Need low-power, low-performance box
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Unlike most here, I'm not looking for 1Gb speeds. I'm looking for something inexpensive for my mom's house. Her Internet is only like 10Mbit and we use an IPSec tunnel between us.
I want a SMALL box, so not an old PC. Any suggestions?
Or maybe just buy a Netgate SG-1000? Hoping for a cheaper option, used or new.
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I have been using an Atom 2550 based small system for the past 2 years with pfSense with no problems. I have 40/5 Mbit DSL service and the system can more than handle it. I got mine from Neweggg:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856205007&cm_re=D2550--56-205-007--Product
One downside, however, is no AES-NI support, so it will not be supported past pfSense 2.4. Let me know if you would like more info on this system.
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That box is 120.. The sg-1000 is $149… At such a price difference.. Why would you not go with netgate/pfsense hardware?
The sg1000 is perfect for this setup.. And this way you support the project, and get yourself gold in the process.. So to be honest the cost is only $50 if you look that the total price includes $99 gold...
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Agreed. The OP was obviously aware of the SG-1000 and was still looking for alternatives so I figured I would throw in another device that I have had personal experience with. I probably would have gone with something like the SG-1000 had it been available when I started using pfSense.
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I think he was hoping for something like 75$ or something..
Prob be better off just putting dd-wrt or openwrt on some soho router for his mom's house.. And doing his s2s vpn with that to his pfsense box. If he wants "cheap" that would be the way to do it..
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Some people have luck with thin clients, but the problem is that they often have no AES-NI or 64-bit CPUs and pfSense is going to drop support for devices without that.
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@johnkeates:
… thin clients ...
Tried that several moons ago and am done with it.
A friend got an (otherwise expensive) Crestron home automation system from me and to save on costs he got a couple former HP thin clients connecting the 22" touch screens in his walls (and running WinXP embedded).
All of them died in 24/7 operation within 15 months or so.Bottom line: You cannot gain a thing if you help others to save at the wrong end.
Imagine how many times I went to his place for free to troubleshoot, repair, replace these devices.
Never again will I propose something like that!And back to OP's question: If you don't want to visit your mom on a regular, technical basis then save yourself the hassle and get an SG-1000. It's worth it - especially if your time is worth anything to you!
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I’ve done the same at my mothers house using a rasberi pi and OpenVPN. Also gave her a second SD card so if the first got hosed she’d plug in the replacement. For £20 all in its perfect for remote access and also has a good 10mbps openvpn througput!
