Buy modern router with WOL capability or set up a Pi3? HELP!

Associate
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13 Apr 2017
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15
AN OLD HAT NEEDS MODERNISING, I CHALLENGE YOU TO HELP ME WORK OUT BEST HARDWARE OPTION TO ALLOW WOL BROADCAST FOR REMOTE SESSIONS.
Hi all.
I would like to be able to perform WOL (wake on lan) broadcast remotely.
When I am away from home I want to be able wake my machines up for remote sessions and then put them back to sleep to save power.
My old sky router does not have the option in its settings to do a WOL broadcast and it's not a compatible router for DD-WRT firmware.
I believe I have a few options available to solve this and I want you to help me pick one.
A: I buy a brand new wireless router that has WOL broadcast capability.
If so what should I buy? I can't find WOL specs for routers from basic google searches.
B: Buy a raspberry pi, set it up as a workstation who's only job is to be turned on 24/7 and listen for remote requests that then ask it to perform the WOL broadcast.
C: Buy a second hand router that is compatible with DD-WRT router firmware.
D: a long shot but the only other hardware that I have internally that has WAN awareness is my ASUSTOR NAS box (the old AS3202T) it can have apps installed for all sorts of things but I am not aware of a WOL broadcast feature.

Other info includes,
I don't want to spend hundreds of pounds but a new router maybe the most power saving neatest option.
I don't think I need the fastest wifi router on the planet. Router duties consist of dishing up video content from streaming apps like Netflix (99% of the time to one device at a time, occasionally to multiple devices in parallel), general internet browsing and remote sessions typically via RDP.
Bar my iPhone and iPad the Apple TV and old PlayStation and PC workstations are all hard wired to a switch in the loft which is also wired to the router.
A new router would need to be to be ADSL.
The switch is something like a 24 port gigabit switch connected to all my devices via CAT6e cabling embedded in my walls.
Any large data transfers are typically internal and handled via the wired connections.
On a final note, my old SKY router only has the option for a paid subscription DDSN service. So if I did get a new router it would have to have the option to set any DDNS service I want. I like admin options and must have firewall options etc. Prefer web portal interphases or app that works well to interact with router.

Any suggestions would be greatly received.
 
Don
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The way I do it..

Openvpn to my house (direct to my NAS), then I use juiceSSH android app to connect to my pi and I type the name of the pc they I want to wake.

You can openvpn direct to the pi.

I picked an ISP that allows me to have a static IP instead of needing to use a dyndns service.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
13 Apr 2017
Posts
15
The way I do it..
Openvpn to my house (direct to my NAS), then I use juiceSSH android app to connect to my pi and I type the name of the pc they I want to wake.
You can openvpn direct to the pi.
I picked an ISP that allows me to have a static IP instead of needing to use a dyndns service.
Hi Bledd, thanks for your thoughts.
Unfortunately I don't already have a Pi. If I did I would just set it up with a similar solution to what you mentioned.
My query was more around the fact that regardless of solution I will have to buy some new hardware.
So if I have to buy new hardware which should it be, a Pi or a new router?
A new router would be a more tidy and simpler solution and use less power than setting up a pi to be powered on 24/7 along side the existing old router. A pi will possibly be cheaper and more effort to set up.
As I know nothing about 2018/2019 routers and which ones would have WOL broadcast features I am interested to hear what the over clocker forum can advise.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
13 Apr 2017
Posts
15
Reality check: You're agonising over something that's got a £2ish power bill per year, less if you buy a pi2b, put 4-5p a week to one side and you'll be OK ;)

Source: https://www.pidramble.com/wiki/benchmarks/power-consumption

Thanks Avalon. Your right. Thank you for the perspective.
To h3ll with it, I have now ordered a pi as a bit of project fun (and back up option) and I am on the precipice of ordering a tplink archer C2300 to modernise my router capabilities.
 
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