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Thank you for your response this is very helpful.

I should add I'm not using PPOE for the ISP connection but ipoe. that seems to be less demanding overall.

I will examine the VP66xx.

The specs to run approx 2GB with IDS/IPS: (as of 2026)
Internal
Storage   256GB M.2. Solid State Flash
Memory   8GB --16GB DDR4
CPU
Cores   4 (max frequency 2.9Ghz)    to 8 (max frequency 3.1Ghz)

since these are optimized cores as you stated, how much more over provisioning on typical general purpose CPU performance would you provide?

and if I wanted to ensure that I was able to inspect the entire amount of traffic with a 2GB ISP, should I be more closely looking to mirror the specs on the devices that can run 3.5gbps? Just to properly estimate the headroom. Specs pulled from DEC4240
Internal Storage 1TB M.2. Solid State Flash   
Memory   64GB DDR4   
CPU Cores   8 (max frequency 3.1Ghz)

at this point it looks like at the very least a home setup will pretty much exclude any mini pc to be able to fully inspect 2gbps of traffic.

Hello,
Apologies if this has been answered, I couldn't find it anywhere.

I have an odd setup I could use some help with.

Currently, I have a UDM Pro with two 10GB SFP+ ports serving as WAN. No modem, this is straight from ISP Fiber ONT. I'll be shortly moving to 2GB ISP speed.
That is connected to a unmanaged TP-LINK switch, with basic port filtering.

I had setup a opnsense on Dell Optiplex 7070 Micro a while ago but when I was given the UDM Pro I swapped it for UDM Pro.
I noticed that I had, what seemed like, speed issues with optiplex running 1GB with any additonal security tools configured, and it has NO ability to add additional NIC's as there is No PCIE slot. Or rather the pCIE slot is dedicated to the NVME slot. the max number of Ethernet ports than is 2, 1 at 1GB and 1 at 2.5GB with a NVME wlan adapter.

I'd like to go back to opnsense since it would allow me to continue learning and exploring more options such as ZenArmour, IDS/IPS, DoH and other tools + customization's. I work in security so although these tools aren't needed for Home use I want to get better at utilizing and understanding them for my career.

I have a Dell R260 Server with multiple 4port 1GB ports and no SFP+ ports. It has dual 750Watt PSU's but they aren't really tapped that hard.
I was thinking of installing proxMox and virtualizing Opnsense on this server + using it as a replacement for my current Plex server. I'd need to purchase likely 1-2 10GB SFP+ cards and/or 1-2 2.5gb ethernet adapters in order to replace the UDM Pro as virtualized opnsense firewall. Power isn't crazy expensive but coming from the UDM pro power draw to approx 150watt minimum for the r260 would be an significant increase. Currently paying around 11KwH. Storage might also be an issue for this route but I need to see if my existing drives will play nice with 1 Raid SAS array and 1 14TB Sata drive.
the R260 has 128GB of ram and the stock Dual Xeon CPU's.

Other option would be to just purchase a different firewall such as the DEC697 but I don't want to spend $800 USD.

I could also repurpose my current plex server, a old gaming PC with a i9-9900k and a single 2.5gb NIC, I'd of course need to purchase additional NIC's but would be possible. I could virtualize this machine as well or run bare metal. Power consumption is not likely to be an issue as it seems it shouldn't pull much more than 80watts.

lastly, I have a very old HP Thin client with a PCIE expansion slot and 16GB of ram, but it's CPU is a  quad Core GX-420CA  which I suspect will not have enough throughput to use a 2GB ISP connection and run Zenarmour etc.

I'm struggling to find what specs I'd need for a 10+ device network with IDS/IPS on, for a 2GB internet speed.

 I have approx $500USD To spend on this project, but would like to spend less if possible.

I feel like purchasing several SFP+ and 2.5GB NIC for the r260 is probably the cheapest route but I'm concerned about power draw and fan noise.

Thoughts?