Alternative to pfsense/Opnsense

[Tech9]

I have temporarily gone back to my TP-Link ER605 for my network

I know everything is temporary in your setup, but if this Asus RT-AX86U Pro provides good enough Wi-Fi coverage in your place and the TP-Link ER605 manages the 2x WAN connections properly - you don't need anything else for a home setup with single AP. Small, power efficient and no extra fees. Yes, you will share usage data and stats with TrendMicro, but you share data all the time with your mobile phones and PCs anyway.

 

[coxhaus]

Your TP-Link ER605 is consumer level device at best. They are not at the same level as pfsense and Arista NGF. The software coding on TP-Link is not very good and will soon be outdated.

 

[Smokey613]

The ER605 is for Dual WAN functionality only, nothing more. If Asus had a proper working Dual WAN I would not even need the ER605.

I am running the Beta firmware on the AX86U Pro and am utilizing the VLAN features which are working very good.

So far this single unit seems to be providing enough wifi coverage for my network.

I find it interesting that Asus has released a 3.0.0.6 firmware with the VLAN features for the AX88U Pro but not the AX86U Pro.

Also, Asus has drastically reduced pricing on the AX86U Pro as if to clear it out of inventory which makes me wonder if it will become a “forgotten” unit by Asus.

 

[Budgeter]

An interesting thread, I have been tinkering with OPNSense, pfSense, and OpenWRT on both bare metal and in virtualization.

- OpenWRT is much more lean, has way better NIC compatibility thanks to its Linux Kernel. Although it undertilize hardware out-of-the-box (x86 is not its first-class citizen), the performance at stock is way better than the "Sense".
- OPNSense, pfSense are more enterprise-ready, but requires specific hardware and certain amount of knowledge to tune them up properly. Realtek is pretty much a dumpster fire on FreeBSD though, but has never been an issue on OpenWRT for me.
- The "Sense" have enterprise support plan behind their back, and I actually use pfSense for my org. However, I virtualizing OpenWRT is my way to go in home lab environment. To be frank, the Sense are just too bloated for my personal environment.
- Both "Sense" and "WRT" have a wide range of plugin supports and they have trade off depending on the segments.

There are also application specific distro like VyOS, but I'm not a network engineer at heart, so I don't plan to play around with them anytime soon.

 

[coxhaus]

I think we are getting to the point where most of the old router hardware is too weak to be used for OpenWRT. The 86 platform is going to be the better choice nowadays as there are a lot of low powered CPUs that make good routers for cheap like the i3-6100T. An i3-6100T is $15 like I use. Almost no fan noise and hardly any heat using a small SSD.
I think OpenWRT needs to put more effort into the 86 platform. I would try it.

 

[Christos]

There are also application specific distro like VyOS

VyOS team is preparing a GUI for basic home/lab features. I may try it when they do.

 

[coxhaus]

VyOS team is preparing a GUI for basic home/lab features. I may try it when they do.

I like the idea. I want to try SNORT first before I would think about testing it.

And right now, there seems to be a lot of Linux hacks, so I am not ready to head there yet.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[marktim]

YoursHerbs The "Sense" have enterprise support plan behind their back, and I actually use pfSense for my org. However, I virtualizing OpenWRT is my way to go in home lab environment. To be frank, the Sense are just too bloated for my personal environment.
- Both "Sense" and "WRT" have a wide range of plugin supports and they have trade off depending on the segments.

I agree with the OP's assessment of these three popular router firmwares. OpenWRT is a good choice for home users who want a lightweight and customizable router firmware. It has a wide range of features and plugins, and it is easy to install and configure. However, it may not be as stable or secure as OPNSense or pfSense.