Protectli Vault FW4C - 4 Port, Firewall Micro Appliance/Mini PC - Intel J3710, 2.5G Ports, AES-NI, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 120GB SSD

My old pfSense router/appliance was rebooting and having issues sporadically. I ended up replacing it with this unit and have not had any issues.

I have this loaded up with OpnSense, and it just works. I'm not even using the extra network options, though I have a couple of ideas of how I might. My Starlink ethernet plugs into this, and then I run my ASUS WiFi router off of this. OpnSense handles network security for everybody (and IP assignement) while the Starlink WiFi is still available for guests, but outside of the home network proper.Performance is good, and it doesn't get very hot for home use. My instincts say a modular system where you can swap out a blown network card are the way to go, but in practice this unit is inexpensive enough that it saves time and hassle to replace the whole unit, and it uses less power and has a smaller trash footprint than a full-sized system. Sorry, instincts.One reason I like to run OpnSense is that I can IP address (or MAC address!) block Chinese spy cams from Internet access while still using them on the internal network.Bottom line, take back control of your network connection. Get one of these, and learn to use one of the amazing free, opensource router programs out there.

Been running pfSense on this for about a year now and love it. Fantastic performance and stability.

I bought this about a year ago for my 1 Gbps fiber service and was very happy with it (good performance, quiet, well built, etc). However, I recently switched to 2.5 Gbps fiber service. It seems to have just enough CPU headroom to run comfortably at wire speed with basic NAT configuration, but if you're doing VPN, packet inspection, etc. it's bound to start slowing down the rest of the network. Protectli recently unveiled a newer 4 port router, Protectli Vault V1410, with a CPU that should be a bit more than twice as fast and for a little less money. That's what I'd pick if I were buying today.

I bought this mini PC for being 100% compatible with OPNsense. All BIOS settings were mostly set correctly and did not have to change anything yet. Installing OPNsense was super easy, I downloaded the video vs serial version since I wanted to make sure HDMI port works and also I observed RS232 mirrored output.CPU is perfect for this device, not too powerful requiring active cooling, but powerful enough for advanced networking configuration. Bonus Intel CPU does AES in hardware.Swapped out my ASUS router/AP for this and repurposed the ASUS as an access point since the Wi-Fi radios worked great.VLANs and DDNS did not seem to affect performance and heatsink temperature never was hot, always just warm. More experimentation to hammer the device is coming next.I would not hesitate to buy another one! Completely happy with this device!

Everything in the listing says US but it's made in China which should be CLEARY stated in the listing somewhere.Disappointing because I wanted it to be made in the US. Designed and headquartered are a thin veil at most.

I ended up ordering this right after upgrading from 1gig fiber to 2 gig fiber. My provider does provide ont that's compatible with up to 10gig service but unfortunately the router accepts up to 10gig in and 1 gig per Ethernet port. I wanted to be able to utilize all 2 gigs on one device if I wanted to. As you can see the speed throughput is not an issue. It is completely silent with no audible hum or anything. I did throw a small old CPU fan on had laying around on top. It's been running for a month now with zero issues. I'm run pfsense for routing duties.

I replaced my old Protectli firewall with this newer model and it is a perfect firewall appliance for my home network. Easy to set up and configure, and it just works. My old Protectli firewall died after running 24/7 for 9 years so if this new one last as long I'll be happy.