Soft-Router

My N100 soft router was finally running a stable router OS – iStoreOS – within a Proxmox VE virtual machine. The core networking was solid. Now came the rewarding part: deploying the services I actually wanted and tackling the inevitable advanced troubleshooting challenges. AdGuard Home: Taming the DNS Loop Installing AdGuard Home (AGH) via the iStoreOS app store was straightforward. The initial setup wizard (:3000) guided me through setting ports. I changed AGH’s DNS port to :5353 to avoid conflict with iStoreOS’s built-in dnsmasq (running on :53). ...

My journey to achieve reliable home networking, particularly stable IPv6, had hit roadblocks with both my ISP’s modem and a powerful-but-faulty Netgear R8000 running OpenWrt. It became clear that consumer-grade hardware, even with custom firmware, might not offer the raw power, flexibility, and reliability I craved. It was time to explore the next level: x86 Soft Routers. What is a Soft Router? Unlike traditional “hard” routers with proprietary hardware and software, a soft router is essentially a small, dedicated PC running a specialized router operating system (like OpenWrt, pfSense, OPNsense, or RouterOS). The “x86” refers to the standard PC processor architecture (Intel/AMD), offering significantly more power and flexibility than the ARM or MIPS chips found in most consumer routers. ...