HP T610 as a home router?

A Former User

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DaddyGo

@TheRealestLad said in HP T610 as a home router?:

HP T610s

Hi,

There is only one network adapter (NIC) in this "iron HP T610", and an optional Wifi, but I wouldn't recommend this (Wifi) for major interfaces.

pfSense requires a minimum of two interfaces - WAN / LAN
and if possible avoid Realtek PHYs, use Intel based devices (NIC) with 2 or 4 ports

+++edit:
USB-based NICs can also cause a lot of headaches, if you thought about it

johnpoz

@DaddyGo said in HP T610 as a home router?:

pfSense requires a minimum of two interfaces - WAN / LAN

Which could be via vlans - you can if traffic requirements are less than what your physical interface can do via hairpin traffic flow, and you have the switch infrastructure to support vlans.. Just create either you wan or lan as a vlan on the physical interface.

Also a T610 surely has slot where they could add nic, which can be head for really cheap.

DaddyGo

@johnpoz said in HP T610 as a home router?:

Which could be via vlans

The VLAN may be a solution, but honestly would you do that? (on NGFW)

@johnpoz Also a T610 surely has slot where they could add nic, which can be head for really cheap.

I don’t really see expansion slot here it has already become a $ 20 toy box...

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03235347

johnpoz

@TheRealestLad said in HP T610 as a home router?:

T610

Oh maybe Im looking at the wrong thing ;)
https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/server-poweredge-t610-specs-en.pdf

hahaha - yeah that makes more sense for the price he paid ;)

Well if its a gig interface, and he only has 100mbps internet then sure vlans would be quite up to the task.. Now if he had gig/gig and wanted to get full wire speed then no not really ;)

DaddyGo

@johnpoz said in HP T610 as a home router?:

Oh maybe Im looking at the wrong thing ;)

Uhh, yeah Dell is a more serious "iron" indeed, we used in the past, but already EOL
Now we have a couple of pfSense instances on R210II.... cheap and perfect and more powerfull (maybe a lot)

It seems to me the OP is very beginner, I am afraid the VLAN at first exceeds his knowledge...
but it really is a solution and let’s not forget about it, if we want to be accurate

A Former User

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A Former User

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johnpoz

A ssd doesn't really make all that much sense for a firewall - other than you could get say a small ssd for very cheap.. small 2.5 quick and cheap - so yeah that would make more sense then throwing in some 1TB disk..

What are your requirements - what sort of budget do you have... I really don't get why people don't look more to the appliances from netgate.. For many users with 100mbps type connections the sg1100 is perfect solution.. And if you have more needs than the 2100 or the 3100, etc..

So you save a few bucks on diy.. Its also going to be some used thrown together thing, or something you put together from parts you had laying around? And sure those projects can be fun.. But its also slick as shit using some kick little box, that you know is going to work, and supports the company providing the software you want to use, etc.

A Former User

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A Former User

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DaddyGo

@TheRealestLad said in HP T610 as a home router?:

Found online a seller selling two HP Compaqs for 20NZD each and both are the same model.

I'll be honest with you.....

Well, my opinion on your goals, which you outlined...
-for a very general purpose, you want the security which is provided by an NGFW..... in your home...

Do I understand correctly?

You don’t want to run resource-intensive things on your firewall, you just want routing + security.

In this case, energy saving is the main goal and compact and/or small size.
I wouldn’t recommend old very cheap PCs, I’ll tell you why:

Modern environments (NGFW) or OP systems are sensitive to device drivers and BIOS type settings, I mean here, UEFI, MBR, GPT, AHCI stuff.

True, pfSense handles low-performance (old) hardwares well and can be installed on almost anything, say almost...

Most of these old PCs don't have any support due to their EOL status, the BIOS is outdated for example and comes with a headache when switching to a new pfSense version (+FreeBSD version).

I should also mention that older thin clients also consume a minimum of 60-90W of power. (old laptops too)
Old PCs can consume up to 200 - 300W.

Logically, if you buy such "dying" hardware for $ 20 now, and your electricity bill will be consistently high, you will lose the advantage of cheap purchasing in a year.

As your intention to use is simple, I suggest the following:

f.e. the smallest category Netgate device SG-1100 recommended by @johnpoz (worth the investment (179 USD), as it also comes with factory support, for beginners it is very good)

-I like to keep under control of all hardware dependency and we use these, and we put one together, very good little pfSense box and there are a lot of topics about it in the forum, so it is well supported by the community.
Link: https://www.pcengines.ch/apu4d4.htm

if you put together all your needs in the webshop, you get about the same price or a little less than the SG-1100, but with much more knowledge and performance.

I made you a sample order, .....

Other questions:

SSD? - not necessary, but who wants a loudly rotating stuff in the router - in the living room - (rotating stuff is more mechanically sensitive), routing is not a brain surgery thing, it doesn't require a lot of resources in a SOHO environment, but I would also run pfBlockerNG-develt at home, for example the advantage of SSD is good for pfBlockerNG

-The NIC? - on this theme, I am ruthless always, .... many people disagree with me (especially those who bought Realtek PHY stuff and are now suc....ing, hihihihhi ). The NIC is the soul of the NGFW... -these types can be used in SOHO, at a reasonable price / value ratio:
Intel (always :-)) I340, I350, I210, I211

I know there are others: Broadcom, Chelsio, etc,. but these are not for beginners and not in SOHO.
Suggested target devices for pfSense, include either Marvell or Intel i211 PHY.

+++edit:
SG-1100 3 pcs. 1Gig Marvell ports
pcEngines APU4d4 4 pcs. Intel i211 ports

DaddyGo

@TheRealestLad said in HP T610 as a home router?:

HP Compaqs that are being sold and I mentioned in the last reply are 6000 Pro SFF

HP Compaqs that are being sold...

Sorry, maybe the time zone, I'm in Europe...
In the meantime, you are planning more serious expansions instead of what is described in the introduction...

then our discussion of hardware should start all over again...

stephenw10

What bandwidth is your WAN connection? Is that likely to increase any time soon?

Do you want to run a VPN from the firewall at all?

Steve

A Former User

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DaddyGo

@TheRealestLad said in HP T610 as a home router?:

I am not very familiar with NGFW to be honest.

For pfSense, this means the same, since both firewall and router

NGFW = next generation fire wall

+++edit:

Development is progressing, old stuff is not supported, but this HP might be good.
I would forget the laptop for that purpose, yes.

-what to pay attention to 240W consumption of HP

-PS2 peripheral connection....
this must be turned off in the BIOS for continuous boot, do not pay attention to the presence of the mouse and keyboard, because on reboot, if the peripheral is not connected, the BIOS will not proceed

you see, this is also an old stuff possible source of error and/or mistake point

DaddyGo

@TheRealestLad said in HP T610 as a home router?:

AMD A6 CPU

As for your bible when it comes to hardware selection...

note: the content of this page important, if you are going to use the current version of pfSense.
(since pfSense "2.4.5-p1" is based on this FreeBSD)
Which hardware component is supported here will be trouble-free under pfSense.

https://www.freebsd.org/releases/11.3R/hardware.html

pbshaan

@TheRealestLad Not sure, if you're still looking. But check out HP T620 Plus or HP T730 thin clients, both support installing a LAN card. For ~ $80 on Ebay.

Ref: https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/some-information-about-hp-t620-plus-flexible-thin-client-machines-for-network-appliance-builds.21014/