am on a backup non-Firewalla router?  Can I swap the positions of switches, perhaps moving a live edge switch with a few devices to replace a failing Firewalla core switch without a Firewalla router because every switch and AP7 has all the ACL’s to implement the existing VqLAN policies?  Can I move a device with from one port to another on a switch, or to another switch, or change a PC from hardwired Ethernet to/from WiFi?  Another way of looking at this, is anything ACL related done dynamically, perhaps because there isn’t enough memory in a Firewalla switch or AP7 to hold all ACL’s?

    The answer to this also affects if I would keep a spare Firewalla switch on the shelf or keep it live connected to the network to make sure it always has the latest policy ACL’s.

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    Firewalla

    Think of your firewalla as a controller; it stores states, and when implementing access control, it will need to push that configuration down to the network. And when the controller is gone (disconnected, power outage ..), end devices will maintain the state as is. (no new configuration until the controller is up) Some functions may break, for example, if you add a new device, since there is no controller, firewalla can't really do VLAN-based quarantine. 

    If you want to change configuration, the best way is to get Firewalla back, otherwise, running headless + a network topology change will not be a good way to run your network. (hence, I can't really answer all the different possible ways of running headless)

    This behavior is pretty much the same for all controller based network devices. 

     

     

     

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    Ali Alsaleh

    Got the Survey filled out but something that's still a question for me is what kind of depth are we looking at for these units POE vs non-POE. 

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    Firewalla

    Does anyone care if the switches are FCC Class A? (FCC Class A represents a certification category for electronic devices designed exclusively for industrial, commercial, or business environments.)

    We are still trying to secure CPU/memory for both units, memory/emmc shortage still there. Likely getting initial limited build summer ... (before kids going back to school) 

    Firewalla Switch 10G 

    • 8x10G RJ45 With POE++
    • 4x10G SFP+ 
    • Rack mountable

    Firewalla Switch 2.5G

    • 8x2.5G RJ45 with PoE+
    • 2x10G SFP+
    • Not rack mountable

     

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    Ross Nizlek

    Specs look great. Def interested in the 2.5g unit. I do not care about FCC Class A.

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    Eric

    On the 10g switch, will it have a fan running all the time?

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    Firewalla

    Eric, yes, the 10G has a fan, otherwise it will be too hot to drive 12 / 10gbit ports. (The 2.5Gbit is fanless, it will get very warm if you load up all PoE ports)

    We updated the original fan to be as silent as possible. I will post some db data once we get the final unit back. 

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    David

    "Does anyone care if the switches are FCC Class A?"  => No.  I wouldn't care either way if it only added a few dollars per switch; if adding that feature broadens your audience and only costs me, say $10 more, that's fine--do what you gotta' do.

    Caveat: I assume the quality will be the same either way, but you just don't have to pay for a certification, which means you won't have to pass on added costs. If the certification means the hardware is better, then I'd need more information.

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    Eric

    firewalla

    Thanks.  I will probably just stick with the 2.5g switch for now (when it comes out), as it will be next to my office computer and I prefer mostly silent operation

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    Andre

    I didn’t need 4 SFPs, who need 4 SFP?
    But I don’t complain. Does anyone need so many of them? Two usually is enough. Better to have RJ45, not necessarily 10G, can be 2,5G
    Just saying, in case you change your mind…

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    Jon MacDonald

    Agreed – I'd rather have more RJ45 than SFPs 🤷🏻‍♂️

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    Firewalla

    The 10G unit's Quad SFP+ is really for "core" / "distribution" purposes. In case you have a larger network, you can use those to link switches together. Meaning, you can have one 10G as core, and 2 or 3 2.5G as the edge. It will scale pretty well. 

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    Ryan

    Will be a nice back up switch in case my QNAP ever bites the dust. Would just have to figure out where to mount it.

    Waiting patiently for the pre order!

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    M

    "I didn’t need 4 SFPs, who need 4 SFP?
    But I don’t complain. Does anyone need so many of them? Two usually is enough."

    *looks at my 9 SFP connections in use*
    Yeah, more than 2 is definitely too many!

