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Another successful OpenBSD setup
I've been buying these little boxes from AliExpress for years to use as firewalls and routers. My oldest one is almost 9 years old now! OpenBSD installs just fine. Just a BIOS tweak to always boot up after power is restored.
I personally never understood the desire for BSD. BSD was good back in the day but we now have Linux which is better supported and protected under the GPL.
PfSense and OPNsense are both killer router "out of the box" distros built on BSD. I say this as a Linux user, with little interest in running BSD for my applications, but... Respect to BSD. ✊
I run OpenWRT and it works pretty well. The only potential issue is the updates but if you have a plan it isn't a problem.
Maybe I'm missing out but from my perspective it is way cheaper to buy a off the shelf router with OpenWRT that can handle gigabit speeds than it is is to build/buy a entire computer that pulls way more power and is several times the cost.
I recently installed OPNsense specifically because I had to buy a mini PC with 2.5 gig ports. There simply isn't anything reasonable on the market for the prosumer above the 1 gig threshold. Running splendidly on a Beelink EQ12.
Also, OPNsense has things OpenWRT doesn't offer (plugins, IPS, etc.)
Openwrt works great for gigabit networks with simple firewall rules and no IPS. But used 10-56gbps enterprise equipment is getting pretty cheap, and more complicated firewall configurations need more powerful hardware than the typical openwrt router.
And 56gbps on a home LAN might be overkill, but that's not important.
I couldn't agree more. I've been running PFsense for about 5 years, great little toy, not 1 single issue. BSD has been paramount in my life for my firewall needs. And I only run Linux on everything else (desktops and servers), but there is not a single FOSS firewall distro out there that can match, much less surpass, a BSD based firewall.
Yeah. I've no need to change to anything else. pf/OPNsense 4life.
A lot of people stick with what they know and are familiar with.