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Not everything should be connected to the Internet (www.theverge.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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This is a good example, why not all devices should be connected to foreign servers. Errors can happen everywhere. But it could end badly, if some Corporations make errors and creating trouble, which would otherwise not happen.

In the case of the 3D-printer it is not that bad (except it destroys itself or even gets on fire), also you can turn it off. But imagine a smart stove top that lights up a towel (or something similar) while nobody is home.

Not, that I think that it is not useful to have something like that, but wouldn't it be nice, if that stuff would work locally? (with the WireGuard integration in modems, the access from outside of home with the smartphone, should also be no problem for non-tech people)

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

If you buy a fancy router (i.e. entry level professional grade, like MikroTik) or flash custom firmware (DD-WRT, OpenWRT, or Tomato), it should have the necessary features built in and have decent guides. I have a MikroTik router, but I've used each of the custom firmware I've mentioned as well.

You have a few options:

two separate physical networks - the router can be configured to bridge certain services and leave the rest completely separate
two virtual networks where devices are separated based on MAC or something - works the same as the first, assuming MACs don't change (could happen if the device is compromised)
one network where services are blocked for specific devices or certain ports - no need for separate networks, though you can often group devices to simplify rules (e.g. group all of your cameras and only allow certain traffic to/from them)

These are in order of preference top down, and reverse order of effort to setup (i.e. the first may require running new cables and/or installing new switches depending on network setup). For each option, you can configure a VPN with the network, so you can access your things remotely without having them be accessible to the outside world.

This gets trickier with cloud-based services where the only way to access things remotely is by going through someone else's server, which is when you'd need to instruct your router to allow only certain connections in and out. I prefer to just avoid those services and go with the VPN option.

I hope that makes sense. Since you're using cloud services, the last option will probably be the best bang for your buck. I personally go with the second because I plan to rerun cables to do the first soonish (my city is rolling out fiber, so I'll be messing with cables anyway).