My Best pfSense Configuration?
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Hi, all.
I've been using pfSense in my home setup for about a year. It's fantastic. I currently subscribe to both Private Internet Access and Unblock-US, as these two services compliment one another nicely in enabling my Internet subscription services.
I'm currently making configuration changes in the pfSense webGUI on an as-needed basis depending on what I'm doing. This means I am continually (at least once per day usually) logging in to activate/deactivate the OpenVPN connection, and to change up the DNS entries in System==>General Setup. I would like to stop this noob behaviour, and implement something more set-it-and-forget-it. Here is what I would like to accomplish:
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I would like all the computers and wireless devices (tablets and phones) in the house to be on the PIA VPN full-time and use the PIA DNS servers;
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I would like all the content streaming devices (Apple TV's) to use my ISP IP address (no VPN) and use the Unblock-US DNS servers.
The streaming devices need to be able to communicate with the computers (iTunes and such) and, obviously, the Internet on WAN.
I suspect I need to educate myself on the configuration of VLAN's, but I wanted first to seek input from those in the know.
My hardware is: pfSense box with three physical GB interfaces; Cisco SG300-10 GB managed switch; Netgear 5-port GB switch and wireless access point.
Thanks for any feedback.
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I believe I figured this out by trial and error. Here is the solution I've found:
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Turn on the OpenVPN client and leave it on (PIA DNS entries are in System==>General Setup);
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Assign the Apple TV's with DHCP static IP's, and then enter the Unblock-US DNS servers on the same static mapping page;
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Create an alias that contains all of the Apple TVs;
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Create a firewall LAN rule at the top of the list: Action=Pass, Source=Apple TVs Alias, Destination=any, Advanced Features–Gateway=WAN-DHCP.
Tested on several devices, and seems to work perfectly! Not sure if it's the best solution, but so far seems OK.
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