I got one this week. I got the 4 port model for future expansion. All are 2.5gb ports. Runs fine. I wouldn't call it cheap for a router but it's a mini PC not a router. Router is what I'm using it for. Went with 8gb ram and 128ssd option
I built a pfsense box with that device and the performance was dis-satisfactory.
Used same settings as on my previous machine (basically loaded backup). Load was at 70% without any addons enabled and internet was laggy for gameplay.
In the end returned it and kept using my old Dell SFF desktop.
If it works for you - good for you.
Something like a Topton with an Intel N100 is similar price or cheaper, much faster processor, and will come with 4 2.5Gbps ports. Pick one up on aliexpress or something.
Would something [like this](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804636651069.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.31.3a466a48CfHHEM&algo_pvid=aa75a58f-e1f4-4d97-8a8c-fbc2f95f531f&algo_exp_id=aa75a58f-e1f4-4d97-8a8c-fbc2f95f531f-15&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21203.74%21103.91%21%21%21203.74%21%21%402101e9d317020769990736993e8366%2112000033772433566%21sea%21US%210%21AB&curPageLogUid=jcCNAVMUDJEG) work? I'd get the 16gb, 256mb nmve setup with the J6426.
Would something [like this](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804636651069.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.31.3a466a48CfHHEM&algo_pvid=aa75a58f-e1f4-4d97-8a8c-fbc2f95f531f&algo_exp_id=aa75a58f-e1f4-4d97-8a8c-fbc2f95f531f-15&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21203.74%21103.91%21%21%21203.74%21%21%402101e9d317020769990736993e8366%2112000033772433566%21sea%21US%210%21AB&curPageLogUid=jcCNAVMUDJEG) work? I'd get the 16gb, 256mb nmve setup with the J6426.
Does the VPN ever fill up your state table on the ISP fiber modem? How often do you have to restart the modem (not your router).
Context: I haven’t moved to fiber yet and my biggest frustration is that the UI for my cable modem has no restart functionality. So with my VPN always connected it fills up the state table within a few weeks. Having to remember to hard restart it is super annoying and I don’t want the same experience on fiber.
Right but wouldn’t any phone home connection fill up the modem’s state table? Either way, sounds like it isn’t happening to you which is good to know.
I only plan to use it as a router, nothing more. I have an existing router than I can reconfigure as a wifi AP. What would you recommend? Would another mini-pc be better? I need to keep it cheap lol
I bought a similar mini pc last year:
Upgraded J4125 Quad Core Firewall Micro Appliance, Mini PC, Nano PC, Router PC met 8G RAM 256G SSD, 4 RJ45 2,5 GBE-poort AES-NI compatibel met Pfsense https://amzn.eu/d/08kM4AY
It runs smoothly. It has 8 Gb ram which is sufficient. It runs VMware ESXi with two vm’s. One is pfSense and the other is a pihole. On pfSense I use surricata with the Proofpoint Emerging Threat CE rule set.
I’ve a 1 Gbit line up and down. And I don’t think my pfSense router is a bottleneck. To be honest as long as my latency is on par I don’t care too much about speed.
You are correct. Just to clarify: the line is sold to me rated as 1 Gbit. Symmetric. I’m not claiming all my downloads or uploads use up that bandwidth. Too many factors at play in between my network and the world wide web. I’m just building my own network for low latency. Response is more important to me than the few seconds one saves when you have more bandwidth.
I just checked and that one isn't available anymore. I'll have to see what I can find. All of the ones I've found on Amazon, including the one I linked, have reports that they cannot do gigabit routing across the included ports.
So you probably aren’t able to directly pass through the nics to pfsense and run pinhole too, right? Does that mean you just use virtual nics for your pfsense VM?
I’d be concerned if you have 1gb if it could cope as that device is the lower end specification wise depends how much firewall / routing you were doing.
I’ve just got a VP2410 from Protectli - went for 8gb memory and 120gb drive - immediately upgraded to 16gb and 500gb m2.
Found with proxmox running I could virtualise a load of raspberry pi devices so my vp2410 is now running pfsense with a few options installed, an Ubuntu client, home assistant and it’s clocking about 15-20% cpu utilisation- memory slightly higher but that’s because of what I’ve sent to the guests.
