This Topton-brand mini-ITX motherboard on AliExpress seems like a pretty decent choice for an Opnsense/Pfsense-based home router setup. It has four Intel 2.5gbe ports, an integrated 10W TDP CPU, and way more storage options than necessary for my use case.

However, I’m leery of just about everything from AliExpress. In this case, I assume security is probably a distant consideration after function and price point.

Am I being overly paranoid? Are products like this riddled with back doors and other exploitable components? Has anyone else out there built a router using this board?

@aseriesoftubes@lemmy.world
creator
link
fedilink
English
11Y

I definitely don’t need the SATA ports. I have a vision of putting this board in a 1u chassis. I’m sure AliExpress also has a 1u version of this hardware…

I bought the N100 version of what I linked above and it’s been great so far. Obviously you have your own requirements, but IMO this is a waste of a U. The system is so compact that you’re better off putting it on a shelf with other things.

More powerful N100, smaller, cheaper, no brainer to me.

Create a post

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don’t control.

Rules:

  1. Be civil: we’re here to support and learn from one another. Insults won’t be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.

  2. No spam posting.

  3. Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it’s not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.

  4. Don’t duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).

  6. No trolling.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

  • 1 user online
  • 31 users / day
  • 80 users / week
  • 216 users / month
  • 845 users / 6 months
  • 1 subscriber
  • 1.42K Posts
  • 8.13K Comments
  • Modlog