Building A pfSense Router!

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First, I recorded all of this several months ago... It felt weird to even make videos and put them online in the first place, so I held off. This video has been sitting on my NAS since spring.
But! This is a hobby I enjoy, so I want to share it! I'm open for feedback, as I'm fairly new to homelabbing and tech in general.
Components in the video:
Case - iStarUSA D Value D-118V2-ITX
Motherboard - Aaeon EMB-B75A-A10-MK01 Mini-ITX Industrial Motherboard
CPU - i5-2500
Cpu Cooler - Dynatron T195 1U
Power Supply - Apevia ITX-AP300W Mini-ITX
All together, it cost about $200 to throw this together, but I was using some recycled parts, so it may cost more or less for you to build.
__________
Twitter: / thomas_computes
Patreon: / thomascomputes
Instagram: / thomas_computes
Even TikTok! / thomascomputer

Опубликовано:

10 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 128

@mikeoxlong4043 2 года назад

this channel shows potential. hope to see more content soon.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

brilliant username

@mikeoxlong4043 2 года назад

@@ThomasComputes thank you Mr Computers. The Oxlong name has been in the family for several generations, a name a very proud of.

@YouTubestopsharingmyrealname 2 года назад

lol! sound like a report card from school, "Thomas Computers show potential and a confident attitude. He's a pleasure to have in class. I look forward to seeing his growth next semester."

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

If only my teachers left such glowing reviews

@ghost6813 Месяц назад

Nice project, but I would personally use a 2U case for this. You can then use or reuse a standard ATX power supply. You will also have more room for 8mm PWM fans, also much quieter than Molex fans running full blast. Needless to say there is also more room for cable management and half-width expansion cards in their normal, more secure orientation.

@SmalltimR 4 месяца назад

Love the zoom-in after the dead post - classic PC experience right there lol

@muhammedmokrane1440 2 года назад

Hello Thomas, It is good start for RU-vid channel, keep good work up🇩🇿🇩🇿🇩🇿

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

I'll try to keep 'em coming!

@Eddy.O 6 месяцев назад

I cracked up when I saw the message on the video that said that you trashed the I/O shield with a miter saw! 😂 Any dremel / rotary type tool with a metal cutting disc is the way to go for modifying anything on a PC case. Great video!

@robertcase6475 4 месяца назад

i liked the bloopers

@collectiveunconscious3d Год назад

I really don't need any of this but im getting obsesed with all of this and cant stop thinking about it lol. Good to see there are other people out there who are as well. Would be cool to see a video about all the stuff your doing with all these pc's and servers but one by one and how they work together if they do

@UKsystems 3 месяца назад

You could look into open source firmware like open wrt because it’s a great improvement and gives you lots of features without spending money on your equipment. You may just need to buy a cheap programmer

@MSM5500 2 года назад

I like 19'' rack staff and all the PCs I've used were built in rack enclosures. The only major issue I always encounter when dealing with rackmount builds is that they require the entirely different cooling plan to what's used in regular desktops cause you cannot afford using big tall slow spinning yet quite efficient cooling fans even in 3U cases. So the only way to solve the electronics cooling issue is to attach multiple small fans to both front and rear case walls in order to guarantee an appropriate air flow passing trough the system. In a nut shell, the rack builds happened to be quite noisy.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Big time! It's lucky that I'm not too sensitive to noisy fans

@MSM5500 2 года назад

@@ThomasComputes , I'm not sensitive to regular speed fan noise either and I can easily handle whatever is below 50db level. But when I chucked in some extra pair of SUNON PE60251B1 60mm ones it became just unbearable.

@m.m.m.c.a.k.e Год назад

If it runs that hot, upgrade the architecture

@JzJad 11 месяцев назад

Man I have not done a beowulf cluster since highschool around 2012 with a bunch of optiplex's was a great project!

