Are there any truly FOSS networking options?

PFSense falls into this category for routers. Netgate makes hardware specifically for it, but you don’t have to buy anything from them to use PFSense. I only mention them because their hardware is good and you can buy anything from a normal home router to enterprise level gear.

I had to sign in with my ubiquiti account first before I could make a local account

I used to be pretty into ubiquiti, but this requirement really put me off. I have no desire to do anything ‘cloud’ with my router. This requirement sent me elsewhere and I sold off all my ubiquiti equipment.

TruNAS … What alternatives are there?

TruNAS has a community edition, so you could start there. Other alternatives are a standard Debian install, use mdadm to setup RAID, then setup a network share in the OS, etc.

OpenWRT is basically Linux for routers and can be installed on a variety of devices - https://openwrt.org/

There is also https://www.gargoyle-router.com/

Tplink Omada doesn’t need a cloud connection. There’s plenty of other reasons to not like Omada but it’s something to consider. It’s also dirt cheap.

People seem to love it. But it’s highly proprietary and there seems to be planned obsolescence built into their model

For large networks with over 20 devices, I find them acceptable not because they are good but because other options are more expensive.

For small networks? I despise them

1. The UI keeps changing and moving around settings for no good reason after each update
2. You can’t setup devices directly if you have a device or two, you are required to setup a control center
3. The control center is already slow and sluggish, but the real nightmare starts when you start having 100 or more devices
4. Last couple of years they have been releasing batches with serious issues, software and hardware. The way they accepted recall for unfixable devices was so limited that many people are left with broken APs that will kill their network occasionally and the poor consumer has no idea why.
5. Honestly fuck 'em. there’s more but I don’t wanna give them any more rent space in my head on a Sunday lol

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

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My biggest gripe with them is consistency. They release products without all the features they promise. They have been known to just abandon entire lines (I’m still salty about their mFi gear).

I like my UDM pro however the SE came out and for almost a year they basically ignored the Pro.

Good hardware that’s usually made or broken by their software.

Not a fan. Absolutely not.

They had multiple security incidents which they kept under the rugs for a long time, they have the tendency to EOL devices without warning (which then means you need to replace your sometimes 9month old device or your whole enviroment can’t be updated), their lock-in into their ecosystem is much more complete as they can’t be used properly without their enviroment.(e.g. Omada devices can work without the Omada stuff, with Unifi you will always need a controller for some functions).

So if you realy need SDN features like Unifi look at Omada,otherwise Mikrotik is a solid alternative. (And OPNsense for firewall)

I’ve been running the original Unifi Dream Machine (the can, not rack) since it released in 2019. Been pretty solid, no complaints; it replaced my trusty Asus RT-N66U w/Tomato firmware; I think the UDM has been deployed longer than the Asus at this point.

The single built-in AP on the UDM was getting a bit overwhelmed, so recently I bought a U7 Lite AP to help split the load a little better. Working great so far, but now I’m looking into adding an NVR for cameras.

I like my Unifi setup, I’m just scared of a rug pull.

Same here.

I only use their WiFi because I got some in- and outdoor ap’s for free. The Wifi manager is selfhosted and has no internet access. For upgradesi downoad the deb file, trasnsfer and install. It’s not the best out there, but works for me and i’m still happy with it.

I use their wifi APs because they make them really easy to configure and manage. But the management interface stays locked in a vlan without access to the internets. Because I don’t trust their cloud affinity.

This also disqualifies their routers and firewalls for me. How can I trust a device which tries to phone home? So that area is covered by opnsense on a device with a sufficient amount of Ethernet ports.

Any device with a mass storage can act as a NAS - a single board computer + Linux + samba/ nfs/ scp/ sftp. I heard TrueNAS or OpenMediaVault are recommended as all in one solutions - I don’t know them.

At home, I have a shit ton of in-wall HD’s behind TVs, a Dream Machine SE Pro. A 16 port and an 8 port POE switch.

At work, I have a Pro Max, a 24 port enterprise switch, and a handful of access points. I also have one of their door controllers with its attached video doorbell.

Their cameras aren’t bad, but they’re overpriced. I went full reolink and haven’t regretted any of that. I use their protect nvr stuff at work, and while it works, it’s not great. If you just want something easy to set up and go, it’s good enough. If you want to do some really complicated, complex things, you’re better off with frigate or blue iris.

Their VPNs a little bit light duty. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but when I did my setups there was no local DNS option. But that’s easy enough to take care of.

I run Ubiquity AP (used to be flashed to OpenWRT but now stock) as well as Mikrotik, all local. Firewall is opnsense. NAS is FreeNAS, but not really use it at the moment. zfs is great. If you really need 48 port L3 switches, look into whitebox. I use used enterprise gear for lab, too much noise and power draw and no real use for terabit L3 at home.

Mikrotik for switches. Grandstream for APs. All been just working, and easy to set up. Good price as well.

We use it exclusively at work, it’s great for almost anything