MatthewL

I'm after a new switch, my 16 port trusty 3Com is on it way out and I've had to take it out the network due the fans needing replacing. I'm after a 16 or 24 port, none PoE unless I can get one with a few PoE ports, think managed would be best option to go for but not the end of the world. Needs to be as quiet as possible, going in the network cabinet in the attic so out the way but anything too loud does echo down. Any recommendations, even willing to purchase second hand to help reduce costs as long as it works. It's only for home but I need more capacity than 8 ports.

I'm yet to find anything either but a MicroTik router board seems to be best option (LinITX seem to be best place I can find in the UK). There are some pre built things out there but I don't think I could trust the source with especially what it is going to be used for. I have seen a few in virtual setups but with it been a firewall I prefer a separate device physically away from my servers. I want something with multiple ports on but cannot find anything to fit my bill yet.

I've bitten the bullet this weekend and built a pfSense box on an old i3 PC and have setup some basic bits, still not fully integrated to the network and not the ideal hardware I would like it on. I did have a Watchguard 1U box but that was too noisy and unable to upgrade it without bricking and starting again. I'm after a 1U type box so I can put it in my cabinet but struggling to find anything I trust, any recommendations? Once I'm happy with this I am then going to be in a position to buy a smaller router sized box to replace the setup at a family members. So looking for any hints and tips, I did have some sites before but lost them. Wanting more control on the network I have blocked everything outbound, only allow HTTP/HTTPS/DNS/NTP as a common thing from clients. Have custom rules for other specif things, although certain things appear to work when they shouldn't so guess they are working over HTTP/HTTPS. I am looking to put some packet filtering type thing on to restrict things more. I have OVPN setup, currently just port forwarding from the Virgin SH, will put that in modem mode once I sort a new switch out. I want to setup Squid proxy and some web filtering, any useful guides for this? I then want to create a VLAN and put a guest network on my Unifi. I'm been able to see a live view of traffic so I can find denies or what ports something is accessing, sure I've done it on older versions but this new 2.4.2 is a bit different from what I have used.

What did you end up choosing for this? I've just setup pfSense at home on an old PC but want want something a bit smaller to put in my rack.

I'll have a gander. Wasn't thinking GDPR more prior to that I had seen things but might have a situation where need to ensure someone is compliant in this field if that makes sense.

If you provide guest wifi in a cafe, pub, school, office, where ever it maybe, do you have to record anything from a user point of view? Most are open and a captivate portal but some businesses just open up the wifi or give the password out but what are their obligations to cover their back? Obviously filtering is a big thing, with it been open anyone can have access to things they shouldn't. Just curious as I'm not up on regs like that.

Sharp for hardware, you get so much out of the box with their new range of kit. Bio-metrics I don't think are the cheapest as most you need an extra network and power socket too. By the time you have put extra in you can buy proximity cards if you don't already have them. Joys with PaperCut you can set pins as well as use AD centrally. There are plenty of suppliers out there than can sell other kit cheaper than Sharp but you get what you pay for, Toshiba do some nice well built kit with features, few quirks to them I'm not keen on compared to Sharp and also Lexmark have some small desktop machines that can now have PaperCut on and you can add card readers to these too. Install of 10 Sharp MFD's to a PaperCut solution can be done relatively quick if all is there, most settings can be cloned between machines. PaperCut config can take weeks to get it how you want. I know some companies offer discounts on pricing if moving from one product to another so might be worth looking into.

More to this to as to why it has been such a large fire but similar happened in a field in Hampshire a few years ago at a festival. Thing with this was one catches fire, fuel tank burst you then have running fuel going under each car which catches fire, fuel tank on that and so on all the way down the row. Potential for thousands of litres of fuel, oil and other fluids, plus cars like to go well.

What I will say is by not having a valid MOT or tax you may depending on the terms of your insurance be invalidating this too. Food for thought.

Having been sold PCounter several years ago I am now a big PaperCut user, product hasn't been developed and its accounting was shocking to say the least. PaperCut was designed with education in mind, its the way forward I personally think.

This video just shows how intense it was. You don't see fires like that all the time, something has gone wrong some where.

Following on from the massive fire last night in Liverpool, anyone on here have one of the estimated 1400 vehicles involved? Car dealers across the North West are going to be rubbing their hands together this next few weeks!!

Handy to know thanks for that.

Thanks for the replies so far, I'm quite happy doing something like this myself, just want to find the right system.

Gallows Wood at Barnetby will do something like this obviously at a cost, they are reliable though.

The way I see it, yes Windows becomes end of life but if it still works as long as you aware of the security implications then there is no reason why you cannot keep running. At the end of the day PC's are not open directly on the net and you have a firewall in place, keep your AV etc up to date and ensure all patches are applied you won't run into too many problems. The other way you can sell it is that you need more money in your budget to keep hardware up to date, make them realise. I know I will probably get a bashing for it but I was still pulling Windows 98 machines out of operation in last 8 years that served us well.

Am I right in thinking if you put a SSD in you can still access this menu and redownload?

Does it save money, is it worth the expense installing? Like its been mentioned I am often out when my timer kicks in so I end up putting mine on longer to warm up on an evening, so for me it would benefit. I looked at Nest but can't say it does it for me, Tado looks better but want to see if there are others out there.

I'm yet to speak to anyone to see if its actually worth the investment, didn't know Honeywell did one, want to try and drag any products into here as there seems to be increased talk of it. Not fussed about mine been linked into Google and all that, just happy with an app or a control panel I can set it all from, just want to be a bit more smart with it.

In one of the other threads where @jmak had just installed the Tado smart heating system I have looked at Hive, is there any other out there and what at the recommendations from any of you that have such systems? At the minute I have a Combi boiler where heating comes on a few times a day, no thermostat, individual ones on the radiators but don't think they really work. No plans to replace the Worcester system for a number of years but would like to be a bit smarter and have a bit more control. I only live in a few rooms at home, would like to have control over my sleeping and living area temperatures, have 8 radiators in total. I do spend a fortune on keeping the house warm which will reduce in time with the likes of new windows and doors etc but keeping warm is quite key for me as I suffer when its too cold. Is it worth getting something like this, are they worth it, what would you recommend? My thoughts would be thermostats on individual radiators that I can have some control over.

Thanks for that, didn't want to do it and it be wrong and loose the lot.

I have a Mac Book that I bought second hand for a project that I am now wanting to sell on just struggling to restore it to defaults. It's running MacOS Sierra, its a late 2009 13" model and other than a bulge on the battery is ok but I'm not a fan of them. I have no discs or anything and it keeps talking about pressing the command and R going into disc utility and formatting downloading from the net. Does this sound right? I have been looking to find an ISO to create a disk from but not having much joy. Sorry not a big Mac user, know enough for day to day stuff but only use them from time to time so any help would be appreciated.

That's the one, my memory is shocking to say the least. I got there in the end with the limited info! Was a good series, got quite into it.

On Chrome are HTTPS sites ok but prompting for authentication on HTTP?

Education pricing is a steal compared to corporate world.