PFSense Router Project

[MrMarkinator]

Hi All,

I am planning a new PFSense project. I am looking to build a new router for my small business. I have no parts on hand, but am willing to spend around the same price as I would for a new router (approx. $200). What parts would you reccomend? Should I go to the junkyard and pick up an old computer? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

-Mark

[Jykos]

 

Hi All,

I am planning a new PFSense project. I am looking to build a new router for my small business. I have no parts on hand, but am willing to spend around the same price as I would for a new router (approx. $200). What parts would you reccomend? Should I go to the junkyard and pick up an old computer? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

-Mark

 

Router or wireless router?

either way, probably not worth the money to build a custom one.

[braneopbru]

I'm running my pfsense router on a supermicro server that I scored on ebay for $220 CAD. It's a 1u server with a xeon e31220 (lga1155 quad core 3.1 ghz) with 8GB ddr3. The highest CPU usage I've ever seen was about 17%.

 

I recommend going with a newer CPU if you can, even if it means stretching your budget a little bit higher.

 

I'd suggest you go with an embedded motherboard. One of those mini ITX boards with a celeron j1800 or 1037u. Ideally a j1800 for it's 10w TDP. 4GB of RAM will be plenty and for such a low power system, you wouldn't even need a normal power supply. A 60 watt pico PSU would be more than enough. Most cheap boards will only have a single ethernet port, so just get a PCIe network card. Realtek based cards are shit and ideally you want intel, but for the throughput that most home users put through them, they will usually suffice. 

 

You can boot off of USB stick, but I would suggest setting up two of them in a mirror since they are know not to live very long in those circumstances.

 

Or you could just buy a prebuilt pfsense box right from the pfsense people for $299 and have support included with your purchase.

[tt2468]

Router or wireless router?

either way, probably not worth the money to build a custom one.

For a more advanced user, it's worth more than any consumer grade router/firewall. It has at least 2x the features as a high-end consumer router.

[MrMarkinator]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I would like to make this router wireless, as there are several phones/tablets on the network. Does anyone have specific parts they would recommend? Do I need multiple network cards for both wireless and wired capabilities?

Thanks

-Mark

[MrMarkinator]

I am also thinking about using these parts. Any suggestions. - $40 (Mini-Box) - M350 enclosure

- $96 (Mini-Box) - Intel D2500CCE

- $25 (Mini-Box) - Pico-PSU 80W

- $16 (Mini-Box) - 60W AC/DC Power Adapter

- $60 (NewEgg) - Intel 525 30GB mSATA SSD

- $30 (NewEgg) - Corsair 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM

[brwainer]

If you want a router with builtin wireless, I would really recommend a product from Mikrotik or Ubiquiti over making your own. Your second next best thing is to use seperate APs. But if you really want to put wireless in a PFSense router, I would look up what wireless adaptors other people have had luck with. I know for a fact that PFSense doesn't support any 802.11ac adaptors yet.

[braneopbru]

You took the words right out of my mouth.

There really isn't much of a point to putting a wifi adapter in your pfsense box anyway. By using a dedicated AP, it allows you to place the radios where you actually need the signal.

In my case, I'm using an Asus RT-N66U in access point mode in the basement and that's getting upgraded soon to a pair of ubiquiti APs upstairs and an outdoor one for the backyard.