The oldest hardware still running pfSense+ 23.09
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What is the oldest hardware (limiting it to those that have Gigabit Ethernet) that will still run pfSense+ 23.09? When was that hardware first released?
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Netgate hardware or anything?
23.09(.1) will run on almost anything that is x86-64bit. So things from around 2006. I have an an Atom D525 test box from 2010.
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@stephenw10: Does that apply to Netgate’s own hardware, too? Are there throughput limitations on older hardware?
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There are no artificial limitations. Obviously older hardware is generally less powerful (or less efficient) so throughput is limited by that.
Did you have something specific in mind?
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I have several residential clients, and I have been promoting the Netgate appliances to them. My selling point has been that, unlike with consumer-grade equipment, their Netgate devices will not become insecure, as long as the latest pfSense version is installed. My most recent client has a Linksys E1200, which saw its last firmware update in 2018. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that that firmware update fixed all known vulnerabilities. With pfSense and its open source nature, I have much greater confidence that security holes are discovered, and are fixed soon enough thereafter.
If a client who now has a Netgate 1100 today upgrades to a 10 Gbit/s connection (available, where I am
) at some point in the future, his connection will still be safe, but he will have to upgrade his equipment to take advantage of that bandwidth. My selling point always is security and a little bit self-serving in that I am familiar enough with pfSense to provide the features he requires.I usually set up separate subnets and corresponding Wi-Fi SSIDs for the family, for guests, and for home automation. One client I set up with a separate SSID for his kids and had the access point they connect to switched on and off with a smart switch, so that the parents can enforce bedtime. I doubt that consumer-grade hardware makes that as convenient as that setup ended up being.
