Hardware Upgrades

[phreed]

What hardware upgrades are available for the netgate appliances?
https://www.netgate.com/appliances
I am wondering if any of the wireless hardware can be installed in any of them.
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/wireless/hardware.html

[stephenw10]

Technically the 2100, 6100 and 8200 can support an internal wifi card. However an external access point is almost always better in every way.

Steve

[johnpoz]

However an external access point is almost always better in every way.

Fixed that for you ;)

[phreed]

Are there any external access points that work particularly well or, short of that, anything that should be avoided?

• https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/recipes/external-wireless-router.html
• https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/wireless/configuration-ap.html#should-an-external-ap-or-pfsense-software-be-used-for-an-access-point

"The main deciding factor these days is 802.11n or 802.11ac support; Support for 802.11n hardware in pfSense software is somewhat limited and 802.11ac support does not exist. This is a deal breaker for some, and as such using an external access point would be best for networks requiring 802.11ac and in some cases 802.11n if suitable hardware cannot be obtained."

Any issues with the newer mesh network offerings?

• https://www.eero.com/shop/eero-pro-6e
• https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/7CFEB805-D2AD-409E-A7D8-CE92C38290AC?ingress=0&visitId=04b2ca0d-498d-446f-8324-026e75d418e6

[stephenw10]

Some of those mesh devices can only work in full 'mesh' mode when they are also acting as a router. You don't want that, you want pfSense to be the only router and the APs to be pure layer 2 devices.

Other than that any AP should work. Personally I would always choose something that can run OpenWRT if possible. I've been running those for years and am spoiled by the flexibility that offers. But if you have a lot of APs across numerous sites you probably want some commercial offering.