@londonuntergunther252 2 года назад

Not bad new guy. I like the nod to _dumpsters dived_ treasures.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Free is my favorite price

@pineapplepizza5733 2 года назад

Great, love the video!

@gaffa65 Год назад

Love the bloopers :)

@chetmyers7041 17 дней назад

7:20 Can those two fans breath? Seems the mass of wires may restrict airflow. Leave the lid off?

@l3373 Год назад

Wow.. Just wow.. 😎👌

@JokeryEU 2 года назад

the fans..... in the front why are they so clogged up with so much wires in front ?

@daniellu6492 2 года назад

Great video, thanks for the amazing content!

@Bob-Martin 17 дней назад

the brand of interface is important?

@amvance2 2 года назад

Nice video! Post more about your setup!

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Definitely in the pipeline!

@guyin916 Год назад

has your power supply ever failed? i'm about to build a pfsense box with the same case. thinking of going with the ali-e 5005 board with 4x 2.5gbe, but looking for a reliable psu for the same case you have. not sure if i should buy a backup to have around. thank you for the video.

@csn04 Месяц назад

That one isn't a reliable one. I've read many reports of this brand being caught on fire and you definitely don't want that near your network gear!

@user-uj1hd1wn7j 4 месяца назад

Cool

@Ben333bacc 7 месяцев назад

Has anybody ever told you that you bear a strikingly similar resemblance to Peter in Office Space?

@sirdevio Год назад

Great vid. Very helpful.

@DJJumpdancer 2 года назад

i am assuming your using the front facing camera of the iPhone. Try the rear cameras and a selfie stick or something for vlogging. The iPhone camera is fine.

@CLASSICMESSENGERSERVICES Год назад

Very nice neat and clean I like it

@tanmaywho 2 года назад

I really like your work area, would you like to do a room tour at some point? would loke to watch that. also dang it, looks like YT wants me to make a pf sense router of my own, watching you video make me want to even more! maybe over the next holidays

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

In the pipeline!

@mrlightheart1851 2 года назад

Nice !!!!

@sageosaka 2 года назад

Love these videos!

@medinarick3 2 года назад

Really useful stuff man! Keep up the good work!

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Appreciate it! No plans to stop anytime soon

@reijin999 2 года назад

nice build, i plan on using this chassis for mine. very helpful. only thing is ahhh HDD in a router

@GrandmaRob 2 года назад

I am interested in a router build with this case. Thanks for the video!

@n0kodoko143 2 года назад

Sweet setup 👍!

@LBCAndrew 2 года назад

pssst.... AES-NI is no longer required for Pfsense. They dropped that a few months after announcing it would be required.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Yup, little oversight on my end!

@ikkuranus 2 года назад

Do those fans actually do anything (besides make a lot of noise) given all the wiring and ram in the way? I'm also curious if that PSU crapped itself shortly after making the video?

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

They're high static pressure fans, so they do make a ton of noise for sure, but I'm most interested in replacing warm air with cool air frequently. And that PSU is OUT lol, replaced with a much more dependable Silverstone last year

@RixtronixLAB 2 года назад

Vote up, thanks for sharing the video :)

@FarhanAhmedClicks Год назад

Hello Sir, I just installed pfsense in my pc and everything is working just fine except Captive Portal. I watched many tutorials and setting up things just like them or guided in tutorial but my case is when I enable captive portal it asks for username and passwords and voucher but when I try to input voucher codes it says invalid voucher. I tried to change rsa keys and reconfigured and reinstalled the whole setup but still I am on a same stage. Can you please guide me.

@ThomasComputes Год назад

I might do a video on captive portal, sorry to hear you’re having trouble with it!

@keke2k5 2 года назад

so many cables in front of the fans

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

I smell an upcoming video topic!

@danielhh47 Год назад

Nice build! I looked for a long time for 1u chassis with io on the front and there weren't many. Decided on a Supermicro 505-203b with a supermicro board and an Intel Atom C2758 cpu and a Pci with 4x 10gig sfp+. I just wish there were more chassis with front IO available!

