I am going to intentionally exclude Unifi and Mikrotik along with the vendors like Cisco, Juniper, Aruba etc from this discussion as I don’t think they are relevant (especially since you can’t run them on your hardware).

  1. OPNsense: Considered the superior alternative to PFSense. Great firewall, routing capabilities, IDS and certificate authority, advanced features, can be a DNS server etc. Best option all around for x86, but BSD based - take note of available drivers. Don’t even think about running random WiFi antennas unless you confirm good support for them (use a distinct WAP).
  2. OpenWRT: built for consumer router + switch + WAP boxes on embedded hardware. Great OS and uses very little resources with many features, but doesn’t compete in features with OPNsense if you have x86.
  3. VyOS: Debian based router + firewall. Linux makes it easier for people to pick up the CLI but I’ve heard complaints about it being difficult to follow. Currently CLI only, at least without third-party solutions, but is powerful and competes directly with OPNsense for features for the most part. Edit: I made a mistake - LTS versions also have their source available for free, you’d just need to compile it with the instructions on their website. Seems to be stable.
  4. Debian + FRRouting + nftables + heavy SELinux for the paranoid/analogous alternatives on OpenBSD (the latter is considered more secure but YMMV, configuration plays a big part here).
  5. Freemium: Sophos free version for home use.

Which one of these do you run, and why? What have been your issues with one or the other, and what have you settled on? Any niche customisations that you might have made? I’m very interested to know!

Cheers

Edit: it would seem that OPNsense is a big winner in this space for stability. OpenWRT comes next because of it’s very light nature and ability to run on consumer routers.

  • @CarbonatedPastaSauceEnglish
    3•10 months ago

    OPNsense all the way. I run it in a VM. I ran PFsense for years then finally went through the pain of migrating. It was worth it for the UI improvements alone. PFsense also corrupted itself twice in about 4-5 years of running it, requiring restores from VM snapshots. OPNsense has been rock solid but it’s only been 2 years since I migrated.

    I have used openwrt but only for a WiFi AP, not as a real router. I’ve since moved to a Unifi AP which works fine, but I won’t buy their stuff again for other reasons.