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Posted: 2/19/2016 1:22:44 AM EDT
[#1]
Out of the box for what?
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Posted: 2/19/2016 7:21:05 AM EDT
[#2]
Why would I pay for an out-of-box solution when I can build a pfsense machine with either what I have at home in the garage, or for $100 and still have money left over for beer, and have it do everything -- and then some -- that an out-of-box solution can do?
Just build one, you'll love it. |
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Posted: 2/19/2016 10:23:08 AM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Out of the box for what? Quote HistoryQuoted:
Out of the box for what? For home routing. Quoted:
Why would I pay for an out-of-box solution when I can build a pfsense machine with either what I have at home in the garage, or for $100 and still have money left over for beer, and have it do everything -- and then some -- that an out-of-box solution can do? Just build one, you'll love it. This is the way I'm thinking - but I keep running into issues when I research pfsense like needing certain hardware especially for supported wireless cards. I would like it to be a wireless AP as well as a wired router. If I built a pfsense box and purchase an additional wireless AP for the house I feel like that's just 'playing with your food' and making the hobby more complex than it needs to be. The new commercial routers will multi-channel bonding and everything built in seem to be pretty bulletproof for what I would need to purchase to setup this pfsense box how I want in my home rack anyway... What can pfsense NOT do well that a commercial router can? |
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Posted: 2/19/2016 2:32:35 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
For home routing. This is the way I'm thinking - but I keep running into issues when I research pfsense like needing certain hardware especially for supported wireless cards. I would like it to be a wireless AP as well as a wired router. If I built a pfsense box and purchase an additional wireless AP for the house I feel like that's just 'playing with your food' and making the hobby more complex than it needs to be. The new commercial routers will multi-channel bonding and everything built in seem to be pretty bulletproof for what I would need to purchase to setup this pfsense box how I want in my home rack anyway... What can pfsense NOT do well that a commercial router can? Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Out of the box for what? For home routing. Quoted:
Why would I pay for an out-of-box solution when I can build a pfsense machine with either what I have at home in the garage, or for $100 and still have money left over for beer, and have it do everything -- and then some -- that an out-of-box solution can do? Just build one, you'll love it. This is the way I'm thinking - but I keep running into issues when I research pfsense like needing certain hardware especially for supported wireless cards. I would like it to be a wireless AP as well as a wired router. If I built a pfsense box and purchase an additional wireless AP for the house I feel like that's just 'playing with your food' and making the hobby more complex than it needs to be. The new commercial routers will multi-channel bonding and everything built in seem to be pretty bulletproof for what I would need to purchase to setup this pfsense box how I want in my home rack anyway... What can pfsense NOT do well that a commercial router can? Honestly, don't build wireless into your security appliance. Build the pfsense box, then add wireless APs to the network. Ubiquiti UAPs are rock solid and work well in a multi-ap deployment. A multi-ap deployment is the only way to make sure coverage is where you need it. |
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Posted: 2/19/2016 3:21:15 PM EDT
[#5]
If you atr interested in making a PFSense box, then you need a separate wireless AP.
What PFSense does not do well is being a plug and play all in one solution. I very recently built mine. Way overkill, but of course since this is for fun.ASRock mini ITX board with an embedded Intel J1900 Celeron. Built in a 1u case. Ubiquiti UAP-AC access point. I'm hoping to add another AP in the future. |
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Posted: 2/19/2016 4:15:28 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
If you atr interested in making a PFSense box, then you need a separate wireless AP. What PFSense does not do well is being a plug and play all in one solution. I very recently built mine. Way overkill, but of course since this is for fun.ASRock mini ITX board with an embedded Intel J1900 Celeron. Built in a 1u case. Ubiquiti UAP-AC access point. I'm hoping to add another AP in the future. I have three of the legacy APs in my house and the handoff between APs is flawless. We utilize the wireless for FireTVs in two rooms and never have wireless connectivity issues. |
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Posted: 2/19/2016 4:29:15 PM EDT
[#7]
Yes. There are many reasons it is superior to a cheap home router. The most significant in my opinion is the extensive logging.
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Posted: 2/19/2016 8:19:06 PM EDT
[#8]
I repurposed an old Asus mini tower (2 core Intel something). Slapped in a dual Intel NIC, and it's flawless. I will say I'd much rather have a fanless ssd powered box, but it's not worth the extra coin for the upgrade IMHO.
I run an older dual band wfii router as an AP. I'd much rather have a couple ubiquiti APs, but I'm holding out for the 5ghz models to drop on price, if they ever do. Eta: this is the box http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103195 |
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Posted: 2/19/2016 8:29:50 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I repurposed an old Asus mini tower (2 core Intel something). Slapped in a dual Intel NIC, and it's flawless. I will say I'd much rather have a fanless ssd powered box, but it's not worth the extra coin for the upgrade IMHO. I run an older dual band wfii router as an AP. I'd much rather have a couple ubiquiti APs, but I'm holding out for the 5ghz models to drop on price, if they ever do. Eta: this is the box http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103195 The original AC access points were $300. The new ones are $150, but prices are high due to low supply and high demand. I ordered one for $146 and had to wait more than 2 months. |
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Posted: 2/19/2016 9:07:13 PM EDT
[#10]
Didn't have an old PC laying around, but I'm running pfSense in an ESXi VM. I like it, had a Netgear R7000 as a router and it was powerful enough, but the filtering (ads, malware, porn) on pfSense is great. Biggest reason I'm using it. Repurposed the R7000 as an AP.
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Posted: 2/19/2016 11:20:25 PM EDT
[#11]
So if I have a modem/router combo like the Netgear C6300 I'm assuming the pfsense router wouldn't do much if I wanted to keep the C6300 for wireless since it would be plugged in before the pfsense box obviously as a modem...so filtering and wirewall activities wouldn't do anything.
I'll have to rethink my stack and see what I want to do... |
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Posted: 2/20/2016 5:54:36 PM EDT
[#12]
something to take into account is it is going to cost about $50/year more in electricity to run an older PC with pfsense than a small box solution, depending on energy costs in your area.
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Posted: 2/22/2016 8:21:07 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Honestly, don't build wireless into your security appliance. Build the pfsense box, then add wireless APs to the network. Ubiquiti UAPs are rock solid and work well in a multi-ap deployment. A multi-ap deployment is the only way to make sure coverage is where you need it. Listen to this man. I have a pfsense box running as a VM and have used Ubiquiti APs for years, that is the solution you seek. |
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Posted: 2/22/2016 8:28:58 AM EDT
[#14]
Yep! Running pfsense on a Supermicro 1U with an Intel atom CPU, 16G of RAM and a SSD. I have one LAN port plugged into the switch for all hardwired jacks in the house. One for the WAN. One for the Ubiquity AP. Works great, and have it loaded up with openvpn, snort, etc.
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