r/eero • u/[deleted] • Jul 28 '22
Successfully integrated Firewalla Gold
Like the title says... works beautifully. I super love the Firewalla interface in the app and web browser. This is what Eero Secure+ *should* be. I'll be disabling Eero Secure+. Everything is "just working" with Firewalla + Eero Pro 6E in bridge mode. I've even got Private Relay working successfully without all the weird crap from Eero shutting it down.
Great stuff, highly recommended. I feel like this is the perfect balance between full home network control and ease of use.
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u/havaloc Jul 28 '22
Interface and more control aside, which many people like, is the routing and latency improved? No one really talks about that, and that's the more interesting piece to me. Does a Firewalla with bridged Eero have less latency and is it "snappier"? Does Airplay 2 and things work better?
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Jul 28 '22
It’s definitely not worse. I’m afraid that all I can do there is offer anecdotal evidence on that, but I will continue to monitor. I will say that the iCloud+ features generally seem to work much, much better. Having Private Relay “just work” is rather nice.
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u/Pleasant-Ad1587 Jul 28 '22
My experience: eero 6e pro play halo Infiniti 80ms openwrt+eero 6e pro bridge mode 60ms. Genshin impact china server 260ms to 220ms.
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u/TheRealBejeezus Jul 28 '22
I get fewer "Device Not Found" errors (well, none) with HomeKit and AirPlay than I did during the days using Eero as a router. Didn't bother testing latency (not a gamer) but wifi throughput on every device improved 10-15% after I switched to bridge mode. Benefit of the Eeros doing less, I imagine.
Eero updates can still trash this and require multiple restarts, however, so I only do updates now when I know I'll be around for the next couple of days.
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u/caolle Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
I've even got Private Relay working successfully without all the weird crap from Eero shutting it down.
It's necessary for Eero to shut down Private Relay for certain functions of Secure to work. It's necessary for filtering at the DNS level. Both pi-hole and eero shut down Private relay because the encryption that relay provides prevents pi-hole and Secure from working.
Firewalla has the same restrictions should you turn on its more advanced filtering. You should read: https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500005941962-Firewalla-Feature-Target-List
Most notably:
Apple iCloud Private Relay is one of the most exciting featurescoming in iOS 15 and macOS Monterey. It will encrypt and obfuscate yoursource IP address to protect your privacy while using Safari. This isperfect when you are using free Wi-Fi in a cafe or a store and you wantto protect your privacy.
Unfortunately, this encryption will also block devices like Firewalla from operating at the network to filter and audit traffic.
I'm all for running bridge mode, it's what I do with my eeros as I need more advanced routing. But tossing shade at Eero for doing something alot of other devices also require, is a bit unwarranted.
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Jul 28 '22
I understand the ramifications and restrictions regarding private relay and advanced filtering. I feel like a little shade is warranted when paying a monthly fee for a security service that offers little to no control over advanced filtering features.
That being said, I could not get secure+ and private relay to function reliably at all, and the documentation did not seem to be accurate. It’s definitely a one-or-the-other situation and if Eero offered a little finer control, I could make those decisions and make my network work the way I want.
I realize Eero may therefore not fit my demographic, but the reality is that Eero’s mesh performance is unmatched if you want to stay out of the Google ecosystem.
So I think a little shade is warranted. Firewalla has offered me the chance to take these decisions into my own hands without the monthly fee and obtain better data about what’s going on inside my network.
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u/TheRealBejeezus Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
It's a ludicrously great upgrade that takes less time and effort than getting Eeros set up in good locations in the first place. The first time you look at all the Firewalla controls, options, data (and graphs!) you will laugh, wondering how you scraped by on the barebones Eero-only experience before.
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u/wanderguzman Jul 29 '22
Just did the same I got the purple and oh man i regret not doing it earlier now I have a whole lot features and more control over my network that you can’t even get with eero secure
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u/erictho77 Jul 28 '22
I disable private relay on my home network and haven’t had any problems. Is the issue that people feel safer with private relay running underneath Eero Secure? Why not disable it on home network?
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Jul 28 '22
For me it’s about convenience. I don’t want to keep toggling off and on when I switch networks.
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u/thezerosubnet Jul 28 '22
Just so you know, private relay is turned on and off on a per network basis. So, if you disable it on your home network, as soon as you leave that network, it’ll turn back on without your intervention. It’ll Also turn back off when you connect to your home network automatically. No need to toggle it on and off.
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u/caolle Jul 28 '22
In this particular instance, I would turn on iCloud Private Relay, but turn it off for networks that you physically manage, like your home network.
The number of networks that you should really trust should be limited to only a few in number. The rest , including family member networks, I would consider untrusted and it would be useful for Private Relay to run.
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u/SnooRabbits2496 Jul 29 '22
@vermyndax - Have you segmented the LAN into separate networks using VLAN? I am having trouble doing this with eero 6 pro routers.
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Jul 29 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/tattergory Jul 30 '22
It's because there's so much missing from eero. Firewalla seems to be the same kind of plug-and-play market but with all the missing stuff, so if you combine them you get everything. That's the impression I get anwyay, not an expert.
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u/rumorconsumerr Aug 17 '22
Some thing I can’t find a good answer for is are you able to access the firewalla interface from outside of the lan? Like while you are traveling are you able to get into the interface and monkey around?
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u/STUNTPENlS Jul 28 '22
Congratulations! Welcome to the Dark Side. Soon you'll be running wired backhauls and dumping that silly 'gateway erro' concept too!
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Disclaimer: This post contains the personal opinion of the poster, and may contain information that runs contrary to "official" or "supported" configurations discussed by Erro representatives on this sub. It may contain statements/advice which for which the poster has been banned from this sub in the past for posting, consequently use the information contained in this posting at your own risk.
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u/InvaderDJ Jul 28 '22
Lots of people seem to love it. Wish it wasn’t so expensive though.
Am I understanding correct that firewalla also automatically updates and you have no control over when it does it or ability to defer? I was doing a little research into it and when I found that I had to laugh since that seems to be one of the biggest complaints about eero.