PfSense hardware
-
After some advice please…
I am planning to set up a pfSense box for home use. The intended internet traffic would be the usual range of laptops, tablets, phones, HTPC, NAS, Chromecast etc. All up, a maximum of say 30 devices using the internet, although obviously not all at the same time. Some of them may be through a VPN (AirVPN at present). I am on Telstra 115/2 cable and will be for as long as I can before nbn HFC comes along. I have the cable modem bridged and use an Asus RT-AC68U for routing and wireless. The RT-AC68U runs Merlin and is pretty good but I'm keen to take a step up in performance and security.
I want a fanless box, so building something from the parts box is not an option. I suppose I should also be ready for pfSense v2.5 and AES-NI hardware encryption.
With the above requirements, is something like the Netgate SG-2220 an overkill? Would the Netgate SG-1000 be up to the job?
Are there any recommendations for (cheaper) non-Netgate boxes that would do the job?Thanks
[Spam link removed]
-
I want a fanless box, so building something from the parts box is not an option.
Those two things are not mutually exclusive. You can definitely build your own and have a fanless box too.
Parts list :
-
AsRock J3355B – $56.70 NEW
-
4GB RAM – $29 NEW ~$17 USED. You can choose to double that if you want 8GB, but I think 4GB is plenty for your use case
-
80W PicoPSU – $25 NEW. $9 USED(if you have an old laptop adapter)
-
Intel i340-t4 – $18.95 USED -- I'd go used/server-pulls here to avoid Chinese fake cards
-
M350 Mini ITX enclosure - $39.95 NEW.
Add it all up and it comes to $169.60 if you buy everything NEW except the Intel NIC card. You can save another $5 if you choose to combine the enclosure and picopsu as well since they sell a combo. Buy used and it could save you more money.
Compare that to SG-2220 – which is no longer available but was sold for $299.00. Saves you a lot of money
Compare that to SG-1000 – which is at $149.00. So for about $20 more, you'd have a much more powerful system -
-
-
Intel i340-t4 – $18.95 USED -- I'd go used/server-pulls here to avoid Chinese fake cards
-
M350 Mini ITX enclosure - $39.95 NEW.
-
