Hardware ideas for first time pfsense user.
-
I have a 1gbit connection, and my N56U can handle about 1.3bgit simultaneous on the wan port which is fairly decent for an older, cheap homerouter. Brand new 200$ routers do ~1.5gbit.
But i'd like to either build or buy something that can actually handle 2gbit simultaneous.
I looked at this: https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=75415.0 which seemed nice, but is from 2014. I've also looked at some motherboard with onboard
n3050/n3150. But i'm not sure if that's just overkill.This is only for home use, so my needs are not very high. 3 eth ports where one is wan and wifi. usb for printer, and that's about it.
But i find it kinda hard to navigate the jungle of new and old hardware vs cost vs what will cover my needs.I'm hoping for some of your assistance.
-
usb for printer
I wouldn't count on using a pfSense router as a USB print server, if that's what you're getting at. You're much better off keeping your N56U in that role (and as a wireless AP, unless you want to upgrade to AC). You should look at the pfSense box as a router/firewall and nothing more. Keep a separate AP and print server (whether they're in the same hardware or separate) and you'll be much happier.
I'll leave it to others to chime in about hardware specifics as it applies to a 1Gbps WAN connection, as I don't have anything of the sort myself.
-
That was just in case it was going to be a all-in-one box. But i've gotten my hands on a hp dc7800p with an e6750 and 6gb ram for free. Should be enough. And i just bought a pro/1000 dual nic. Gonna be a week or so before that arrives.
I'll set the N56U up as an wireless AP. which will handle the printer and can be accessed through the wired network. pfsense will just function as a router. But i'm very excited to see what my total simultaneous throughput is going to be. -
i've gotten my hands on a hp dc7800p with an e6750 and 6gb ram for free. Should be enough.
I'm curious to hear what kind of performance you get out of it. That's pretty old hardware, but, hey, it's free.
-
I doubt that old hardware will handle a 1GB connection.
-
I doubt that old hardware will handle a 1GB connection.
I have several old pieces of hardware (8+ years old) that I'm running pfSense on. Home I'm running on a Dell Inspiron I bought at Best Buy in 2009 for $300 (and I have gigabit up/down there, box has no problems saturating the link).
At my work, in a colo I have a HP ProLiant DL365 G5 from the late 2000's as well that is also running pfSense on multiple gigabit links without breaking a sweat.
Now neither are doing anything like gigabit IPSec or the like, but both can easily push 100Mbit+ over IPSec (as I have a link between the two).
So while I would love to upgrade both, and I'm looking for options on my home hardware. But to be honest, in today's world where we're more worried about power consumption/etc. the older hardware runs circles around it sadly.
-
So while I would love to upgrade both, and I'm looking for options on my home hardware. But to be honest, in today's world where we're more worried about power consumption/etc. the older hardware runs circles around it sadly.
No, newer hardware is both faster and more power efficient. (Comparing like-to-like; don't compare a goldmont tablet cpu to a server cpu from 8 years ago, compare a current server cpu to an old server cpu or a modern goldmont to something like an atom 330.)