Looking at a 2.5g router options for pfsense or opensense. Was looking to use old computer parts but want the machine to be small as possible. What do you guys think of NUCs as routers?
Mainly looking at the ASRock NUC BOX-1260P
Is it probably overkill? Yes
But it ticks all your boxes and there is something to be said about small format and power efficiency. I’d say if you can swing the cost then it would be a fine platform. Plus for 2.5gbe you’re probably future proofed enough to go for many years before having to look at it again.
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Looks cool, except for the price. I wonder if you could DIY something in a 12th gen itx form factor for less.
There’s a number of <5 L cases out there, or if you want e.g. a dual 40G nic option/expandability and don’t mind the looks of a node 202 (it seems in short supply these days) or some similar case. Then you can definitely build that for less.
For a basic 2.5G NAT and port forwarding and ipv4/ipv6 … Yes overkill, but also to expensive for what you get … You’re paying a hefty premium for a form factor.
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Take a look at the Project Mini/Micro series from STH.
They have tested a bunch of options and explain the pros/cons of features necessary for a pfsense/opensense router.
They have accumulated enough test results that you can pick based on your compute/feature requirements.
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tons of good server the home data on those, would 100% go that route over old computer. (unless your strapped for $$)
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Im interested in this as well. I would like to use Pfsence with a client VPN through a provider and not throttle down due to CPU.
What vpn speed? What encryption?
openVPN @ 1200 Megabit/s
thoughts?