@ThomasComputes Год назад

I'm thinking of revisiting this project with a reversed (front IO) chassis... Sounds like a great build you've got there!

@ChaseMMD 2 года назад

I was thinking about how to build a PFsense router as in the next few months we'll be moving to a new home that has ethernet built into the home and expect that the netgear router I have will not handle the load. At peaks I expect to hit 2-3 gbps. It seems to struggle as is. But plan on building a mid tower pc case using a ryzen system. Still debating on 4 or 6 cores and probably need a gpu for boot. But have a extra one lying around. I probably will get the same NIC as lot of people recommending those intel i340 cards.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

They're great cards, and fairly cheap too. And the PC you build doesn't need to be all too beefy either (it doesn't take much to beat a Netgear router). Good luck on your quest!

@ChaseMMD Год назад

@Jeremiah Bakker I'm running Ryzen 7 1700x (way overbuilt) and 16 GB's of ECC RAM (Parity kind). The Intel x340-t2 works good. Haven't put it to the test but plan on pushing close to a theoretically limit of 10 gbps on the local network. 2.5 Gbit dedicated to my server and 2.5 Gbit to my wifi router, in additional to having 3 additional 1gbps connections as well. So imagine the Intel i340-t2 be fine and already have all the hardware in hand and quirks/issues are fixed. So be set in stone unless issues arise.

@DigitEgal 2 года назад

I running a similar pfsense on a older optiplex board. I have noticed better performance by using uefi at install. Since you are using a hdd instead of ssd´s like me, i am interested if you compared the performance? Is there any difference at all? I didnt test this yet. Only things i tested was lx4 vs mirrored zfs. Also i tryed to install on a pci-e nvme disk but it seems the board dont supports that :D

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

I've only used HDDs, so I can't speak on performance differences, but I've had no problems. Since this video, I've added a second drive and set them up as a mirrored ZFS pool. Works like a charm!

@DigitEgal 2 года назад

@@ThomasComputes ok then i think its because the old dell hardware i used isnt working well with ssd´s (also its only sata2) so the uefi install fixed that issue for me.

@tw3145wallenstein 2 года назад

@@ThomasComputes i have my pfsense insall running on a adata 156gb SSD and has been for 5 years now, my only observation is that it boots up faster with SSD much like any computer. pfsense is mostly loaded to memory after boot so other then writing a few log files and the random config change when you make them there is really very little disk io after bootup

@schellman2 2 года назад

So how much do the components matter when building a pfsense router? I have an old PC I'm looking to convert and was wondering if things like more ram and using SSD is better than HDD or does it matter much?

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

I would say not that much. Of course it's nice to have more ports, so an external NIC is a great idea (and necessary when your motherboard only has one port). As far as RAM and SSDs go, 4 gigs is more than enough, and unless you want it to boot quickly, you'll be alright with a hard drive. pfSense doesn't need to do a whole lot of reads/writes to the drive during operation after all, but a helpful tip is to mirror two boot drives if you have them for redundancy. It's super easy to set up a zfs pool during installation thanks to FreeBSD!

@schellman2 2 года назад

@@ThomasComputes Ok great tips! Something I have heard about normal SOHO routers is that the processors are not the best and get overwhelmed when using a lot of data. So how good of a processor would you recommend? I have an i7-7700k for it, I'm just not sure what is considered good for a router.

@michaelhenry3234 Год назад

@@schellman2 You probably don't need advice now, but a router doesn't need much performance. An atom would work fine for most networks. It's really easy to go overkill with a router and waste a bunch of energy.

