Christos
Regular Contributor
Thank you @ddaenen1 I value the feedback that comes from your extensive experience.I struggle with the comparison between pfSense and Mikrotik RouterOS. I have used RouterOS for several years and apart from the fact that it is way harder to configure anything compared to pfSense, some stuff it just cannot do. I switched from RouterOS to pfSense for the sole reason that pfSense allowed me to use Letsencrypt certs with an FQDN through HAproxy to provide secure external access to my Nextcloud server which started out as tinkering but now has daily use as part of my business operations.
Over time, i learned to appreciate the easy setup and configuration of packages, VLAN's, time servers and so on. In many ways, it will always be a personal choice but comparing pfSense to RouterOS is just not an apples to apples comparison.
Netgate's change of strategy has made me rethink the way I use my firewall in general.
Should I keep putting all the services in one box (like HAproxy, certs, VPN etc) and rely on a single vendor or outsource them to a separate box that is best for the job, while keeping a "dummy" router/firewall to NAT internet traffic? For now, i'm not taking into consideration the next-gen features like IDS/IPS.