Inexpensive device for pfSense

bingo600

@sudsmaker said in Inexpensive device for pfSense:

Something with low maintenance and electricity consumption. (no fans would be nice)
Can handle 1GB+ speeds
3-4 ports (more is fine)
$100-$150

Please let me know too, when you find a device w. those specs, at that price.

/Bingo

Jarhead

@bingo600 How about the sg1100?
A little over the price but I think it fits all the rest

SteveITS

@jarhead The 1100 isn't going to be able to do 1 Gbps. Netgate (https://www.netgate.com/pfsense-plus-software/how-to-buy#appliances) puts it at 191-607 Mbps with the firewall enabled. The 4100 can do 1 Gbps. I'm pretty sure OP is looking for a unicorn. :) Probably requires used hardware.

akuma1x

@jarhead You need to add a little bit more to your budget, then look at this box:

https://www.amazon.com/QOTOM-celeron-Processor-Fanless-pfSense/dp/B01CSCGD58/

Only problem is that the CPU does not support AES-NI in that model. Also might not be able to hit 1Gb speeds. You have to get into one of the newer Celeron processors for that AES-NI function, and still up your budget.

This would be a better box, with a newer CPU:

https://www.amazon.com/Qotom-Fanless-Celeron-Computer-Firewall/dp/B09ZXY1KJ3

johnpoz

@bingo600 said in Inexpensive device for pfSense:

Can handle 1GB+ speeds
3-4 ports (more is fine)
$100-$150

Curious where users come up with their price points..

sledge

That’s a tough ask for that budget. Have a peek at this thread as I think doing a DIY box with used equipment is your best shot of getting close to budget and desired speed.

https://forum.netgate.com/topic/173687/upgrading-my-apu2c4-pfsense-box/2

Another thought is maybe you could repurpose an older server unit from your work for cheap or free.

bingo600

@sledge said in Inexpensive device for pfSense:

Another thought is maybe you could repurpose an older server unit from your work for cheap or free.

That would probably not fulfill requirement 1

Something with low maintenance and electricity consumption. (no fans would be nice)

/Bingo

sledge

@bingo600 said in Inexpensive device for pfSense:

@sledge said in Inexpensive device for pfSense:

Another thought is maybe you could repurpose an older server unit from your work for cheap or free.

That would probably not fulfill requirement 1

Something with low maintenance and electricity consumption. (no fans would be nice)

/Bingo

Depends how you view things. If he gets it for free then his $100-150 budget can buy him some play time.

100w / 1,000 = 0.10 KWH x 24 hours x 30 days x $0.103 per KWH = $7.42 per month

Adjust wattage variable as needed for actual power consumption. Cost per kWh is based on my last electric bill. It may vary for your location.

Even if 200w that’s roughly $15/mo so he gets 10 months of play time for that budget. And that’s without discounting back any watts/cost for whatever he’s already using and paying.

bingo600

@sledge
If he's in Europe you're soooo much off
In peak times here we pay like us$ 0.90/KWh

Rus/Ukr war made energy crazy .....

Else ...
Did you just say that because you don't care about goloabl warming or ?? ....

/Bingo

sledge

@bingo600 said in Inexpensive device for pfSense:

@sledge
If he's in Europe you're soooo much off
In peak times here we pay like us$ 0.90/KWh

Rus/Ukr war made energy crazy .....

Else ...
Did you just say that because you don't care about goloabl warming or ?? ....

/Bingo

No hidden agenda in my statement. And I wasn’t intentionally being insensitive to global issues. The OP listed his/her budget using the USD $ symbol so I was responding with what I thought was appropriate. Being that I’m US based it seemed that was a fairly decent representation of his/her costs to operate.

stephenw10

100W actual average consumption would be very high though. Something in the 30-50W range is not hard in a used device. Won't be fanless though.
I agree, It's hard to meet all of those requirements.

Steve

A Former User

Used HP Thin Client (T730) RAM, M.2 SSD, Intel i-350 Quad
Used Intel Xeon E3-12xxv2/3 RAM, mSATA, Intel i-350 Quad
Used PC Engines APU4D4 with mSATA

ranger2

I just got my pfSense running with the following hardware....

HP Prodesk 6200 i3-2100 with 8 gb RAM (came with an HDD I didn't use): $50 second hand from a private seller. (Just the box, no peripherals)
Two, TP-Link TG-3468 NICs (one for LAN and one for OPT); ~$12/ea from Amazon.
One, Silicone Power 128 gb SSD: ~$17 from Amazon.

I used a keyboard and monitor I had to get it set up, but now it's freestanding.

I don't know how many VLANs you're talking about, but I run a LAN for security and the OPT interface is for multiple Static IPs from Google Fiber. I have it attached to a Netgear Gigabit 8-port switch I got off Amazon for ~$19

The built-in NIC on the HP Prodesk provides the WAN. I get full speed 1 GBs through the Fiber Jack.

So, outside of my time I spent a total of about ~$125 and it seems to work just fine.