Need help with my very first PfSense build
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Hello,
I'm considering to build myself my very own router / firewall / UTM for home network after going through consumer routers like Netgear WNDR3700, Cisco / Linksys E4200 and small business / small enterprise models like Netgear SRX5308 and Cisco RV220W all having their fair share of limited firmware capabilities and sort of silly bugs like the Cisco RV220W I'm currently using where all firewall rules becomes useless / inactive upon mapping static IP-addresses on the router.
Our network feature a 25/25mbps fiber connection, but it will most certainly be upgraded to at least 50/50 or 85/85 mbps in the near future, with possibilities for going even further the next couple of years.
There are a few other reasons why I want to build my very own router solution, besides all the limited and buggy firmwares haunting the consumer, prosumer and small business / enterprise market I find the challenge of building my own solution very interesting and tempting. And hopefully it will provide a more customisable and stable solution than whats currently available on the market without paying a fortune for a high-end business solution for companies like Cisco. I also love the idea of running a UTM for added security, some might call it overpowered and somewhat silly for a home network and home environment but I really love the idea of playing around with UTM capabilities.
This brings me to this post and my idea about building my very first UTM solution for my home network. I have been looking at PfSense, Astaro and Untangle whereas the two later seems to offer better UTM capabilities but they don't support uPNP which at times would be a real pain in the ass with multiple game systems (Xbox360, PlayStation3, Nintendo Wii etc..) requiring uPNP to fully work when playing online games. Therefore I consider PfSense to be the best software solution for my needs and setup.
But as I have never built any system like this before I would need some help choosing the right hardware.
Here is a list of the hardware I have been looking at, some of it I own already and I would like to know what you think about it and whether it would actually be supported by PfSense.
ASUS P8H67-I B3, LGA1155, Mini-ITX, Intel H67
Intel Core i3-2120T, LGA1155
Corsair Dominator 1600MHz @ 8-8-8-24 4x 2GB (have already)
Intel Pro/1000 ET Dual-NIC Server Adapter (Intel 82576) (have already)
Intel SSD 320 series 80GB for installation
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Take a look on hardware compatibility list.
http://www.freebsd.org/releases/8.1R/hardware.html
I preffer and suggest 64 bits installs.
what kind of services you need to filter on this pfsense?