Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    pfSense box advice

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    17 Posts 8 Posters 3.0k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • 1
      1druid1
      last edited by

      Hi All

      I am still a new user to pfSense although I have had my current setup running for a while now.

      At the moment my pfSense is running on an old Lenovo W510, which is fine and works but I have a couple of issues with it.

      It s noisy and its power hungry even at idle.

      So I am looking for a low cost quiet solution.

      My use of pfSense is quite limited at the moment, really only using it so all my network connections go through my NordVPN, at the moment my wireless connections still go through my ISP router and are not VPN connected as I could not get pfSense working with the internal network adaptor on my W510.

      So looking for a solution to replace my W510 Laptop and a decent AP that will connect to my pfSense so that both my wired and wireless connections go through my VPN.

      It doesn't have to be a PC, if anyone has had good luck with routers that can use the pfSense software that is also an option. Just looking for a solution on the cheap end.

      Cheers

      DJ

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • provelsP
        provels
        last edited by provels

        Cost and support-wise, you may want to look at the SG-1100 from Netgate for $160. SG-1100 (3 ports, perfect for your AP) or if you want to home-build, there are quite a few Intel J-1900 variations available on EBay (with 2-4 ports), but will be more costly. They mostly come direct from China, so warranty on failure may be an issue. Personally, I run mine virtualized on my main PC using Hyper-V.

        Peder

        MAIN - pfSense+ 24.11-RELEASE - Adlink MXE-5401, i7, 16 GB RAM, 64 GB SSD. 500 GB HDD for SyslogNG
        BACKUP - pfSense+ 23.01-RELEASE - Hyper-V Virtual Machine, Gen 1, 2 v-CPUs, 3 GB RAM, 8GB VHDX (Dynamic)

        GrimsonG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • GrimsonG
          Grimson Banned @provels
          last edited by

          @provels said in pfSense box advice:

          there are quite a few Intel J-1900 variations available on EBay.

          Don't use J-1900 based systems, they are old, don't support AES-NI (and you still want it, even though pfSense 2.5 will not require it) and they tend to have compatibility issues with newer FreeBSD versions.

          provelsP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • provelsP
            provels @Grimson
            last edited by provels

            @Grimson Does the SG-1100 support AES-NI. I looked and didn't see anything. Thanks.

            This might be the hot ticket before they run out. MBT-4220, but only 2 ports.

            Peder

            MAIN - pfSense+ 24.11-RELEASE - Adlink MXE-5401, i7, 16 GB RAM, 64 GB SSD. 500 GB HDD for SyslogNG
            BACKUP - pfSense+ 23.01-RELEASE - Hyper-V Virtual Machine, Gen 1, 2 v-CPUs, 3 GB RAM, 8GB VHDX (Dynamic)

            NogBadTheBadN GrimsonG 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • NogBadTheBadN
              NogBadTheBad @provels
              last edited by

              @provels said in pfSense box advice:

              @Grimson Does the SG-1100 support AES-NI. I looked and didn't see anything. Thanks.

              This might be the hot ticket before they run out. MBT-4220, but only 2 ports.

              re "but only 2 ports" buy a switch that supports VLANS :)

              Andy

              1 x Netgate SG-4860 - 3 x Linksys LGS308P - 1 x Aruba InstantOn AP22

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • GrimsonG
                Grimson Banned @provels
                last edited by

                @provels said in pfSense box advice:

                @Grimson Does the SG-1100 support AES-NI. I looked and didn't see anything. Thanks.

                ARM doesn't have AES-NI, it has other crypto accelerators. Netgate is IIRC working on adding support for them.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • 1
                  1druid1
                  last edited by

                  Hi

                  Thanks for the replies.

                  I was looking at the SG-1100, but cant find a UK supplier with stock, I only need 2 LAN ports, 1 for WAN and 1 for LAN, LAN port goes into a switch, not managed as I don't really need VLANS.

                  There used to be a list of compatible routers that could be flashed with pfSense but cant seem to find that on the website now.

                  The MBT-4220 looks nice but not at the prices.

                  As I say my use of pfSense is really limited, so still not sure what it all can do, I just downloaded it and installed it onto my old laptop to force all my connections to go through VPN, even that isn't the best as it doesn't have a kill switch that I recently found out as when my VPN went down all clients went out through normal internet.

