Seeking Recommendations for Budget-Friendly, Heat-Resistant, Quiet Mini PCs with High Network Capacity to run pfsense

avivronen

I'm looking for recommendations for 3 mini computers:

Very, very tight budget - price is a significant consideration, and import taxes in my country are high.
They must handle heat well - my country has very high temperatures in the summer and they will be located in a non-air-conditioned area.
They need to be quiet since they will be near a bedroom.
They need to be capable of handling many connected devices and substantial network traffic.
They must be reliable and last without breaking down after a year.

I need around 6 ports - 2 WAN inputs and 4 LAN outputs (5 total is also acceptable).

The first model I am looking for should support 1Gb speed.
The second model should support 2.5Gb.
The third model should support 5 or 10Gb.

I'm overwhelmed by all the models and processors that might fit this, so I'd appreciate recommendations.
Thank you!

Antibiotic

@avivronen said in Seeking Recommendations for Budget-Friendly, Heat-Resistant, Quiet Mini PCs with High Network Capacity to run pfsense:

They must handle heat well

They need to be quiet

Idk, how you want to combine this two requirements)))

avivronen

This post is deleted!

avivronen

@Antibiotic

Quiet doesn't mean there are no fans at all, but there's a difference between a server fan that sounds like a jet engine and cute, quiet fans. Isn't that right? :)

sic0048

@avivronen I think you will get better results if you pick a couple of choices and ask if they would be appropriate. It's unlikely that people are going to research all the possible options for you.

AndyRH

I would look for a fanless system, these tend to have good heatsinks then add a USB or similar fan.
ServerTheHome has a big list of small pfSense capable systems.

Patch

@sic0048 said in Seeking Recommendations for Budget-Friendly, Heat-Resistant, Quiet Mini PCs with High Network Capacity to run pfsense:

I think you will get better results if you pick a couple of choices and ask if they would be appropriate. It's unlikely that people are going to research all the possible options for you.

Agree

near free, 10Gb, hostile environment, reliable, minimal sound, 5+ ports, off the shelf (others vouch for performance).

@sic0048 needs to choose what is actually important enough to drive purchase decisions then do some research.