Messages

1

Hardware and Performance / Re: Fitlet2 J3455 alternative?

« on: December 05, 2018, 02:45:19 am »

Hmm...not willing to take that gamble right now, and never having ordered something like this from China directly, still a bit hesitant.  I still feel like goods manufactured there to be shipped to and resold by US company probably go through a more thorough QA process.  I've at least been told this more than one time by people that would know...

Right or wrong...think I'm going with either the fitlet2 or the ProtectLI FW4B.
FW4B is $30 more and the Fitlet2 has the higher end J3455.
So probably the Fitlet2.

Thanks for all the insight!

2

Hardware and Performance / Re: Fitlet2 J3455 alternative?

« on: December 04, 2018, 12:27:06 pm »

If either of you have purchased off Aliexpress before, when it arrives do yo have to pay DHL Duty fees? Are they minimal?

The Buyer will be charged import Customs fees (Duty, VAT and others) when the parcel arrives

Was thinking the Qotom with the i3 was my decision (price of 2.5" which Qotom supports vs m.2 SSD with Fitlet2 requires primarily the reason), but just caught this.
But, since the one I'm looking at is $177 barebone, looks like I might be exempt from any fees.

?

3

Hardware and Performance / Re: Fitlet2 J3455 alternative?

« on: December 03, 2018, 10:17:36 pm »

I do appreciate the insight!  I always over-analyze such types of purchases...

What out of curiousity is your setup if you don't mind me asking?

I've priced everything and it's a $25.00 difference, between the I3-5005U Qotom barebone + a Sandisk 2.5" 120Gb SSD purchased separetly VS the Fitlet2 J3455 barebone from fitpc.com with an on-sale at Newegg 120Gb M.2 2242 SSD purchased separately.  I have 8Gb Crucial DDR3 which I'm going to pull one of the 4Gb sticks and use in either.  I never saw my prior Sophos UTM come close to even using half of it, so figure 4Gb is plenty.  I'm going to start with OPNsense and give it a go!

So basically equivalent systems...coming down to just preference of one vs the other at purchase time likely.

4

Hardware and Performance / Re: Fitlet2 J3455 alternative?

« on: December 03, 2018, 06:10:05 pm »

Your not making this any easier!

When I figure in the RAM and SSD in either situation, it really seems to all come out somewhere between $225 - $250 no matter the Fitlet2 or one of these Qotoms, unless I go cheap and do away with my Zotac. The wifi works on it pretty good on it still, so it is still functional as a Linux desktop...so I'll likely keep the RAM/SSD in it and buy new for the new firewall.

I guess my last question, is somethign like that I3 5005U really going to wipe the flloor with the J3455. Looks comparable in cpu boss, only single core AES it really outshines the Celerons. 

5

Hardware and Performance / Re: Fitlet2 J3455 alternative?

« on: December 03, 2018, 02:29:01 am »

FYI: found the Intel NIC one on Aliexpress...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Minisys-4-Gigabit-Intel-Lan-J3160-CPU-Pocket-Mini-Computer-Support-Pfsense-OpenVPN-AES-NI-Barebone/32893735378.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.9.749546b3OAkkCl&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10065_10130_10068_10890_10547_319_10546_317_10548_10545_10696_453_10084_454_10083_10618_10307_537_536_10059_10884_10887_100031_321_322_10103,searchweb201603_51,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=2d20b77b-0397-49dd-8199-b14a5f287f9b-1&algo_pvid=2d20b77b-0397-49dd-8199-b14a5f287f9b

But it's actually more expensive there then on ebay, and $20 less then ProtectLI.
Either way, confirms my suspicions regarding what is available in comparison to the Fitlet2. I'll see if I can find the Fitlet2 somewhere else, or pull the trigger on the Qotom from one of those places.

6

Hardware and Performance / Re: Fitlet2 J3455 alternative?

« on: December 02, 2018, 09:42:14 pm »

Thanks! That looks like what I'm looking for.

Yeah, I know about China...just state of things now. Is what it is.

EDIT: looking at the specs of that further, it says it has Realtek NICs.
"4*Realtek 8111E Lan,support wake on lan " down in the Product Specifications.

7

Hardware and Performance / Re: Fitlet2 J3455 alternative?

« on: December 02, 2018, 04:16:56 pm »

Thanks for the reply.

I have looked at the Qotom devices, and I guess they are probably the closest competitor. I know there are a lot of varied opinions on this, but I like that the Fitlet2 is not from China.  I'll take a closer look at them again. I just haven't been able to find the right configuration with Qotom/ProtectLI.

Is there a CPU that is pretty close to the J3455? I would like a newer quad core with AES support. What I'm looking for is something that will realistically last 5+ years. I'm not keen on starting off with a 5+ year old CPU.

Perhaps the J3160?
Perhaps the ProtectLI FW4B barebone... (I think you're right, all 2 port Qotoms I have found use Realtek, which is a non-starter)

8

Hardware and Performance / Fitlet2 J3455 alternative?

« on: December 02, 2018, 03:14:24 am »

Greetings!
I'm a long time Sophos user looking for both a new appliance to replace my failing one, and strongly considering OPNsense for my next firewall project.

I've been looking for awhile now for what to buy, and cannot seem to find anything readily available that is comparable to the the fitlet2 with the J3455 CPU.  I'm set on an Intel NIC, the prior appliance I had used Realtek, and those have failed...so Realtek is out.

My requirements are a small form factor fanless mini-PC (as it will sit in the living room with my other equipment), dual Intel NICs (I only need 2 as I have an AP with 8 ports that will attach to it), and capable of handling a gigabit fiber connection.  Right now I have 300Mbps service, but can foresee upgrading to full gigabit in couple years, and I'd like to get something that could handle that kind of load.  Family of 5 with multiple phones, FireTV and about 3 computers.  My prior Zotac with the N3150 quad core was never really taxed or impacted throughput, unless I turned on IPS.  The J3455 seems to be the best value cpu that could handle this, maybe even IPS...and the fitlet2 seems to be the best option. I'm just not willing to have it shipped from Israel as Amazon is now out of stock.  I'd like to keep it under $250 for everything if possible.  I have a spare 4Gb DDR3L 1600, so really would just need an SSD I'm thinking.

Would appreciate any recommendations.
Thanks.