Running Pfsense on Dell SFF. I’ve been very pleased, but would like some extra speed/throughput.
2.5 gbps NICs seem to be kind of scarce and expensive.
In fact, it is not that much of a stretch to just get a 2.5 gbps firewall appliance.
Looking for suggestions on which way to go (new NIC or new appliance) and specific hardware recommendations. Looking for 4-6 ports.
I see some hardware, but much of it is unknown brands from China.
Wouldn’t be opposed, but have no idea if they are worth it or not.
Thanks all
Extra speed… from the router? From the internet?
Someone correct me if im wrong (and i very well could be) but.. as long as two machines are on the same 2.5gb switch, both have 2.5gb network connections, and are on the same vlan, the traffic shouldn’t need to go though the router (and thus be slowed down by it). That is, if you are talking about the speed between two machines on your network.
Thanks @lyianx . Trying to give the capacity to everything…wired, wireless, iot wireless.
Have a TV tuner that I’d like to give more speed/bandwidth to …it’s behind a 1Gbps switch.
I was thinking that one side benefit of upgrading my router NIC would be that if I free up a network I could use it for the tuner and eliminate a switch at the same time.
A 2.5g NIC is going to cost a lot less money than a new appliance. Just stick with intel NICs like these:
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If you decide to get an appliance, I have one of these, and it has been flawless
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Thanks @Louie1961 . That’s exactly what I needed.
Also very helpful.
I was wondering about these…but there are so many of them.
I do like running pfsense on the Dell SFF PC.
Pfsense has such a small footprint for normal operation, so I’m sure a lot of these fanless mini pc’s should do fine.