Forum Discussion
K_McIntosh
3 years agoOrganizer
OpenVPN Client-enabling firmware overwrite for NH20A?
Hey all ... I've been testing the NordVPN app on a couple of Win 7 PCs on my home LAN since NY's day ... in order to extend VPN coverage / capability to all devices on my home LAN (LG Smart TVs of di...
- 3 years ago
It's a custom gateway and I don't know of any other provider using it currently. As a result, you won't find any custom firmware for it anywhere. The other thing you also have to realize is that the NH20A is not a standard modem or router. It's the fibre Optical Network Terminal that just happens to have an ethernet only router built in. Telus has it configured so that it will work right out of the box for the extreme majority of users. The less than 1% that have needs that don't match essentially would need to add their own router between the NH20A and the rest of their network. Also if you have a fibre plan that's faster than 1 gigabit, you'd need a router that has either 2.5gbit or faster ethernet ports on it. If not you'll be capping yourself at a gigabit max. The router you linked to looks like it would have that issue.
Additionally if you have Optik TV, the set top boxes still need to be connected to the NH20A and if they're wireless, the Wifi6 Boost unit connected to the NH20A.
DrPacman
3 years agoRockstar
K_McIntosh Wrote: a feature the NH20A does not seem to natively possess.
As outline in a previous answer to your dilemma, very few if any ISP supplied Router/Modem combinations will support upgrading firmware. You have already suggested a viable solution for you dilemma, that being substituting the routing/firewall/VPN functions of the NH20A with that of a aftermarket device. However, most regular consumer router are going to be less than adequate with the speed throughput you may be looking for.
They just don't have the needed CPU horsepower to encrypt/decrypt the packets in a large enough or fast enough timeframe to fully utilize the data provided in a 1Gbps fibre connection. Even more restricted faster, say 2.5gbps/5Gbps symmetrical connection. One solution would be to look at something like a Netgate pfSense Security Gateway Appliance. The various configurations are expandable of fit any network requirements.
Perhaps another solution would be to look at the Ubiquiti Unifi UDMPro SE which supports Wireguard natively with the latest firmware revisions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGwZGZyAKNs
As you have a NH20A, that device has a 10Gbps LAN port, directly importable into the UDMPro SE WAN. Any solution you suggested so far will require you to bridge the NH20A for the internet side of things, and use the MoCo port for your Optik Tv requirements anyhow.
The one downside for either of the noted suggestions above, is that neither a pfSense nor the Ubiquiti solutions have built in Wi-Fi so that would become an additional expense for you.
hope you find a viable solution for your dilemma... Cheers
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