Untangle Home Licensing change

#1

hello, I’m a recent convert to untangle after using and loving pfsense and previously trying sophos and usg.
I found the licensing option for home use at the time to be more than reasonable considering it was unlimited device’s and all features minus threat protection and virus pro…
With the recent 16.1 update came wireguard vpn (not included in home license) which stirred up some forum comments.
Something unexpected (perhaps) has happened as a result.
Untangle’s solution to these concerns was to split the Home license up into 2 options, basic and pro.
basic remains $50 but has some features removed and an device limit of 50 added.
Then for $150 you can have pro with the removed features put back in and wireguard, threat protection and virus blocker added but with a limit of 150 device’s
I assume the feature set I currently have will remain until license renewal time but I feel a this is an approach that will drive users away to PFsense, Sophos or even Unifi. Its such a shame that the key thing that allowed users who could get past the license fee stigma is now eroded and damage to the home user base is inevitable if not rethought. https://www.untangle.com/solutions/untangle-at-home/

am I just being miserable or is this a genuine mis-step / slight on the userbase?

#2

The feeds that offer the threat intel used in the Untangle system do cost money so does the constant updates needed for the web categories. It’s hard to beat free, but somewhere something covers dev costs of the free versions. $150 per year breaks down to $12.50 per month and if you need those filtering features and wiregaurd, seems reasonable.

#3

Hi Tom
I take your point and it is valid, the dev cost and related admin make this still a very cost effective option if it were not for the device limiting that has come with it
For a home with a growing device list it may or may not be an option to remain on basic at renewal time
Even if wireguard etc is not something required

#4

useful to know for users who have existing home license
“Existing Home Pro subscriptions remain in effect and can still be used with the same features and capabilities you already have, and you will be able to renew them. You can keep your existing Home Pro subscription or choose to upgrade to Home Protect Plus. “

Looks like a current subscription can be grandfathered.

#5

For me it causes a reset re what firewalls to consider again. I’m an Untangle user and Sophos XG, I have two firewall units and swap them back and forth tbh. I like Untangle, but I also prefer Sophos XG in other aspects. What am I going to do at renewal time, auto renew at $50 probably as it’s peanuts. I will also prob upgrade my current firewall units, a Dell PowerEdge R220 with E3-1240L CPU and my Pondesk Atom E3845 unit for an I5 or I7 Aliexpress unit, but they are only dual core.

I have a 60/20 rated ADSL2 connection, so the Atom unit is “fine”.

What I do know is I won’t be touching a Unifi edge device, had a UDM-Pro and I think they’re utter junk.

I semi hope Cisco comes along and stamps all over Unifi’s space as Unifi’s software development process is awful. It’s always “beta”, “oh yeah, oops”. I think they’ve wiped out any credibility they had for breaking into the core network / L3 areas. Unifi is certainly cheaper, but factor in the man hours lost Cisco, Aruba, Juniper and so forth become more viable.

I’m warey of Sophos though as they’re part of the Thomas Bravo group, which generally means a train wreck at some point. Name me a firm that Thomas Bravo have taken over that has gone on from strength to strength?