@Spencer1990: Just wanted to update the thread and say I changed my build to something more compact. Please let me know if you think it will work fine for my needs. Thanks again GIGABYTE BRIX GB-BSi5HAL-6200 (Mini Pc with Intel i5 6200U) 2x8GB G.Skill DDR4 2133 Samsung 850 Evo M.2 250GB Here you can take a look on a review of similar miniPC with Intel i5 5200 and two Realtek Nics, its performance are really good… so I expect something better from your Gigabyte Brix. https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-scooter-computer/

@KOM: I was looking at this exact unit.  How powerful is the built-in wifi?  I was assuming it would be weak and a real AP would be in order. I'm not sure, it's not being recognized by my setup however i did read here somewhere someone got it working, not sure if they replaced the card inside or used the stock that comes with the box. I have it hooked up to switch and my old WNDR4500 with ddwrt as an AP

A quick Google found these.  The pfSense Hardware page will answer some of your questions.  Atom is already a CPU in pfSense shipping hardware. https://www.pfsense.org/hardware/ http://www.firewallhardware.it/en/pfsense_selection_and_sizing.html

We're going to need more information.  How is everything wired up?  Are you connecting one of the NICs directly to the ISP gear?  Is there a switch in between? VLANs?  My first thought, especially if you're connected directly to ISP gear, is check that your NICs negotiation matches the port it's connected to.  Might need to be manually set; I've seen that happen with ISP provided Cisco gear, for example.

using a core2 e6420 with 4gb ram and a 160gb hd here (old old pc) and added 2x intel pcie gigabit nic. for one user, me - works fine for 250/20 cable using squaid, squidguard, snort, pfblocker,etc would suggest zoltac ci323 with 8gb and a ssd for new home builds on the cheap

@DigitalDick: I will have my EE Bright Box 2 connected via VDSL, connected to above PFSense box, then to my network I'm not familiar with that particular VDSL box.  Can it be put into bridge mode?  Ideally that's what you want.  But be aware that if it is in bridge mode (acting as a modem only) you will require an additional wireless access point on your LAN.  So pfSense takes over the routing/firewalling and the access point takes over providing wireless LAN access.

Not that I know of.

@Derelict: That can happen particularly after a sudden power loss. Always use Halt system in Diagnostics or console option 6 when possible. Connect a console, Reboot, press 2 for single-user mode at the "logo" menu, let it boot, press RETURN for /bin/sh, then run /sbin/fsck -y / a couple times until it comes back clean then /sbin/reboot. I did have a power outage last week.  Now attached to UPS. Thanks for console info.  Haven't tried connecting yet in that manner so now I have an excuse to do it  :)

Thanks, chpalmer, that worked! Now a bit different problem: Using the same cable you linked, I can't get into BIOS. I only get gibberish on the screen (behaving like a wrong speed is set). Of course, I switched the speed to 115200 8N1. Edit: Re-made the serial cable with proper shielding, that has done the job. All problems solved.

Given the errors you're seeing, odds are high that there is actually a problem with the drive. In all the years I've been dealing with SMART, two things have been evident: 1. SMART is prone to false negatives – Just because SMART says a drive is OK, doesn't mean it is. Especially when it comes to physical defects of various kinds or serious controller problems. 2. If SMART says a drive has a problem, it has a problem. So you can trust that if SMART finds a problem, it's definitely a problem but if SMART says it's OK, you have more work to do. Same with software RAM tests like memtest86.

old junk. you can try, but might be a waste of time

I have an APU1D4, 16Gb msata drive, assembled in the black case with power supply. PM me if interested.

@whosmatt: Does the client have (or can they obtain) multiple static IP addresses on the WAN?  That, IMO, would be the easiest way to handle things.  pfSense as the primary gateway, but the PIX with its own public IP address and a private IP address that is on a network that pfSense has an interface on.  Static routes or policy based routing would route the appropriate traffic over the PIX and everything else through pfSense. They only have 1 IP available at the moment but I'm assuming/hoping they will be able to obtain multiple IPs.

Theoretically it should work, practically Realtek NICs are not recommended. I would prefer this board then: http://www.asrock.com/ipc/overview.us.asp?Model=SBC-230

and if you ever have the need to increase the connection speed via VPN client, you might try the solution provided in this thread https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=115992.msg652957#msg652957

@AliasNeo: The redundancy issue is a valid one, I planned on using the current "test server" for when updates are urgent. It won't be even remotely similar to the new system but it will cover the bare functionalities. You can have redundancy (failover) via CARP with dissimilar hardware for sure.  It can take a little planning but it's not terribly complicated.  Good luck!

@jahonix: Don't expect too much from the Realtec NIC in conjunction with VLANs. I'm not.  I'm more excited about the CPU.  I'll post more when I actually get my hands on one.  The recent emergence of pfSense on ARM has dimmed my excitement about this device a tad but it should be fun to tinker with.

OK, I solved again. Here are the steps: 1. Remove pfSense and install VMware ESXi (free). 2. Install pfSense on ESXi as VM. 3. Configure Ethernet interfaces, but do not use AOC-SG-12 Dual port Server LAN Adapter ports. They will not work as expected. 4. Run tests - 850 MBps NAT.

Last proof of this night it was shrink disk with custom installation. HD is 250Gb, I shriked it to 100Gb Cheers! Now pfsense in online :-) Thanks all for help

Yeah, I am looking for a good 1U or similar box that will support full gigabit speeds.  Not having much luck, and I cant afford to purchase the pfSense units that will do 1 gig for a home setup.