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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 Proxmox VE (PVE) hypervisor was installed and the host networking configured on my N100 box. Now it was time to create the core component: the virtual machine that would act as my main home router. My initial plan was to use vanilla OpenWrt, the classic, highly customizable Linux distribution for routers. Act I: The Struggles with Vanilla OpenWrt Creating the VM in PVE (giving it VM ID 100) involved several steps: ...

The N100 hardware for my new soft router/home server was assembled and ready. The grand vision involved virtualization, allowing this single machine to run my router, NAS, and potentially other services simultaneously. The chosen foundation for this was Proxmox Virtual Environment (PVE), a powerful, open-source hypervisor based on Debian Linux. Installing PVE: The First Hurdle Installing PVE itself is relatively straightforward, similar to installing any Linux distribution: Create Installation Media: Download the PVE ISO image. On my Mac, I used Balena Etcher to write the ISO to a USB drive. My first attempt failed – turns out the old USB drive I grabbed was faulty. A newer drive worked perfectly. Boot from USB: Connect a monitor and keyboard to the N100 box, plug in the USB drive, and boot into the BIOS/UEFI settings (usually by pressing DEL or F2 during startup). Set the USB drive as the primary boot device. PVE Installer: Follow the graphical installer prompts. Key settings during installation: Target Hard Disk: Select the Fanxiang NVMe SSD. Location/Timezone: Set appropriately. Hostname: Set to something memorable, like pve.local. Network Configuration: Crucially, assign a static IP address for PVE’s management interface (e.g., 10.0.0.2), along with the gateway (10.0.0.1 - my eventual router VM’s address) and DNS servers. I chose one of the four physical ports (e.g., enp1s0) for this initial management access. The installation completed smoothly, and PVE rebooted. I could access the command line directly on the N100, and more importantly, access the web UI from my Mac at https://10.0.0.2:8006. Stage one complete! ...

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. ...

My quest for functional IPv6 hit a wall with the ISP’s faulty modem (ONT). Since I couldn’t get a proper Prefix Delegation (PD) from it, I needed a router capable enough to potentially handle the connection differently, perhaps even taking over PPPoE duties if necessary. My gaze fell upon a Netgear R8000 Nighthawk X6 collecting dust – a once-powerful router I had previously flashed with OpenWrt, only to seemingly “brick” it during a configuration mishap. Could this be its moment of redemption? ...