Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router
Netgate | 24.03.0Linux/Unix, FreeBSD 14 - 64-bit Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
External reviews
External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
Great Open Source router software
What do you like best about the product?
I like PFSense for its ease of use and setup, as well as the advanced features that are available but not necessary for use.
What do you dislike about the product?
At this time, there is not anything I dislike about this product.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I am not aware of any problems the devs are currently solving, but I know they are constantly developing for security reasons as well as feature additions.
- Leave a Comment |
- Mark review as helpful
Incredible Build - Solid Experience
What do you like best about the product?
From the moment I opened the box over two years ago, to the today, I've appreciated the perfect mixture of high-quality hardware, world-class service, and the best-in-class firewall/operating system mix (pfSense/FreeBSD). I love the open standard operating system (FreeBSD) and firewall (pfSense) because when I'm digging into configuration and customizations, I'm learning something applicable in other settings as well. I appreciate the wide selection of ports on the back of the appliance - allowing fantastic SOHO customization - and also the solid build quality, with a metal base and high-density plastic top. The status LEDs let me know at a glance when things are just working, or if there's a concern I need to look at (like upgrading the firewall's software to the latest version). The Netgate team keeps things current, so we don't have to worry as much about firewall exploits, and we can just set it and forget it. For a technical person who wants a perfect firewall appliance to cover their SOHO, this is ideal, and if the build quality of this unit is any indication of the build quality in the higher-tier units, I'm sure they're all fantastic. Reputable company, easy-to-configure product, holds up to the years. Perfect!
What do you dislike about the product?
The only time I had an issue with this firewall was during a software/firmware upgrade, where the unit would not boot back up. Many other folks had the same issue, and we were guided by support (even outside of warranty!) through the company's support forums to resolve the issue. The one way this could be better, and I've suggested this to the company in the past, would be more affordable support contracts for SOHO situations, where we're paying out of pocket for a firewall that we use in our homes. I don't want to pay $300 a year for support, but I also realize that 24x7 support costs money. So perhaps $100 per year for next-business-day support, or 8x5 or something? I'd love to see that, and it's really the only concern I've had about the product. I hope they implement a less expensive support model for self-supported products, where you maybe just need one or two chats/emails per year, during normal business hours during the week, after exhausting all the other support methods first.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The pfSense firewall software provides an industry-standard solution for allowing my NAT'd IPv4 devices to communicate with the Internet, while keeping the Bad Guys out of my network. I feel confident that this Netgate appliance is the best solution for SOHO, and would absolutely recommend it to friends. The flexibilty of pfSense allows for plugins and extensions, which go far beyond a regular firewall appliance, and for a much more reasonable cost. A firewall appliance from a competitor might cost several times this, for far less.
Happy with Netgate pfSense
What do you like best about the product?
Solid, easy-to-use firewall with good documentation and features.
What do you dislike about the product?
I don't have any real downsides. It works well.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use it for remote-office firewall and tied VPN to the solution so that I can gain access remotely as well as have a site-to-site VPN
Most functional solution on the market
What do you like best about the product?
I have been using pfSense for over 12 years. It is hands down the most robust solution on the market that literally does everything!
What do you dislike about the product?
The only difficulty I had was learning the UI. Other than that I can't find anything wrong with it at all.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It is truly the Swiss Army Knife. Over the lay 12 years I have had several different problems that it has been the answer to. Site to site, video, voice, even P2P traffic. It has conquered all.
CTO Technician
What do you like best about the product?
Its stable and support is huge on forums. Manuals are very informative also.
What do you dislike about the product?
New versions take times to come out. But team is working and cleaning all bugs before release a version.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Making my internet quicker and secure. And alot of settings to tweak if you want to do some customization.
O pfSense é eficas e extremamente porformático num ambiente de datacenter, escolas e universidades.
What do you like best about the product?
Simplicidade no gerenciamento e usabilidade.
What do you dislike about the product?
Os relatórios são muito simples. Sinto falta de autenticação "nativa" para Active Directory.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Ele me auxilia nas análises de cyber segurança e gestão do trágego de rede quando utilizado como core do ambiente.
outstanding solution for those interested in building their own router
What do you like best about the product?
I appreciate very much the availability of a community edition, which people are free to install on their own hardware.
