Virtual PFSense Wireless AP Through Wireless Mobo?

[Dewo]

Looking for a cheaper alternative to renting a router from the ISP.  My question is can I use my motherboards built in wireless as an access point through PFsense running on a virtual machine?  My mobo is https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/X370 Taichi/.  Also ive read in the past PFsense wireless is slow.  Has it improved at all?  My mom watches movies on her roku in HD so itd have to be fast enough to not leave her buffering all the time.  If i were able to set up the access point on the mobo would it just be better to get a wireless NIC anyway?

 

Thanks!

[Windows7ge]

If you want a PFsense router I wouldn't recommend running it in a VM. If the VM goes down or if the host OS goes down then your whole house loses internet. You should run it natively.

 

Alternatively go to your ISP's website. They should have a list of modem/routers that are compatible with their service. You can buy one outright and then not have to deal with paying a monthly fee to rent theirs.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id stay away from using wifi cards as a wifi access point. A good access point like a unify ap would be a much better option.

 

You still need a modem

 

What do you want to do on your router? For most uses, a consumer router will be fine here.

[Kered124]

I believe that hardware passthrough may be very difficult to use with pfsense depending on your hardware and its features. I would personally recommend running it on its own system, and use an AP for your wireless. The unify APs that Electronics Wizardy recommended are a good choice.

[Dewo]

@windows 7ge wouldnt a VM running on a ryzen 7 with tons of memory be more stable than a sub 100 dollar router?

 

@electronics wizardy Id like to learn a bit more about networking but its not really necessary that I do.  I just want to play games, run a vpn, and get internet connections on the rokus in the other rooms wirelessly.  Also ive been having problems with this router crashing and its higher quality than what i could afford to replace it with so I was thinking running the router on my ryzen would be more stable.

[Dewo]

Yeah those APs look great Ive never heard of them before thanks for the suggestion. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

7 minutes ago, Dewo said:

@windows 7ge wouldnt a VM running on a ryzen 7 with tons of memory be more stable than a sub 100 dollar router?

 

@electronics wizardy Id like to learn a bit more about networking but its not really necessary that I do.  I just want to play games, run a vpn, and get internet connections on the rokus in the other rooms wirelessly.  Also ive been having problems with this router crashing and its higher quality than what i could afford to replace it with so I was thinking running the router on my ryzen would be more stable.

Yea get a consumer router, thats the better option here. You can buy one instead of renting if you want. A consumer one should still have enough options for what you want, or if you want a bit more get something like a edgerouter.

 

The probably with vms is the system might need updates and your whole network is down. And sometimes just crashes, esp with desktop hardware(ryzen) running as a server.

[Dewo]

Thx fams.

[Windows7ge]

17 minutes ago, Dewo said:

wouldnt a VM running on a ryzen 7 with tons of memory be more stable than a sub 100 dollar router?

No, it's not fully accurate to say but the opposite is more the case. Prebuilt modem/routers are designed to be ran 24/7 with the hardware necessary for their function.

 

More power ≠ more stable. You'd be taking a OS designed to be ran on server based hardware meant for 24/7 operation running  on a VM program (like Oracle VM VirtualBox) which is not designed for 24/7 operation on an OS not designed for 24/7 operation on hardware that wasn't designed for 24/7 operation.

 

Your cheapest easiest option. Check your ISP's compatibility list. Pick the one that fits your budget with the features you desire. Find a distributor that sells it and order it.

[Falconevo]

You can do this if you are using Hyper-V, you can enable the WiFi card to be an AP then pass that AP in to pfSense as a normal network interface and configure it.

 

I've done this a couple of times, give me a shout if you want to go down this avenue.  Performance is as good as the WiFi adapter can perform, its not recommended with USB adapters, PCIe would be better suited.