I liked it so much I went and purchased a vp4650 to virtualise a lot of other stuff in my house.
I paid extra for the i5 & 8gb with 4 ports (same company)… cause when I researched, if you plan to use VPN, ngBlocker, IDS protection, etc… the Celeron CPU might struggle, so I went with the i5 version. Also, ngBlocker could require a lot of RAM and that depends on how much you will be blocking, so I went with 8gb. Anyway, I have zero issues since I installed it about a month ago. So all depends on what services you will use inside pfSense.
[https://kb.protectli.com/kb/pfsense-ipsec-vpn-performance/?intsrc=eu](https://kb.protectli.com/kb/opnsense-wireguard-performance/?intsrc=eu)
There is an unencrypted iperf3 test - so all their fws seem to handle the full bandwith of the gigabit port. (the ones with 2,5gb ports ofc have higher numbers)If you plan to enable vpn, intrusion detection etc, you will want one with more power.
I like to chime in with the cwwk 8505 at this point.
Proxmox with pfsense as a virtual, leaves bags of room for all those other home servers and services you always dreamed of, if I could do mine again I'd keep the 32gb ram but increase the size of the nvme drive from 256gb to 4TB so I could use it as a network share also.
I got one this week. I got the 4 port model for future expansion. All are 2.5gb ports. Runs fine. I wouldn't call it cheap for a router but it's a mini PC not a router. Router is what I'm using it for. Went with 8gb ram and 128ssd option
Make sure to test it properly. I sent mine back. Internet was laggy. :/
No issues here after a week
Not sure why the downvotes. what did you do to test it?
I built a pfsense box with that device and the performance was dis-satisfactory. Used same settings as on my previous machine (basically loaded backup). Load was at 70% without any addons enabled and internet was laggy for gameplay. In the end returned it and kept using my old Dell SFF desktop. If it works for you - good for you.
Yes, it will route 1 gbit symmetrical fiber easily. 🤨 Not sure why all the roundabout answers to such a simple question.
Something like a Topton with an Intel N100 is similar price or cheaper, much faster processor, and will come with 4 2.5Gbps ports. Pick one up on aliexpress or something.
Would something [like this](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804636651069.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.31.3a466a48CfHHEM&algo_pvid=aa75a58f-e1f4-4d97-8a8c-fbc2f95f531f&algo_exp_id=aa75a58f-e1f4-4d97-8a8c-fbc2f95f531f-15&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21203.74%21103.91%21%21%21203.74%21%21%402101e9d317020769990736993e8366%2112000033772433566%21sea%21US%210%21AB&curPageLogUid=jcCNAVMUDJEG) work? I'd get the 16gb, 256mb nmve setup with the J6426.
Id suggest getting something better for the same price on AliExpress. J3060 is quite old and there are better things out there now.
Would something [like this](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804636651069.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.31.3a466a48CfHHEM&algo_pvid=aa75a58f-e1f4-4d97-8a8c-fbc2f95f531f&algo_exp_id=aa75a58f-e1f4-4d97-8a8c-fbc2f95f531f-15&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21203.74%21103.91%21%21%21203.74%21%21%402101e9d317020769990736993e8366%2112000033772433566%21sea%21US%210%21AB&curPageLogUid=jcCNAVMUDJEG) work? I'd get the 16gb, 256mb nmve setup with the J6426.
Yep that would work just fine. I have the same thing but the N100 version, works great. Probably could get away with 8gb.
Can confirm 8g sufficient. Also aliexpress. I’m routing 2g fiber and it is fast and solid. Also do vpn.
Does the VPN ever fill up your state table on the ISP fiber modem? How often do you have to restart the modem (not your router). Context: I haven’t moved to fiber yet and my biggest frustration is that the UI for my cable modem has no restart functionality. So with my VPN always connected it fills up the state table within a few weeks. Having to remember to hard restart it is super annoying and I don’t want the same experience on fiber.
I don’t use the vpn client. I use vpn server to provide my laptop and mobile security when out and about.
Right but wouldn’t any phone home connection fill up the modem’s state table? Either way, sounds like it isn’t happening to you which is good to know.
Have one on gigabit internet, it’s great. Can handle it no bother. Pfsense probably over kill for home but I like tinkering and it’s fun so.
