Question: x86 appliance & OpnSense as home router replacement.

[b1k3rdude]

Afternoon

I did do a DG/GGL search for this, but wasnt getting concreate answers - 

So currently I have a 'miniPC' running pfsense (its over kill, 2x ethernet, i3-8GB-120SSD) and my old Tp-Link router as the access point. I would like to replace both of them with a single appliance. I live in a single floor flat so wifi transmission is not a concerne

- If the appliance come with a supported wifi adapter, I assume OpenSense has the ability to control that as an access point?
- If the appliance has multiple ethernet ports, can all the non-wan used ports be used as a switch?

If no to the above questions are I best then just going down the OpenWRT path with an old Soho Router?

thanks.

[Maurice]

Theoretically yes to both questions, but don't do it. OPNsense / FreeBSD performs poorly as an AP and mediocre as a software switch. It's just not made for this.

If having a single appliance is essential to you, you can use virtualization to run OPNsense and OpenWrt on the same hardware. OpenWrt for WiFi, the hypervisor for bridging Ethernet ports (virtual switch), OPNsense for everything else.

If you're happy with OpenWrt on its own, that would of course be the easiest solution. Its firewall features and especially the GUI are nowhere comparable to OPNsense though.

Cheers
Maurice

[b1k3rdude]

Evnening

So as I suspected might be the case then, thanks for the confirmation.

I did try proxmox, to run pfsense and pihole, but as a Pc/Mac engineer the linux networking side of things is a bit outside my wheelhouse, as I never managed to get it to work.

Well maybe a softa hybrid approach then, thanks for the info.

[lilsense]

To clarify switching term is called Bridging the interfaces in FreeBSD/Linux.

[b1k3rdude]

Yeah I learned that fairley recently, and the issue with trying to do that with OpnSense/pfsense is its all done in s/w hence being so slow/less reliable etc.

[Maurice]

It's not an issue with OPNsense, it's the hardware. On x86 appliances, every Ethernet port typically is its own NIC, while the consumer routers used for OpenWrt have only one or two NICs and an integrated hardware switch.

You can get an Ethernet switch on a PCIe card to do basically the same on x86. These are kind of niche though and definitely less bang for your buck when compared to a standalone switch.