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Comment by ectospheno | Hacker News Reader

This is why my router isn’t ubiquiti. I like the switches and access points but my router will stay an OpenBSD box.

I've only been using it for a couple months, but OPNsense (FreeBSD based) is such a solid piece of software. I installed it on a cheap Beelink mini PC with dual 2.5 gb NICs and an N150 processor (model EQ14), and it's been reliable and a pleasure to use as my router. I have a TP-Link Omada setup which I've been pleased with, but I feel no need to purchase one of their gateways.

What do you use for OpenBSD hardware? Is it power hungry? Is it performant?

I had a great stint with OpenBSD on an older Pentium 4 Dell tower a few years back. For basic firewall rules, I had line-rate performance on my NICs. But for a home network I'd love to have something more energy efficient.

I posted this in a sibling comment, but I can confirm Beelink's EQ14 [1] works well with OPNsense (FreeBSD based instead of OpenBSD). The dual NIC model uses the Intel KTI226-V chipset which has rock solid FreeBSD drivers.

[1] https://www.bee-link.com/products/beelink-eq14-n150?variant=...

Search Amazon for "pfsense mini pc". (smile as you think about how this triggers that one pfsense guy!) Intel N100 or N150 processor, passive cooling, typically 5 1000GBASE-T or better ports, RAM and SSD included. Should be able to get one for ~$200.

There are good options there, but those white label mini PCs can be hardware quality roulette.

As much as I like opnsense, I choose Ubiquiti still when I need something cheap that I need to rely on.

My current router at home is a dell vostro 3020 with a quad port intel nic. I usually get dell for the firmware updates they provide well after warranty.

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