Virtual LAN (VLAN) segments are connected back to pfSense in a ‘router-on-a-stick’ configuration. Its referred to as ‘router-on-a-stick’ because of the single trunk cable connecting the 802.1Q capable switch to our pfSense router. This enables our switch to handle local subnet traffic switching whilst leveraging pfSense to firewall inter-subnet traffic. Some of my fileservers and devices generate a substantial amount of traffic and not having to push all this traffic through pfSense allows it to better handle the load it does need to process.