@martinwashington3152 2 года назад

What does your pfSense box connect to before the LAN, I assume a router supplied by the ISP which has RJ11.. I'm curious how you do this without a modem within the pfSense box? Saying that I'm on VDSL2 but still limited to like 10Mib sending :D

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

So my provider back then was standard broadband... not the best, but certainly not terrible. Now I'm on symmetrical fiber, but in both cases, I had an ISP-supplied modem/router combo box (can't believe they make you rent hardware, am I right?). I just put them in passthrough mode, so pfsense is still able to work with the correct public IPv4 address. Hope this helps!

@Jae_972 2 года назад

how does that perform? meaning can you route at gigabit speeds?

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Performs well! It's always been fully gigabit-capable, and I'm probably going to be going 10 Gig soon!

@lucasdolsan1636 2 года назад

which network card is it?

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

i350-t4 -- 4 gigabit ports

@endlessmindset8808 2 года назад

Can you help me understand.... I see you have 2 switches at the top of your rack but why is there so many ethernet cables connecting the two switches together?

@tanmaywho 2 года назад

patch panel in the top slot(just a bunch of rj45 connectors connecting wire coming from the wall, makes your rack work easy since all the connection are at the front), then a switch in the second slot. hope this helps.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

^ Helps a lot with organization

@oxkaioxo Год назад

3:00 Just a tip: do not place the motherboard on top of its bag when assembling.

@mapledev9335 2 года назад

Hey Thomas thanks for the great video. Just ordered same motherboard and i5-2500 CPU. What size are those fans? Looking to get a couple of extra ones for cooling.

@alexandernava9275 2 года назад

Should be 40mm, if you want something quieter go for the Noctua fans.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

40 is right! And Noctuas are perfect. Since this thing isn't near me when I'm trying to sleep, the noise wasn't as much of a concern.

@settepiani 2 года назад

HI! I have the same DELL refurbished computer which i am not using in this moment and would like to use as pfsense router. Can you tell more about that setup? Thank you very much.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Sure! For that one I threw in the same NIC I used here, and just installed pfSense. In terms of processing power and memory, you really don't need much!

@Phil-D83 2 года назад

Got a used lenovo pc here with a i5 3470t 8gb and a 256gb asd for 100$ cdn here locally. Added a 3nd intel network card and its a decent pfsense box

@PhoebeAvro 2 года назад

I have pfsense on a dell wyse 5070 extended Pentium Silver silent m.2 drive and a INTEL I350-t4 4 port nic

@daveunbranded 2 года назад

What was the original CPU?

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

i5-2500

@faarisinamdar2988 2 года назад

do you still have the antec p180? I will buy it off you if youre down

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Afraid not, I donated it, but good luck on your search! Those things are ancient but very well designed

@faarisinamdar2988 2 года назад

@@ThomasComputes thanks man I’ve been hunting for old cases like that

@walkermisek5526 2 года назад

I don't know all that much about pfsense but wouldn't it make more sense to put like a 120gb ssd in there? I'm not sure if pfsense takes up too much space on a drive or if the router takes a good bit of time to boot up after being powered off (ie. power outage or maintenance). Not a 100% sure if speed matters in this case.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Good question! Once pfsense boots, it essentially exists in system memory, where transfer speed is super fast. I did upgrade this device with mirrored boot drives (handy zfs feature), so system failures aren’t as big of a concern. Booting up takes about a minute, but I ensure that restarts almost never happen with a UPS, and when they do, the UPS sends a shutdown command to the device to gracefully exit each task the router is performing. In fact, I may just make a video about all that! I used hdds instead of ssds because it’s what I had laying around, and if I’m anything, I’m frugal.

@walkermisek5526 2 года назад

@@ThomasComputes Wow! That’s actually really cool, I’ve been contemplating about building a router myself and I don’t know how pfsense works really so that’s really helpful to know!