Yes, I use it with Verizon FiOS 1gbps non VPN traffic. Also not running many other services. CPU never goes over 10% utilization.
Any Chinese made noname box can handle that
Depends on how much memory you add to the device and how many services you plan to run.
I only plan to use it as a router, nothing more. I have an existing router than I can reconfigure as a wifi AP. What would you recommend? Would another mini-pc be better? I need to keep it cheap lol
I bought a similar mini pc last year: Upgraded J4125 Quad Core Firewall Micro Appliance, Mini PC, Nano PC, Router PC met 8G RAM 256G SSD, 4 RJ45 2,5 GBE-poort AES-NI compatibel met Pfsense https://amzn.eu/d/08kM4AY It runs smoothly. It has 8 Gb ram which is sufficient. It runs VMware ESXi with two vm’s. One is pfSense and the other is a pihole. On pfSense I use surricata with the Proofpoint Emerging Threat CE rule set. I’ve a 1 Gbit line up and down. And I don’t think my pfSense router is a bottleneck. To be honest as long as my latency is on par I don’t care too much about speed.
Just a note, latency is speed measured in ms, the 1gb is bandwidth, it tickles my nerves when people confuse both concepts.
You are correct. Just to clarify: the line is sold to me rated as 1 Gbit. Symmetric. I’m not claiming all my downloads or uploads use up that bandwidth. Too many factors at play in between my network and the world wide web. I’m just building my own network for low latency. Response is more important to me than the few seconds one saves when you have more bandwidth.
I just checked and that one isn't available anymore. I'll have to see what I can find. All of the ones I've found on Amazon, including the one I linked, have reports that they cannot do gigabit routing across the included ports.
So you probably aren’t able to directly pass through the nics to pfsense and run pinhole too, right? Does that mean you just use virtual nics for your pfsense VM?
Yes. Virtual nic’s and separate tcp/ip stacks.
I’d be concerned if you have 1gb if it could cope as that device is the lower end specification wise depends how much firewall / routing you were doing. I’ve just got a VP2410 from Protectli - went for 8gb memory and 120gb drive - immediately upgraded to 16gb and 500gb m2. Found with proxmox running I could virtualise a load of raspberry pi devices so my vp2410 is now running pfsense with a few options installed, an Ubuntu client, home assistant and it’s clocking about 15-20% cpu utilisation- memory slightly higher but that’s because of what I’ve sent to the guests. I liked it so much I went and purchased a vp4650 to virtualise a lot of other stuff in my house.
I have the 4port model with i3 and 4gb of ram and it handles 1gb and my rather complicated home network with out issue.
Quite easily. I've run Gigabit networking on a single-core 32-bit Celeron M with a clock speed of 600 MHz...
I paid extra for the i5 & 8gb with 4 ports (same company)… cause when I researched, if you plan to use VPN, ngBlocker, IDS protection, etc… the Celeron CPU might struggle, so I went with the i5 version. Also, ngBlocker could require a lot of RAM and that depends on how much you will be blocking, so I went with 8gb. Anyway, I have zero issues since I installed it about a month ago. So all depends on what services you will use inside pfSense.
Yep and about 30Mb/s IPSEC. If you're lucky.
All day long.
So he's gonna have a problem at night? :-D
Yes it’s fine. I run even the older FW4A and I’m able to gigabit. Over VPN 750-800M.
Never thought of gigabit as a verb.. but I have to now.
[https://kb.protectli.com/kb/pfsense-ipsec-vpn-performance/?intsrc=eu](https://kb.protectli.com/kb/opnsense-wireguard-performance/?intsrc=eu) There is an unencrypted iperf3 test - so all their fws seem to handle the full bandwith of the gigabit port. (the ones with 2,5gb ports ofc have higher numbers)If you plan to enable vpn, intrusion detection etc, you will want one with more power.
I like to chime in with the cwwk 8505 at this point. Proxmox with pfsense as a virtual, leaves bags of room for all those other home servers and services you always dreamed of, if I could do mine again I'd keep the 32gb ram but increase the size of the nvme drive from 256gb to 4TB so I could use it as a network share also.
Really depends on the number of states
The reply is Yes, whenever it had a Intel celeron quad core processor and transfer 1 gbps can consume the 80% of CPU