I've built my new pFsense box, using the Jetway JBC200F9N-E4IN-B (5 port Intel). It was an easy build, as you only had to install RAM and hard drive/SSD.

I'm not sure how to run network tests, but for my 300/20 connection, it is fine without any problems.

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=97384.0

USB Ethernet or 1 slot PCI Ethernet, Onboard Ethernet.

USB 3.0 Boost - faster USB 3.0-transport with UASP in Windows 8
Can you perhaps set this feature off in the BIOS?

Network iControl - network throughput control in real time
Also this feature should be perhaps disabled in the BIOS and causes the errors.

Sorry for the delay. Yes, that's what I was referring to. Odd I havne't seen that then. I'm not aware of any regressions in the ath driver though 2.0 is really quite old now! It might be worth trying 2.1.5 if you can.

Steve

Hello again NickM,

I am sorry to bug you once more again, related to my really bad english language skills
I am a bit disorientated now! Did you solve out the problem and installed it on the SSD?
Or was  you not able to install it on the SSD?

Thanks for the advice, but all i had to do is change it from AHCI to IDE and it worked.

Till this text I was thinking it was running fine and you got installed it on the SSD.

For some reason with AHCI enabled after i would finish installing and remove the stick while selecting to boot from SSD it would not.

And now I am thinking it was not running for you to install it on the SSD.

Can you please give me a hint to do also so likes you?

That's generally the sign of a driver issue, where an ifconfig down && up resolves things for some period of time. Reporting to freebsd-net list with specifics, or filing a FreeBSD PR after replicating with stock 11-CURRENT assuming it's replicable there, would be your best bet. Where it doesn't impact hardware we sell, we don't get much into driver issues.

There is also this page for future reference: http://netgate.com/docs/rcc-ve-4860/pfsense.html

@BlueKobold:

But 1 is used for WAN connection so only 1 is available for LAN and If I understand correctly this would mean that packages arriving to and departing from the router need to go over the same port thus causing a speed hit.?..

But you are free to buy a smaller or greater network switch that is capable to handle VLANs!

I have a TP-Link TL-SG2424 for future purposes :)

low power usage

For sure this would be here in Germany a big plus, because the price of electricity is gaining more then
30% of the actual price we have now!

30% is a very steep increase!
In Belgium they're planning on increasing taxes on electricity from 6% to 21% which is already a costly affair..

Anyway, thanks a lot for your time and help!

I ordered the SG-2440 last Sunday from the pfSense Store and it should arrive just before the weekend :)
I guess I'll know what to do this weekend :)

Yes (just) but it's not worth it. The hardware is very old now. Unless you're looking for a project.  ;)

Steve

I have tried an other USB nic as LAN, and it worked! So I belive there must be something with HW settings on the D-Link. The USB I tried was bought on ebay for a few $. It is not very stable thow. The D-Link is more expensive and should be working.

Now the system is quite stable.

If not it would be perhaps going to set up an APC PSU in forn of the pfSense.

@BlueKobold:

What pfSense limitation we are talking here about?

Lack of NDIS (QMI) support [in FreeBSD though].
Some reference could be found here: http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-current/2014-September/052098.html

mini itx with socket FCLGA1150
for Celeron G3260

GIGABYTE GA-H97N-WIFI, Mainboard ~120 €
GIGABYTE GA-Z97N-WIFI, Mainboard ~130 €

You can also buying a board you likes with LGA 1150 and then on top a refurbished
Intel Dual or Quad Port NIC.

APU is now online as master. Alix as backup, in case of!
And it rocks!

Thanks all for your help!
Astro

Yeah, full review still to come.

Steve

The T10 definitely not. It uses a chipset with (probably) an ARM CPU and pfSense only runs on x86/64.

The M500- maybe. It seems Watcguard aren't listing the hardware specs any longer in much detail. If it's an X86 CPU then it may well run pfSense as long as Watchguard haven't locked down the BIOS. However they have use some non-X86 chips in similar appliances, the XTM330. The throughput figures imply something pretty powerful though. Check the boot logs if you can.

Fun project.  ;)

Steve

I am trying to add the ZTE Z915 as a backup connection, but I can't seem to configure it properly as an interface.  I'm using pfsense 2.1.5, and the internal LAN is 192.168.1.0/24

After plugging it in, the ZTE is recognized as ue0, and I can ping the interface at 192.168.0.153 (assigned by DHCP on the ZTE I presume).  I assume that 192.168.0.1 is the gateway itself.

For the gateway, I've tried both assigning both 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.153, and I've also tried leaving it blank/dynamic (see image), all options do not seem to be passing traffic through.


Thanks BlueKobold!  Running full filtering with Snort and Clam-AV we are pushing 320Mbps with this box on PfSense 2.2.4.  Very happy with it indeed!

The idea behind the dual SD/SSD is to have an SD that rarely, if ever, gets written to it so that the system's life could be extended.  The SSD would be to hold the logfiles and DB files.  If it ever failed the unit would still run just fine until the SSD was replaced.  Stepping up to a larger SSD isn't an issue as it would certainly extend its life but I'm not sure if it's overkill.  I would think that the logfiles wouldn't be that much, though.  Right now /var is only 2.9G and it has lightsquid files going back to last October.

We aren't very happy with the reporting in lightsquid, especially compared to the big guys like Sophos.  You mention using a RaspBerry PI2 as a logfile server.  What did you have in mind?  What package would you suggest it run?

We go back and forth on the wifi card.  It's not a necessity, but if there was an 802.11n class card that worked for us it might be nice to have in there to remove the access point we have now.

I appreciate the feedback.  Any other ideas?

@Jason:

Honestly, I wouldn't use either.  If at all possible you want a SSD with some kind of power loss protection.  The cheapest drive I'm aware of would be the Intel 320; you can pick them up on eBay fairly cheap.

Thanks. Don't want to spend money on SSDs, I already have 2 spare SSDs now :)  Regarding power loss protection, I'm not too worry about that because I connected router to UPS always.

I have a standard T5740 and there is no room for a NIC in there.

I haven't verified if the expansion module you point at is correct but you will need something to make the combination work.