@PatricksDIY 11 месяцев назад

would have been nice to see the whole processes, seems like footage lost then a break, then cut to everything being done and installed, sorry but this was not useful to me who was looking at how its done

@HacksToTheMax01 2 года назад

How much did the total build cost? I'm debating on either building or buying a rack mounted solution.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Great question! I would say just north of $300 for everything, but I will say you can find some pretty nice motherboards or all-in-one SOC boards that are purpose-built for firewall applications on sites like eBay. CPU and memory requirements aren’t high here, but you will want at least 2 network ports.

@HacksToTheMax01 2 года назад

Thanks for the reply! I ended up getting a really good deal on a checkpoint firewall that I couldn't refuse. Planning on getting pfsense installed asap.

@coinsea5803 2 года назад

How well does the cooling solution work for that chip?

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

While it is a little noisy, it’s great! My highs are about 40C, which is also helped by the fact that pfSense is extremely lightweight, and my processor is fairly overkill for the application.

@coinsea5803 2 года назад

@@ThomasComputes thanks for the info!!

@jdoc99 2 года назад

Great video. So did you use the same network card from your dell and put it in the rack mounted build?

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Yup! The thing works like a charm, but I’m itching to do a 10Gig upgrade at some point

@jdoc99 2 года назад

@@ThomasComputes If you upgrade to 10Gig would you need to upgrade your motherboard or just the NIC?

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

@@jdoc99 Just the NIC, the rest of the computer can easily handle a 10Gig card

@elite_fitness 2 года назад

May want to keep an eye on those temps with the little drop of thermal paste

@1fashionsouls Год назад

ohhhhh stop

@gsxr1000jt 2 года назад

What is your isp setup? Ie bandwidth speeds dual wan etc? Nice setup btw.

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

In that house I couldn’t get more than 100M, but nowadays I’ve got symmetrical gigabit fiber

@diginomad6016 2 года назад

Commenting to trick the RU-vid to promote your video

@YouTubestopsharingmyrealname 2 года назад

PF blocker is the entire reason I went with PFsense. also because a coworker gave me a Netgate 3100.

@andre32396 2 года назад

Have you measured the power consumption of your build?

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

Yes! This router stays around 40-50 watts most of the time.

@martinwashington3152 2 года назад

He's not even started out being an energy gremlin yet, let the fella get his feet under the table first :D

@modulo3664 2 года назад

10:55: Tank, load the jump program

@daveunbranded 2 года назад

So the apevia was your best, most reliable choice? 😂

@ThomasComputes 2 года назад

With my budget at the time, yes, but it’s been replaced with a Silverstone power supply since then. This might become a video topic soon!

@travisthayer8563 2 года назад

I think you can rotate the nic

@astrogerard 2 года назад

On 0:33 you said never used the modem you showed, less than a minute later you said you tried all kinds of things on the same box. That is not convincing for a first video. The truth and honesty will give you the most likes and subscriptions.

@timlucas4014 2 года назад

Just a note At the start the netgear is shilt and dont use and never have then at 1.20 it didnt work under load I did look at your video but those two comments makes me wonder your wording ??? Somthing maybe for your editing ??

@sYnDaEx Год назад

Caugh in a lie in the first 32 seconds. You never used it you said, then 1:30 you added devices and did zoom calls etc etc and the router did not like it... so what is it did or did you not use it? Anyways, disliked.

@RedFalcon696 8 месяцев назад

Good observation, I noticed this as well. I have used that exact router before circa late-2000s and early 2010s, and it will easily handle those mentioned Zoom video call tasks for a single user, even with modern devices in the 2020s. The claims of stating to never use the device and then stating it is inadequate when not knowing anything about it... at least test the device out and be honest about it, it would look a lot more professional. Good luck to this guy in the future.

@SuramSingh 2 года назад

well wanna see what's all those pc's doing in your closets....

@shawsplace-876networking5 2 года назад

Awesome upgrade to your realtor I am also looking to upgrade mine as well I am using a legacy Hardware which is a Surface device I am constricted to power usage some looking a low power Rota that can also run pfSense my network is not as demanding as yours I hope you get very good mileage