pfSense CE 2.8.1 — Multi-WAN + VLAN Integration on Community Edition for Enterprise-Grade Reliability

[yousaf.hussain84]

I wanted to share a successful deployment using pfSense Community Edition (CE) 2.8.1, designed to handle multiple WAN connections and internal VLAN routing for enterprise-style reliability

Environment Overview

• pfSense CE 2.8.1-RELEASE running on Dell desktop hardware
• Intel 4-Port Gigabit NIC providing WAN + LAN segmentation
• Dual WAN configuration (PPPoE + DHCP) with failover groups
• VLAN-based network with Layer 3 routing managed by an upstream switch
• Static routes configured to access internal services on isolated VLANs
• Centralized DNS & DHCP (non-Internet routed)

The setup ensures users across VLANs can securely access internal services while internet access is handled through a controlled failover gateway policy.

Project Goals

• Maintain enterprise-grade stability using pfSense CE
• Segregate and secure internal and external traffic paths
• Integrate Git-based version control for documentation
• Use Proxmox VE to virtualize pfSense lab testing for rollback and replication

🧠 Highlights

• pfSense CE as the core firewall and policy engine
• Layer 3 switch handles inter-VLAN routing
• Static routes for isolated internal VLANs
• Failover internet policy using gateway groups
• Configuration management via GitHub

GitHub Repository

Full configuration and sanitized documentation are available here:
https://github.com/yousaf1982/enterprise-open-source-network-integration

**** Community Feedback

Would appreciate thoughts from the pfSense community on:

• Optimizing gateway failover performance
• Streamlining VLAN and inter-LAN firewall rules
• Integrating pfSense with Proxmox virtual environments**