This Topton-brand mini-ITX motherboard on AliExpress seems like a pretty decent choice for an Opnsense/Pfsense-based home router setup. It has four Intel 2.5gbe ports, an integrated 10W TDP CPU, and way more storage options than necessary for my use case.

However, I’m leery of just about everything from AliExpress. In this case, I assume security is probably a distant consideration after function and price point.

Am I being overly paranoid? Are products like this riddled with back doors and other exploitable components? Has anyone else out there built a router using this board?

  • @aseriesoftubesOPEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    It’s not stable, sometimes doesn’t wake up from sleep, sometimes it hangs.

    That’s too bad. On paper, these boards seem to check all the boxes. It seems like the reality is that they lack quality-of-life features like general reliability. Probably not a great quality in router hardware…