    😂

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    john oconnell

    who need 4 SFP , well for me 

    the sweet spot would defiantly be for me just 3x10SFP/1x2.5gbSFP im my  
    home-network layout is so i dont run cables all over the place i use three 
    multi gig switches & one basic gig as followed 

    main 8port (6x2.5gb-2x10gb SFP+) for the main office and outdoor shed mass 
    storage nas + 6x2.5gb-2x10gb SFP+ mostly for the main office nas , & network 
    printers

     

    one 6 port  4x2.5gb - 2x10gb SFP multi gig switch on one side of my home for 
    two pc an local nas 

    one 6port 4x1gb - 2xSFP 2.5gb to the ht room for the 
    tv,apple tv , receiver , and game console 

    one 6port 4x1gb 2x2.5gb sfp Poe in the attic for the Poe house cams


    but the main + the 2nd office & ht room switch both have two sfp port and they 
    plus the Poe cam switch are far enough plus with the cable route needed that a 
    sfp cable and port was needed 

    i used a 10Gtek 10G SFP+ AOC Cable - 10GbE SFP+ to 
    SFP+ Active Optical Fiber Cable between them 

    id llove if firewalla would make some custom unit s

    with these options

    big


    8x2.5rj45/3x10SFP+ non-poe
    8x2.5rj45/3x10SFP+ poe

    medium 

    5x2.5rj45/3x10SFP+ non-poe
    5x2.5rj45/3x10SFP+ poe

    small

    4x2.5rj45/2x10SFP+ non-poe
    2x2.5rj45/1x2.5gb sfp 1x10SFP+ non-poe
    4x1gb rj45/1x2.5gb SFP+ non-poe


    and a accessorie unit for poe cam

    a large 

    10 port 1gb rj45/1x2.5gb-SFP poe
    10 port 1gb rj45/1x2.5gb-SFPnon-poe

    and small

    6 port 1gb rj45/1x2.5gb-SFP poe
    6 port 1gb rj45/1x2.5gb-SFP non-poe
    3 port 1gb rj45/1x2.5gb-SFP non-poe (ht unit)

    for me the sweet spot would be a combo 
    of app managed switches from firewalla to cover me like 

    8x2.5rj45/1x2.5gbSFP/2x10SFP+ non-poe with the

    (1x10SFP-2nd office&nas)
    (1x10SFP to outdoor shed mass nas)
    (1x10SFP to main office nas)
    (1x2.5gbSFP to the ht room)

    for the ht room (3 port 1gb rj45/1x2.5gb-SFP non-poe (ht unit))

    (6 port 1gb rj45/1x2.5gb-SFP poe ) unit to the house cams 

    i currently have the cams connected 
    to custom server in shed with a SFP network card

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    John Harrold

    Sorry for my ignorance but can you use adapters to use the SPF's as a normal RJ45 connector?

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    Firewalla

    You can use three kinds of adapters with SFP+ port

    1. DAS: SFP to SFP,  cool, very short distance, same rack

    2. RJ45: to RJ45, very hot, medium distance. (ethernet distance)

    3. Fiber (Single or multi-mode), warm, long distance

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    Spinj

    How many copper 10g SFP+ modules can the 10g switch take?  I know the power has come down on newer modules and a few switches I've looked at have limits (like half the SFP+ ports).

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    deadnull

    Absolutely will be getting at least the 10G option, I most likely will be doing the 1x 10 as a core, and 2x2.5 to get enough switch ports. I have no concerns over the FCC rating. Really looking forward to this!

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    John Harrold

    I'm wondering about power draw. How many amps would I need for the 10G switch? I'm thinking about stacking 2 or 3 together and I wanted to know how much it would use along with the other devices in my rack. 

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    Firewalla

    Spinj the unit should have enough power to drive 4 RJ45/SFP+ adapters. The unit fan may run louder, and make sure you don't touch the RJ45 metal part; you should be fine. (these are industrial switches, engineered to do more)

     

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    Firewalla

    John Harrold the 10G switch by itself without PoE shouldn't draw that much power. If you load up all ports with PoE++, I believe it will be 300 to 400 Watts. If you don't, power usage is minimal. 

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    mikehuxley

    @firewalla
    Apologies if you have already said but will these be available for the United Kingdom?

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