Well im getting board and have decided to upgrade alot of my network to 2.5G as NBN is getting speed upgrades. Plus a few NAS's ect ect
Want a little cheap(ish) box i can use for opnsense then ill loop into a 2.5G switch which will have all the hard wired devices in and then run my DECO system just for wifi in access point mode.
dual 2.5G nics should be fine. Dont know if and what aliexpress box or if should go full DIY does a N series CPU do it or what the go is
What specs did you go with?
I got the N5105 but16gb and 512GB but since i got the flint2, I barely used it. So thinking any new project
I also used a Topton with a Celeron and it's been perfectly stable with opnsense for probably 3 years now. No complaints whatsoever
What board are you getting?
dual 2.5G nics should be fine. Dont know if and what aliexpress box or if should go full DIY does a N series CPU do it or what the go is
Depends how many clients you have. Assuming your business has less than 500 desks, with a typical office load, the 2.5G NIC is overkill.
The gain from upgrading NBN will be your uplink speed. Stick with Gb NICs, and I doubt you will see an issue.
While I agree. My Nas will be getting a 2.5g upgrade I'll also likely run 2.5g on my laptops.
My network is currently a little flakey so need a dedicated router anyway.
I'm also looking at some of the tp link units (that look like switches) or flint 3
If you rather avoid Chinese (or hardware running dubious firmware on your Firewall), checkout Protectcli vault, plenty of models to suit most needs, reputable american brand and most importantly, it supports coreboot open source bootloader. Very popular for running pfsense and opnsense
https://www.amazon.com.au/stores/Protectli/page/F2CE15E5-373…
I recently set up dell 7070 micro as opnsense box
Proxmox host with other services on it
Working reliably.
Buy one of those Lenovo ThinkCentre M920q / M720q Mini PCs. They can be upgraded with additional NICs. Checkout these forums for details - https://www.servethehome.com/
Or buy a used Sophos X135 Rev 3 (or upwards) and install Opnsense. You might have to upgrade the RAM on these. Both options can run Opnsense or Sophos SG Home. The max memory limitations on the sophos home software was recently removed, and it does pretty well with 8GB and above.
I have both, and they are a much better (and safer) option than buying Hardware from unknown sources.
Edit: I just realised that Op wanted 2.5G ports. While the Sophos hardware can be upgraded, they are VERY expensive upgrades. The Lenovo Q series Mini PCs will be better suited as they can be upgraded with PCI-E NICs which support up to 10G speeds
I already run a Lenovo mini PC with pcie.
I'm happy to go that route but it's still a $300 option then I'll likely need to grab a a switch as well.
I could go a TP-Link VPN router for that.
Would the Lenovo have any benefit?
only if you want to run extra services on the device.
"Would the Lenovo have any benefit?"
I'm running Opnsense + Zenarmour/ Unbound / NTOPNG plugins on a M910Q-8GB without any issues.
Perhaps you could repurpose your existing mini PC and test it out for a couple of weeks. Try Sophos Home too, it's pretty snappy after they removed the 6GB RAM limit.
I used this, pretty decent
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004864384920.html?spm=a2…