PfSense for Home use? Necessary for my needs?

Use the opportunity to upgrade your PC. With all the parts you pulled out of your desktop, you could build a solid router.

oppland

I'm using an Atom D2500 with 4gb ram and it is plenty.

JimPhreak

@jbhowlesr:

Use the opportunity to upgrade your PC. With all the parts you pulled out of your desktop, you could build a solid router.

Huh? Not s who or what post this is in response to.

@oppland:

I'm using an Atom D2500 with 4gb ram and it is plenty.

Are you using OpenVPN? What are your connection speeds?

GomezAddams

You mention you have vmware. Why not run pfsense as a virtual?

I'm also a windows and cisco guy, and I find pfsense fairly easy to use. If you've used Cisco's ASAs, pfsense takes a bit to get used to.

The biggest frustration with pfsense is the lack of documentation.

JimPhreak

@GomezAddams:

You mention you have vmware. Why not run pfsense as a virtual?

I'm also a windows and cisco guy, and I find pfsense fairly easy to use. If you've used Cisco's ASAs, pfsense takes a bit to get used to.

The biggest frustration with pfsense is the lack of documentation.

I'm considering running it as a VM but I have some reservations about it. First off my VM box runs my media server which is used very heavily by many users and I'm not sure how well it will work in conjunction with a router/firewall on the same box. Also, I like the idea that I can do maintenence on my VM box without taking down the Internet.

As for the lack of documentation, I'm noticing that. Hopefully I will be able to pickup the basics quickly so I can at least get my network running while I learn the more advanced features.

@JimPhreak

Hopefully I will be able to pickup the basics quickly so I can at least
get my network running while I learn the more advanced features.

There is also a book out about pfSense and another one will be released soon
if this would be interesting for you, to get faster skills.

antillie

I came to pfSense from a very Cisco focused background. I work with ASA firewalls, catalyst switches, and IOS routers every day. I found pfSense to be rather easy to learn. At the end of the day a network is a network and they all work the same way.

GomezAddams

@BlueKobold:

@JimPhreak

Hopefully I will be able to pickup the basics quickly so I can at least
get my network running while I learn the more advanced features.

There is also a book out about pfSense and another one will be released soon
if this would be interesting for you, to get faster skills.

Lol, that new book has been going to be released "soon" for over a year now.

GomezAddams

@antillie:

I came to pfSense from a very Cisco focused background. I work with ASA firewalls, catalyst switches, and IOS routers every day. I found pfSense to be rather easy to learn. At the end of the day a network is a network and they all work the same way.

Well, yes, it is easy to to learn, but the ASA and pfsense seem (to me at least) to require different mindsets when figuring out how to get to where you want to go.

But you are right, at the end of the day, it is all just wrangling bits.

JimPhreak

My main background is with Cisco switches and routers, however in terms of security appliances I've never messed with any ASA's. At work I use Sophos UTM which I actually love but from the research I've done it doesn't look like I can setup an OpenVPN tunnel to PIA with a kill switch from UTM. It's the main reason I picked pfSense over it.