This is, admittedly, an easier approach but its not without its downsides.  Bridge filtering isn't supported by CARP so if you need to do a CARP firewall cluster because you have an HA requirement for your network, then bridging isn't going to work.  Its really about your needs, pick the solution that fits yours best.

pfSense 1.2.3 is based on FreeBSD 7.2 which provides the operating system including device drivers. See http://www.freebsd.org/releases/7.2R/hardware.html for list of supported devices including wireless chipsets. The corresponding information for pfSense 2.0 BETA (based on FreeBSD 8.0) is at http://www.freebsd.org/releases/8.0R/hardware.html

also resetting my router during my pfense installation may have activated this feature from my isp as well

Yes, other settings that particular brand and model might have.

If you keep all incoming ports closed, nothing can get in that way regardless. If something (virus, etc) gets in, it's because a PC on your LAN downloaded it or let it in, which is a completely different problem.

This minimum length still is true if you have a hub somewhere. The collision detection cannot work if the cable is too short. I think the exact value for the length is somewhere in the CSMA/CD standard. Wiki has a short notice to this too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_physical_layer#Ethernet_minimum_cable_lengths But with current equipment you will have to look very hard to find a situation where a colission is possible. As long as you dont use hubs (or rings even) you wont have problems with the minimum cable length.

My laptops have a key combo that shuts off the screen (or at least the backlight) You might also be able to grab blank_saver.ko from a FreeBSD 7.2 box or VM and add blank_saver_load="YES" to /boot/loader.conf I think green_saver.ko will turn the monitor off via DPMS if it's supported. There are a few other _saver modules too, some more useful than others (I like daemon_saver and rain_saver myself!) One of these days I should make a package for them

No, there is no way to limit that to your phone, not unless your cell provider would give you a static IP, which is unlikely. Most VPNs are left open to the world because they have increased authentication requirements (lengthy PSKs, PKI authentication, etc) and can't be brute forced by traditional means. PPTP and SSL VPNs are an exception to that rule, but that's all part of the classic security-vs-convenience tradeoff.

http://blog.pfsense.org/?p=560

what type of bandwidth cap? as asked one could say yes or no. do you mean limit the max bandwidth that one can utilize? or like what some isp do, lock the user out after a certain bandwidth is reached?

What a relief!  My network has computers, where upnp is not desired, and gaming consoles, where upnp is desired.  This will allow me to set my consoles to a static internal ip and only enable upnp on them.  It's the best of both worlds.  Thanks for your help.

Thanks! I also found some really good videos on YouTube.

You probably started with something more complex than "freebsd virtualbox" ;)

What error do you see on the PC trying to access the site that doesn't work? Any errors in the system log? Anything bad on the Quality Graph (Status > RRD Graphs)?

Thanks for the reply jimp.  I'll probable just stick with m0n0wall for now. BTW, I have contributed both hardware and money on more than one occasion to both pfSense and m0n0wall and will continue to support both projects.  And yes, you may even hear me whine from time to time but please feel free to ignore it.  :) Thanks again for all your hard work! Roy…

What has worked for me: enable advanced outbound NAT.  click the checkbox for "static port".