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    Asrock ION based PC and USB ethernet - better than RT-AC68u?

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    • M
      mgrobins
      last edited by

      Hi,

      thanks for all of the great posts and help here. First time poster and just dipping my toe in the water with pfsense :).

      I'm after some advice on 2 topics:
      1. benefit of a pfsense router over my current Asus RT-AC68u with my usage habits
      2. Is my intended hardware ok.

      Hardware:
      I have an Asrock Ion based pc (NVidia version of the dual core atom, runs at 1.4GHz I think). It has a realtek gigabit adapter onboard and I was looking to use a USB gigabit adapter as my second LAN port.

      Firstly, will this operate with PFsense?

      I think the motherboard only offers USB2… so should I use a 100Mbit or gigabit USB Ethernet adapter (I have both).

      My home internet is cable (113/2.4) so I thought gigabit for both would be best (but couldn't recall the bandwidth of USB2).

      Usage habits:
      1. a few connected devices - desktop, notebook and tablet/phone.
      2. Torrenting, gaming and normal productivity stuff.
      3. I use adblock on my browser but would look to use a router based blocker if possible.
      4. VPN (local app not through router currently) I would like to have VPN always on for my laptop but not used for my desktop - is this possible with it running at the router level? I mainly use VPN for hiding location or identity for torrenting and media... so I don't think I need high level encryption just speed.

      Not sure what else I should be considering? Partly I just want to build a router for fun and to expand my hobby of computers but I would also really like to know how it will improve the function of stuff I am already doing or could be doing.

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      • M
        mgrobins
        last edited by

        Ok..

        so I have installed PFsense onto this machine.

        I am using the onboard NIC and a USB->Gbe NIC as my WAN connection (I figured the USB2 port would bottleneck the LAN but be fine for 113Mbit WAN).

        Now I need to learn about the software. I'm following the FAQ and wiki. I would like to know if there is a guide for testing the integrity of my setup once I decide to put it in as my router (check firewall, DNS and what is visible from WAN side etc). Any advice?

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