The perfect pfSense box of 2014 ($109/1037u/dual-lan/fanless/wifi/usb3/mSata/SD)
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I picked up a Partaker B5 after reading your post, so just wanted to come back here and say thanks. I've put a small SSD and 8gb RAM in it and it's been rock solid. The only problem I've had is that the machine doesn't come back after a reboot command. If I shutdown and power it back on it's fine. My usage is very light, no packages and 150mb internet, for what it cost I really can't complain.
I'm up to my 6'th month with mine right now, and it's still rock solid. Even without a fan, it's surviving my un-airconditioned "server room" just fine. I did however change from the NanoBSD image to a "real" install, as I noticed as well that it would not come back up after an upgrade. Since reinstalling with the "hdd" installer instead of the NanoBSD image, that issue went away.
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I also want to thank albatorsk because I took my miniPC after his review and I have to say that in four months I have not had the slightest problem.
Just my two cents: have you tried to check how is set the ac power loss option in the BIOS? -
Emm hi, new kid on the block here,
I saw this system with a 40% discount. Thought that you guys might be interested, since it already has come across several times in this post.
http://www.hystou.com/products/fanless-mini-pc/celeron-mini-pc/small-fanless-pc-mini-computer-barebone-system-with-intel-celeron-processor-n3150-208ghz-2hdmi-1276.html
Dont know if it looks that good? 99 Dollars for a case, psu, wifi and motherboard with dual nic. Only thing left is ram and storage.
Keep in mind that there's a timer on this thing. Only 10 hours left.
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Emm hi, new kid on the block here,
I saw this system with a 40% discount. Thought that you guys might be interested, since it already has come across several times in this post.
http://www.hystou.com/products/fanless-mini-pc/celeron-mini-pc/small-fanless-pc-mini-computer-barebone-system-with-intel-celeron-processor-n3150-208ghz-2hdmi-1276.html
Dont know if it looks that good? 99 Dollars for a case, psu, wifi and motherboard with dual nic. Only thing left is ram and storage.
Keep in mind that there's a timer on this thing. Only 10 hours left.
Looks really good, circa $226 including 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD.
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Yes, that looks like a good price, for the same hardware. But, before ordering, just make absolutely sure you get the model with 2 LAN ports and 2 HDMI ports. When I checked out the ones configured with RAM and SSD, they changed the model to the one with 1 LAN port, 1 VGA and 1 HDMI.
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… and 128GB SSD.
don't forget 2x HDMI!
Wait … are we talking about a router here? I must have missed something important recently... ???
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… and 128GB SSD.
don't forget 2x HDMI!
Wait … are we talking about a router here? I must have missed something important recently... ???
The reason I stressed 2 HDMI ports is because the other version of the mini PC (which instead of 2 HDMI ports has 1 VGA port and 1 HDMI port) only has 1 LAN port.
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I noticed that as well. When I configured it for 8GB RAM and 128 GB SSD - one of the ethernet ports were no longer there. :'(
They also do not state which manufacturers 8GB RAM and 128 GB SSD. -
The hystou box can be got cheaper from here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Latest-windows-8-mini-pc-mini-fanless-desktop-pc-with-Dual-Intel-82574L-Gigabit-Nics-Walk/1501885_32255088559.html
My dilemma is whether to get N3050 or N3150.
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The hystou box can be got cheaper from here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Latest-windows-8-mini-pc-mini-fanless-desktop-pc-with-Dual-Intel-82574L-Gigabit-Nics-Walk/1501885_32255088559.html
My dilemma is whether to get N3050 or N3150.
In my home LAN there is the same box with N3150 and I cannot complain.
The OpenVPN process is not scalable (it runs in a single core), so if you plan to run an OpenVPN client and the speed of your line is greater than 100Mbps you should consider the N3150, because in pfSense is possible to aggregate multiple OpenVPN clients in a single gateway. In that case the four cores of the N3150 are better than the two cores of N3050.
Be aware that this device has two Realtek NICs and not Intel.
Here something about the OpenVPN performance:
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=115673.0 -
In my home LAN there is the same box with N3150 and I cannot complain.
