I use pfSense for various reasons, including implementing IPsec technology due to having limited branches. I use a VPN for secure connections, control the Internet or network flow, employ it as an NTP server, facilitate conference calls, and set up VLANs. I use it to run a proxy server.
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A free solution to secure connections but lacks support
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
I use the free version of Netgate pfSense software. I installed it on my servers with mini network cards, allowing me to create mini gateways and implement different plans.
What needs improvement?
The Netgate forums and community don’t provide extensive discussions and topics related to every pfSense service.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Netgate pfSense for five years. We are using the V23.09 of the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Everything is very smooth, with a user-friendly interface. You can use the user interface or CLI as a command.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 250 employees using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
We have Git Community forums with a million topics about all issues regarding Netgate pfSense. We can save this information to address various concerns.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have several reasons for choosing Netgate pfSense. Firstly, it serves my purposes effectively and is entirely free. Secondly, when I search on Google or inquire about past experiences with firewall workloads, its reliability and cost-effectiveness stand out.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is too easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is free of cost.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend using Postgres. However, if you need a firewall without additional tools and prefer a pool of well-established services, pfSense offers suitable features."
Other solutions like Postgres, Sophos, and Palo Alto are in the market. We've used firewalls for a long time, but in the last three years, I worked with pfSense, and it's efficient for all devices.
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Our IT representatives at the plants find it easy to use and manage because of its straightforward interface
What is our primary use case?
I install Netgate pfSense in various locations. It is also used for monitoring traffic and acting as a proxy.
What is most valuable?
I handle the scanning for the finance department. I recently encountered an issue with our company bills. I resolved the matter, cleared the bill, and received calls regarding it using pfSense.
The user interface is extremely user-friendly, which is why we use it across various sites. Our IT representatives at the plants find it easy to use and manage because of its straightforward interface.
What needs improvement?
They rely on third-party tools, unlike Fortinet, for example, which has its own tools. In comparison, we also use third-party tools on pfSense. For example, we had a situation where we needed a tool to identify authorized users, and when I searched for a solution, I found a third-party tool. However, using such tools may come with additional costs.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Netgate pfSense for around one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
If I think about pfSense, I would rate the stability around six. There have been some issues with stability, causing occasional downtime. I haven't extensively worked with pfSense in the last year, so my experience is limited.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of pfSense is excellent, and it's easy to expand. Currently, we have around 200-plus users at our head office using pfSense. I would rate it 7 out of 10.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't contacted Netgate technical support, so I can't provide feedback on that aspect.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Comparing pfSense with other vendors, I appreciate Fortinet for its all-in-one device with ALi involvement. However, for a country like Pakistan with limited resources, pfSense is suitable for small offices due to its cost-effectiveness.
How was the initial setup?
Installation is straightforward, especially for IT professionals. During the installation process, you are prompted to input the brand of the internet and LAN cables. If you're unsure, you can simply connect the cables – one for the internet and one for LAN – and proceed. You can choose to use either one or two cards based on your preference.
What about the implementation team?
Regarding maintenance and technical support, we have a team of around 14 technical staff who handle phone calls and work on maintenance when required.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale of one to ten for pfSense overall, I would rate it a seven. In comparison with other top devices like Fortinet and UDMP, pfSense stands equal in my opinion.
Poor support
What do you like best about the product?
Relatively inexpensive but a solid product
What do you dislike about the product?
Support is hard to find. I have a fiber connection using an ONT that needs a router/firewall that is set to IPoe. There are very few article is any concerning connecting to IPoe and Negate does not provide support for that.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Unknown.
Not promising better future
What do you like best about the product?
open source, free, stable, secure, easy to manage
What do you dislike about the product?
lack of high-quality documentation, lack of essential security features like next-generation firewall capabilities against new threats, unpolite community & support
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Securing home/company networks against cyber threats, providing a secure remote connection.
pfsense SOHO review
What do you like best about the product?
For the most part it is easy to install and maintain.
What do you dislike about the product?
Recent split between the open source and paid versions.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It is a reasonably priced business class firewall + appliance that can also do VPN, SNORT/Suricata, region and other blocking and a number of other features.
PFSense Review
What do you like best about the product?
PFSense is a Great Solution for Small Companies that are Cost-Sensitive but still require excellent Protection. Online Documentation is vast and easy to navigate and to implement.
What do you dislike about the product?
Some basic Features are, at times, complicated to configure, and although a vast community is available for support, some solutions are not easy to implement for a normal end user. Software upgrades always need to be thoroughly tested as they can regularly break your Firewall Configs.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
PFSense has excellent Perimeter and Network Protection for smaller SMB's, and the Out of the Box features are great. VPN Solutions work great without significant Challenges.
It was quick and helpful
What do you like best about the product?
It is simple to use, effective in deployment, and Diagnosis and troubleshooting are clear.
Also, many tools are ready to deploy.
Also, many tools are ready to deploy.
What do you dislike about the product?
Some features and tools are unclear, and more help can guide some people to improve their systems.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The outstanding performance of pfSense is the ability to backup, restore, and migrate from one system to another without complexity, even when you are not familiar with the product.
Great product, good support; Netgate doesn't fail to impress.
What do you like best about the product?
Leaning on the open source community and having rock solid support who are aware of pretty much every issue in their Redmine is awesome, I always feel like if I have to go to TAC that the people who respond know their stuff. I like the modularity and the affordability of the appliances/software.
What do you dislike about the product?
There's no API, automation is moot because of this which seriously restricts its use in the enterprise. I can't deploy these at every site if I have to manually configure them or use some XML uploads. Another thing is vetting your versions for enterprise customers, I know Netgate can't predict everything, but these should be thouroughly tested or at the very least a PSA if there's a possibility of a large bug on upgrade.
Lastly, another thing for enterprise customers, VPN usage. Every major firewall appliance builds off of a simple, existing VPN solution. It'd be nice to have more support for the OpenVPN addons for instance, things like SAML/OIDC for enterprise customers would be amazing. Even if you can't build an API into the current builds having some level of VPN automation would also help immensely.
Lastly, another thing for enterprise customers, VPN usage. Every major firewall appliance builds off of a simple, existing VPN solution. It'd be nice to have more support for the OpenVPN addons for instance, things like SAML/OIDC for enterprise customers would be amazing. Even if you can't build an API into the current builds having some level of VPN automation would also help immensely.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Probably the biggest thing is I know the latest versions of pfSense are secure, the developers are diligent in finding vulnerabilities, quashing them, and informing the community when a new one hits the waves.
pfsense seems powerful and configurable though the docs are not the best
What do you like best about the product?
lots of options and plugin apps, lots of guides online, runs on cheap-ish hardware
What do you dislike about the product?
my netgate hardware died after a poweroutage. the webui is slow and a bit unreliable. had to go cli for fw upgrade which did not wokr out of the box
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
pfsense lets me seperate network functions from my servers and from my appliances - a DIY network applaince
Will not launch in the US-WEST-2 region
I've successfully launched this in other regions, but it will not launch in the US-WEST-2 region. Please fix this! The system log shows the operating system halting and rebooting constantly.
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