I am new to Ubiquiti Switches and would like to know if there would be any issues setting up pfsense with a UniFI Standard 24 switch. I only have a single NIC on the pfsense box. Want to try single NIC as I am using a old mini pc and it has only 1 NIC ?
Dont see any Youtube vids on single NIC with Ubiquiti switches only HP and Cisco.
While using pfsense with a single interface can be done, it’s a more complex setup since you have to put WAN or LAN on a vlan to get things going which means adopting and pre-configuring the switch ports.
So, between the pfsense setup and the UniFi Standard 24 switch I should be fine ?
wan would be access on my UniFi Standard 24 Switch and all other ports trunk. ?
As I said it can be done, but I don’t have any instructions on how to do it because most all pfsense setups have at least 2 NIC cards.
Guess I am asking if the UniFI Standard 24 Switch would be the only Ubiquti switch I would need…its just like a single regular switch like a Cisco or HP one, correct ?
No, Unifi switches are not like Cisco or HP which have a web front end or cli access
All Unifi switches are managed by Unifi Network Application which runs on unifi gateways , or you can host the application yourself on machine
So if I install
software on to a Windows 11 box and follow these instructions
once I have the controller software going and make all the necessary changes for vlans on UniFi Standard 24 switch to get pfsense working, do i need to always have the Windows 11 pc running for the switch to operate or can I turn off my Windows 11 box until I need to upgrade the switch again (software updates) ???
The controller software does not always have to be running.
Thanks for the help.
I am now more inclined to go with a UniFi Standard 24 port as my switch rather than Cisco 1300.
Do you feel that Netgate will continue to support PfSense CE or is it better to move now over to OpnSense ?
They are still offering updates for pfsense CE via the patch system and there is still some progress being shown for 2.8, but I don’t have a solid answer on that.
I used to run a setup like this. With an HP mini and a 24port Unifi Enterprise switch.
I had it setup like this:
Port 1 to the internet
with native vlan: WANVLAN
All tagged vlans blocked
Port 2 to pfSense
with native vlan: LAN
Tagged vlan: WANVLAN
And with Tom’s videos about setting up VLANs and pfSense and Unifi, you should be good. At least that’s how I got it working.
It worked surprisingly stable with a full duplex gbe connection on the HP mini. Never had any issues. I switched to a UDM because I wanted a 10gbe backhaul.
Once I have the Controller Software for Windows 11 on my pc do I have to be connect to the Internet to adopt the UniFi Standard (USW-24) switch ?
No, internet access is not needed to adopt the device but it will be needed for firmware updates.
Its nice to have this forum to ask the pros. Tom, I also love the fact that you have posted so many good tutorials about pfsense and Ubiquiti products. Wish Ubiquiti themselves would do more videos on youtube.
It could be done, but I would suggest getting a usb nic for pfsense box, cheap fix. Making your switch config overally complex to block wan traffic
The unifi switch is fully managed but needs a controller to get configured. Local or internet based