Untangle at Home Reviewed

[Bomamama]

The only difference between Untangle at Home and Untangle Complete is Home is less money and only for non-business use. No feature difference.

Only difference is that it caps out at 25 devices, all other functionality is the same.

 

[Bomamama]

sounds like a good idea with reasonable cost. shame its not user friendly,there is no way I would have a clue on how to set up. probably end up with something like a big neon sign saying please come and take over every piece of electronics I own- even the non connected stuff

This is about as user-friendly as it gets, not sure what your metric is for 'user friendly'. It's pretty much point and click, but you need to know what it is that you want to do. If you have an easier solution, with as much power and granulation, you best better post it here, 'cause I sure never seen one.

If you think this is 'not user friendly', then I don't think there is anything out there for your limited skill set.

 

[Bomamama]

After looking at all the features of Untangle its really deserves a pc build of its own to truly unleash it. Wish there were more Quad core + 1gb ram routers available with better pricing!

There are plenty barebones one out there (as in ultra small PC's) cheaper than this device. I bought a 4 gigabit port Celeron and dropped in an M.2. hard drive and 8GB of RAM for under $400 - it has never gone above 2-3% utilization, and I have about 230 devices using it.

 

[Bomamama]

I

I think it's pretty impressive that they've put a lot of effort into getting this running on a device like the RT-AC88U - but with all the bells and whistles turned on, performance with a large number of users could be challenging...

Something like the Zotac I mentioned above, or better yet, the QOTOM J1900 boxes (just saw on the Amazon for $200USD) would run Untangle very nicely... they ship barebones, so 4GB RAM and a Small SSD, so in reality, it's probably around $275-$325, and probably want to get a desktop switch (another 50 or so)... but for routing, it would run circles around any BHR...

It's not for large number of users - the home edition caps out at 25 devices.

 

[Bomamama]

ty for responses, while I have never had need of tech support for any of my computer builds I didn't understand a lot of the terms used let alone what would be appropriate to do or not.
hopefully someone will come up with a 'guide' with step by step advice for it. things like that usually pop up fairly quick, if I don't see something like that within a month ill take a shot at it anyway.
I too would like a review of this installed on the router(I have the ac3100 so same same) to get an idea of it perf impact.

just download the installer and run in on a VM or some old computer you have.

 

[NUTW0RX]

I

It's not for large number of users - the home edition caps out at 25 devices.

Looking at one device and see there's 75 seats. It's an i3, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, on-board 1GB NIC and additional four 1GB NICs.
Currently have 2.35GB RAM and 72.3GB storage free.

Build your own...besides, you really don't want to put an ASUS WiFi router on the edge of your network.

 

[mike2h]

This is about as user-friendly as it gets, not sure what your metric is for 'user friendly'. It's pretty much point and click, but you need to know what it is that you want to do. If you have an easier solution, with as much power and granulation, you best better post it here, 'cause I sure never seen one.

If you think this is 'not user friendly', then I don't think there is anything out there for your limited skill set.

pretty sure I allowed that I had a 'limited skill set' (nicely put) when it comes to this kinda thing, I would say very limited. the whole point of my posts is trying to learn so I can make an informed choice. I have never used the app so my basis for the 'user friendly' part is based from other peoples experience.

just download the installer and run in on a VM or some old computer you have.

and back to 'limited skill set'. never set up a vm and kids/grand kids get old comps when I build new ones. my so called expertise runs to building my comps and maintaining mine, the families. and a cpl of friends-which doesn't take much anymore, and setting up our basic networks, nas/backup etc, which is all low tech.
I assume you are trying to be helpful so ty.

 

[GeorgeT]

What does the 25 IP's actually mean please ? I have approx 75 IP's behind the firewall but seldom 25 streams through the firewall.
Am I safe, or should I stick to Sophos XG ? I would love untangle because it acts as an OpenVPN-client and I love our privacy but hates double-NAT

Thanks !

 

[abailey]

What does the 25 IP's actually mean please ? I have approx 75 IP's behind the firewall but seldom 25 streams through the firewall.
Am I safe, or should I stick to Sophos XG ? I would love untangle because it acts as an OpenVPN-client and I love our privacy but hates double-NAT

Thanks !