Because OpenVPN is not scalable (that means that a single process runs in a single core), if you plan to run an OpenVPN client and the speed of your line is greater than 100Mbps you should consider the N3150, because in pfSense is possible to aggregate multiple OpenVPN clients in a single gateway. So four cores of the N3150 are better than two cores of N3050.
Be aware that this device has two Realtek NICs and not Intel.Thanks. So the Realtek NICs work ok with pfsense?
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In my home LAN there is the same box with N3150 and I cannot complain.
Because OpenVPN is not scalable (that means that a single process runs in a single core), if you plan to run an OpenVPN client and the speed of your line is greater than 100Mbps you should consider the N3150, because in pfSense is possible to aggregate multiple OpenVPN clients in a single gateway. So four cores of the N3150 are better than two cores of N3050.
Be aware that this device has two Realtek NICs and not Intel.Thanks. So the Realtek NICs work ok with pfsense?
Exactly, maybe because I don't host any services in my network even the Realtek NICs do their own job.
Here another user's experience with the same device:
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=114945.msg639418#msg639418
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=118422.msg655505#msg655505Here a review of a similar device (Intel i5 5200) with two Realtek NICs:
https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-scooter-computer/ -
The above mentioned aliexpress is quite similar to
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Braswell-Celeron-Quad-Core-Fanless/dp/B01GBHCS5U/ref=pd_sim_sbs_107_8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZM8SF13CTHNN2D9M0YK1 -
So the Realtek NICs work ok with pfsense?
Every ALIX or APU1 device has Realtec NICs and they do work actually. Just don't expect miracles or data center performance.
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Hi All,
How does one go about installing pfsense on the mini PCIE card (64GB) in these boxes?
thanks,
Dave -
If you are talking about the mSATA slot of APU1s then use a memory stick image with serial, 64bit and write (not copy) that to a USB stick.
Connect via serial console to the device and boot it.
Follow the output and install to mSATA.https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Writing_Disk_Images
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Installing_pfSense
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Boot_Troubleshooting -
Ok, I guess I misidentified that slot. Is that type of memory okay with a lot of writes or is the embedded code recommended for this?
Thanks for the post.
If you are talking about the mSATA slot of APU1s then use a memory stick image with serial, 64bit and write (not copy) that to a USB stick.
Connect via serial console to the device and boot it.
Follow the output and install to mSATA.https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Writing_Disk_Images
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Installing_pfSense
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Boot_Troubleshooting -
You will want to put /tmp and /var in Ram (on ramdsik) and it'll be fine.
That setting is only a checkbox away at System: Advanced: Miscellaneous
Use RAM Disks Use memory file system for /tmp and /var -
In my home LAN there is the same box with N3150 and I cannot complain.
Because OpenVPN is not scalable (that means that a single process runs in a single core), if you plan to run an OpenVPN client and the speed of your line is greater than 100Mbps you should consider the N3150, because in pfSense is possible to aggregate multiple OpenVPN clients in a single gateway. So four cores of the N3150 are better than two cores of N3050.
Be aware that this device has two Realtek NICs and not Intel.Thanks. So the Realtek NICs work ok with pfsense?
Exactly, maybe because I don't host any services in my network even the Realtek NICs do their own job.
Here another user's experience with the same device:
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=114945.msg639418#msg639418
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=118422.msg655505#msg655505Here a review of a similar device (Intel i5 5200) with two Realtek NICs:
https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-scooter-computer/I bought the linked unit with N3150, and can only use 1 of the NICs in pfSense 2.3.2 & the latest (12/19) 2.4 Dev snapshot: the other shows as 'active' and 'media connected', but no traffic gets through. In Ubuntu on the same box everything works fine. Has anyone run into this same issue?
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I bought the linked unit with N3150, and can only use 1 of the NICs in pfSense 2.3.2 & the latest (12/19) 2.4 Dev snapshot: the other shows as 'active' and 'media connected', but no traffic gets through. In Ubuntu on the same box everything works fine. Has anyone run into this same issue?
I have the same device, and I haven't noticed any issues with pfSense 2.3.2 so far. I have a very basic setup, with WAN on one interface and LAN on the other. No VLANs or anything like that. Are there any error messages (that might be related) logged?
