Protectli Vault FW4B - 4 Port, Firewall Micro Appliance/Mini PC - Intel Quad Core, AES-NI, 8GB RAM, 120GB mSATA SSD

Really like this little computer. It was easy to setup through the console port. It is working GREAT!

Pros

I wanted a replacement for my existing consumer router which was running dd-wrt. The FW4B provides hardware allowing the option to use several open source firewall solutions. For the firewall, I installed pfSense without issues and found it much simpler to configure than dd-wrt, especially with interfaces, vlans and firewall rules. So far, the only hardware issue is the unit runs warmer than expected but the larger cooling fin design built into the case helps. I will update these comments if any new hardware issues arise.

Im using the Protectli Vault FW4B 8GB RAM, 120GB mSATA SSD as a firewall appliance for my extensive home network. It has enough horsepower to handle several people in the household watching video, a total of 35 clients on my gigabit network, a VoIP phone system, an at-home business and inbound and outbound VPN service. I bought model with the larger RAM and SSD drive for plenty of buffering and network storage space. The PFSense community edition software is free and easy to download and write into the firewall appliance. Using a keyboard and display, the basic bring-up is easy. Once the basic firewall is active, the more advanced features of the PFSense firewall sofware can be overwhelming at first for an intermediate IT professional. I use the firewall software to VPN through my Internet provider as well as offering remote access VPN sever to my network and file share. In my setup, the firewall appliance sits between my cable modem and a managed switch and my WiFi router (which has been re-configured to be an access point). The firewall appliance serves as a router with DHCP complete with VLANs for segregating traffic. The Protectli FW4B will definitely work for a large household and a small business.

Been running PF sense a year+ with no issues. The device looks very professional and has adequate specs for a good PF Sense firewall.

It works, and it works great. Yes, a little pricey, but Ive had no issues with running pfSense on it. My old pfSense overheated and died on me (used hardware that lasted 5+ years), and I bought this to replace it.

I put RAM and storage in this and installed openSense and it works like a charm. Couldnt recommend it more to those who know what they are doing around software routers. Havent used the computer for any other function, so I cant speak to its efficacy in other circumstance, but I love it as a router!

This is a great piece of hardware for running the OPNsense or pfSense firewalls. I installed the latest version of both operating systems on it without any issues. Its been running without any hiccups for several months now.

Received, great condition. better than expected quality. works as advertised

I bought this for use as a firewall because it has four built in network ports, and is smaller than my network switch. Even though it is running a slow processor, it still has more horsepower than I need for running pfsense. The box does get warm to the touch, running in the low 40s C for a temperature. The thing I like best is that it just keeps running. Pfsense works extremely well with this hardware.