The license works by counting the number of devices that send sessions through the firewall from Midnight to Midnight (so 24 hours). So in the image below (from my home untangle) you can see all known devices but you can also see the active clients. So its the total active clients during a 24 hour period that the license counts and not all known devices.

If you exceed the license amount, any device that exceeds the license will still run through the NAT firewall but will not be processed by all the applications (Untangle calls this "bypassed"). If there are clients you don't want to be processed by the apps, you can bypass them manually and they will never count toward the license amount.
The Home license is licensed for 75 devices. The business license starts at 25 devices and goes up from there.

 

[abailey]

Also, I forgot. Untangle processes all traffic that goes through it. Meaning if you use Untangle to route subnets on your LAN then those devices that talk between the subnets will count toward your license. Also, Untangle will apply all applications to internal traffic that crosses subnets routed by Untangle, even if its not going to the internet (you can change this behavior somewhat by using the Policy Manager).

 

[GeorgeT]

Appreciate this very much. A clear answer in one post : we are doomed

 

[sfx2000]

Appreciate this very much. A clear answer in one post : we are doomed

No, it means maybe taking stock of what devices are on your network, and then play it from there...

 

[NUTW0RX]

There's an alternative to play with for the Linksys crowd.

https://wiki.untangle.com/index.php/Linksys_WRT1900ACS_Installation

https://wiki.untangle.com/index.php/Firmware_Feature_Comparison

 

[wchpitt]

Just as a heads up - Untangle can run on other platforms...

View attachment 8307​

Zotac ZBOX C Series

Been running Untangle on this very box with 4GB and 120SSD for 9 months now. Dropped the Orbi 3Pack from Costco behind it and I now have a locked down home network with fantastic wireless speed and coverage throughout the house. Had a single router met my wireless needs I would have seriously considered the Asus. Mind you the separates route doubles or triples the implementation cost. Untangle will also run on a VM on a QNAP NAS (of sufficient specs) and you can allocate two dedicated physical ports to the VM along with more than enough cores and ram that it screams right along... but again mixing hardware. The rule still applies ~ Cheaper, Faster, Better - You can only pick two!

 

[Jeffb]

Am contemplating buying the Zotac above as am presently using an Asus router with Orbi 2 pack configured as an AP. Could tje Zotac be configured as the router and then the Orbi again configured AP?

Thank You!

 

[mike2h]

Been running Untangle on this very box with 4GB and 120SSD for 9 months now. Dropped the Orbi 3Pack from Costco behind it and I now have a locked down home network with fantastic wireless speed and coverage throughout the house. Had a single router met my wireless needs I would have seriously considered the Asus. Mind you the separates route doubles or triples the implementation cost. Untangle will also run on a VM on a QNAP NAS (of sufficient specs) and you can allocate two dedicated physical ports to the VM along with more than enough cores and ram that it screams right along... but again mixing hardware. The rule still applies ~ Cheaper, Faster, Better - You can only pick two!

which vers of that box are you using?

 

[GromitD90]

which vers of that box are you using?

Has anyone installed Untangle on a Zotac CI323? If so can you tell me what version of BIOS you are running?

I saw the following post indicating you had to revert the BIOS version to an earlier version. And according to his post he had to install Windows first to use the utility to revert the BIOS.

https://community.spiceworks.com/to...tangle-ng-firewall-on-a-zotac-zbox-nano-ci323

Anyone know if Untangle has done anything to address the issue?

Thanks
Mike

 

[awraynor]

I am tech literate, but modestly so with networking. I was thinking Untangle at Home to increase the control I have over my network. A friend recommended a Synology router while disabling the WiFi feature. For someone such as me would this be worth the trade-off vs. any extra power Untangle may have?

 

[pege63]

If you going to turn off the WIFI why even buy it, buy a EdgeRouter for the 1/4 price with much more options to configure and setup the router.

 

[abailey]

I am tech literate, but modestly so with networking. I was thinking Untangle at Home to increase the control I have over my network. A friend recommended a Synology router while disabling the WiFi feature. For someone such as me would this be worth the trade-off vs. any extra power Untangle may have?

I run Untangle and really like it. To be honest you need to tell us what increased control you want. Depending on what your looking for Untangle may be great, or maybe something like an Edgerouter, or even just a consumer level router. All depends on your requirements.
If you want to take a look at the Untangle interface to see what its about go here: http://demo.untangle.com/admin/index.do