Before building my own router, I used routers from various manufacturers, and there was always a compromise between features and price. I noticed over time the performance of router hardware would decrease. Perhaps this was due to middling quality components or inadequate cooling. With pfSense, I'm free to use good quality PC components, which greatly outlast the hardware of purpose-built routers.
Plus, pfSense delivers a good value for the user while providing an environmental benefit. The PCs on which I've run pfSense were older PCs that were no longer adequate to use as a workstation, but they were fine for running pfSense. Thus, I acquired the hardware for free, while keeping these old PCs out of the landfill for a while.
The pfSense software itself is outstanding. For example, the firewall rules are tunable in a much more detailed way than on consumer routers. I depend on pfSense's VPN server. The underlying BSD operating system is very stable and high-performing.
Before building my own router, I used routers from various manufacturers, and there was always a compromise between features and price. I noticed over time the performance of router hardware would decrease. Perhaps this was due to middling quality components or inadequate cooling. With pfSense, I'm free to use good quality PC components, which greatly outlast the hardware of purpose-built routers.
Plus, pfSense delivers a good value for the user while providing an environmental benefit. The PCs on which I've run pfSense were older PCs that were no longer adequate to use as a workstation, but they were fine for running pfSense. Thus, I acquired the hardware for free, while keeping these old PCs out of the landfill for a while.
The pfSense software itself is outstanding. For example, the firewall rules are tunable in a much more detailed way than on consumer routers. I depend on pfSense's VPN server. The underlying BSD operating system is very stable and high-performing.
What do you dislike about the product?
I have nothing negative to say about pfSense.
Perhaps I should mention that pfSense is a bit more complicated a solution than an off-the-shelf consumer router. This slight added complexity is appreciated by those who need a more advanced solution, bearing in mind that one has to have a moderate amount of networking knowledge in to configure and use pfSense.
Perhaps I should mention that pfSense is a bit more complicated a solution than an off-the-shelf consumer router. This slight added complexity is appreciated by those who need a more advanced solution, bearing in mind that one has to have a moderate amount of networking knowledge in to configure and use pfSense.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
When I was running a home-based business, pfSense helped me make use of VoIP technology to handle phone traffic. I depend on pfSense's VPN server to connect to my home servers while I'm offsite.
Simplicity makes small office firewall setup easy
What do you like best about the product?
It's open source with the very best open-source ethos and practices. A high-quality exhaustive manual makes setup, implementation, modification, and troubleshooting easy. No vendor "we'll get back to you on that" horror story here.
What do you dislike about the product?
Some of the repository committers are a little superficial when problems are reported. There was a DNS issue with the latest release that the dev team seemed reluctant to admit exists! However, with the usual crowdsourcing efficiency of open source, the user community was able to rub the developers' noses in it, so to speak :)
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
pfSense on my Netgate device solved the One Big Eternal Problem of maintaining a small business firewall: HOW MUCH TIME IS THIS THING GONNA TAKE ME!?!?
Answer: very little. Easy setup. Easy maintenance. Easy dashboard reviews of critical factors via the very nice PHP web interace. Easy-to-use command line if I have to drop to command line,
Answer: very little. Easy setup. Easy maintenance. Easy dashboard reviews of critical factors via the very nice PHP web interace. Easy-to-use command line if I have to drop to command line,
Excellent experience
What do you like best about the product?
The enhanced security features and native OpenVPN access and user managing.
What do you dislike about the product?
We did not find any dislikes in pfSense.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
A good management of OpenVPN connections and an easy-to-use but strong firewall
pfSense: The best you can get from a company you can trust
What do you like best about the product?
pfSense not only offers all the features you would expect from an enterprise firewall, but builds upon the reliability and feature set by implementing a sea of community add-ons and integrations to enhance your experience and general usability.
What do you dislike about the product?
Arguably, the most frustrating thing about pfSense is the lack of easy access externally. Nearly every other server in the rack has a form of SSH installed, but pfSense opts for a web-UI only interface, one that can be frustrating when you need to diagnose and debug an issue with your system. Thankfully, though, the issues with pfSense systems are far and few between, so you shouldn't find yourself missing out on that feature very much at all.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
pfSense gives us peace of mind with the security and dependability that we've all come to expect from our networks. Previously, when working with Watchguard boxes, we had frequent outages and service interruptions, and although their support was excellent, the product required far more support after sales than it should have. With pfSense, we have access to a host of online forums, communities, and support personnel through Netgate that have helped every step of the way.
showing 261 - 270