                  Cheers

                  DJ

                  R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • 1
                    1druid1
                    last edited by

                    Hey All

                    Any thoughts on this board?

                    https://www.mini-itx.com/~J3455N-D3H

                    Cheers

                    DJ

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • NogBadTheBadN
                      NogBadTheBad
                      last edited by

                      I'd be tempted not to use a celeron mother board.

                      If your looking at building your own tot up the total cost against a SG-3100 pre building one if you cant get a SG-1100.

                      I've dealt with Amica in the UK when I purchased my SG-4860 and they were great to deal with.

                      Andy

                      1 x Netgate SG-4860 - 3 x Linksys LGS308P - 1 x Aruba InstantOn AP22

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • B
                        bluepr0
                        last edited by

                        You might find my last post here useful https://forum.netgate.com/topic/140954/returning-user-needs-a-new-pfsense-box/16

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • 1
                          1druid1
                          last edited by

                          @bluepr0

                          Hi, thanks for the reply, had a look, the prices have gone up quite a bit since then, I cant get that board and CPU plus memory for that cheap, the board and CPU cost around £200.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • 1
                            1druid1
                            last edited by

                            Oh, just come across something, what about one of these with 2 USB network adaptors?

                            https://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-compute-stick-quad-core-atom-x5-z8300-2gb-ram-32gb-emmc-micro-sdxc-slot-ac-wifiplusbt-hdmi-2x-

                            I use a USB network adaptor in my current configuration and works great.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • JeGrJ
                              JeGr LAYER 8 Moderator
                              last edited by

                              If you want a serious pfSense box, skip USB adapters.

                              Don't forget to upvote 👍 those who kindly offered their time and brainpower to help you!

                              If you're interested, I'm available to discuss details of German-speaking paid support (for companies) if needed.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • 1
                                1druid1
                                last edited by

                                Hi

                                I wouldn't say my use is serious, its just getting used to route network in the home through VPN.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • R
                                  R1200RT
                                  last edited by stephenw10

                                  This is what I just bought to run at home: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Minisys-4-Lan-pfsense-minipc-Intel-atom-E3845-quad-core-mini-itx-motherboard-linux-firewall-computer/3282568428.html?spm=a2g0s.13010208.99999999.260.30453c00MTfxbC

                                  I have 3 subnets/networks at home. The main LAN, Google WIFI and VMWare LAB(VLAN off LAN). I am running PFSense with the AES-NI turned on for OpenVPN connected to NordVPN. I have also created Firewall Rules to allow my 2 Roku Boxes to bypass NordVPN as Amazon and Netflix seem to have problems with NordVPN.

                                  The Google WIFI nodes have a static route on the LAN. I normally get 200Mbps/200Mbps from my ISP, with NordVPN on, it drops to about 160-180Mbps/100Mbps.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • R
                                    rebi @1druid1
                                    last edited by rebi

                                    @1druid1 said in pfSense box advice:

                                    I was looking at the SG-1100, but cant find a UK supplier with stock, I only need 2 LAN ports, 1 for WAN and 1 for LAN, LAN port goes into a switch, not managed as I don't really need VLANS.

                                    Try searching for a german one with UK delivery, e.g. voleatech.de does currently have it on preorder (delivery is mid-april ... hopefully before brexit ☺ )

                                    BTW since pfSense now supports ARM, it might be possible to be installed on a Raspberry PI (never dug into the topic, it's just an idea)

                                    JeGrJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • JeGrJ
                                      JeGr LAYER 8 Moderator @rebi
                                      last edited by JeGr

                                      @rebi said in pfSense box advice:

                                      BTW since pfSense now supports ARM, it might be possible to be installed on a Raspberry PI (never dug into the topic, it's just an idea)

                                      No it isn't. The two devices with ARM have custom images. There is no "generic ARM" image for pfSense. Sorry. Besides, a RasPi is a really bad choice for routing.

                                      Don't forget to upvote 👍 those who kindly offered their time and brainpower to help you!

                                      If you're interested, I'm available to discuss details of German-speaking paid support (for companies) if needed.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                      • First post
                                        Last post
                                      Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.