If you have read a few of my articles, you know I think running pfSense router software is a great idea. It is probably better than your router software. I rebuilt my home lab and bought new hardware to run pfSense which has worked great. A few years ago I wrote an article about good choices for pfSense hardware. Even though I’ve kept that article up to date, after going through the research myself again, I’ve decided it’s time to write a brand new article on the subject. So let’s take a look at 11 great choices for pfSense hardware.
Editor’s Note: I also have an article specifically for those of you looking for 2.5GbE pfSense hardware or those of you looking for 2.5GbE Proxmox hardware and USB NICs.
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Table of Contents
pfSense hardware requirements
Everyone will have different hardware needs but here are some common requirements for pretty much any build:
- The CPU must be powerful enough to route your Internet traffic. The faster your traffic, the more powerful the CPU you will need.
- Sufficient RAM for the packages you want to run. pfSense doesn’t normally require much RAM, but if you are going to do a lot with it you may need more than the average user. This is especially true if you want to run intrusion detection/protection systems like Snort and Suricata.
- The CPU should support AES-NI. This is an encryption instruction set that helps pfSense performance, especially with VPNs.
- At least 2 network interface cards (NICs). You can get away with one using VLAN tagging, but that adds unnecessary complications. In general, you want one NIC for each interface (LAN, WAN, etc.). You probably want an Intel NIC for the best performance and reliability.
For reference, the minimum pfSense hardware requirements are:
- 64-bit amd64 (x86-64) compatible CPU
- 1GB or more RAM
- 8 GB or larger disk drive (SSD, HDD, NVME, etc.)
- A compatible network card (again, it isbest two have at least two NICs)
- A bootable USB drive or CD/DVD-ROM/Blu-Ray drive for installation
Netgate (the company behind pfSense) says the above specs are good if you’re okay with less than 100 Mbps of unencrypted throughput. I think you should look to achieve speeds faster than that, which all of the hardware choices in this article will greatly exceed. Let’s look at some appropriate hardware choices. These are listed in no particular order; they are all great choices. You’ll have to pick the one you want based on your budget and needs.
Editor’s Note: If you go with a pfSense router, you’ll also want a Wi-Fi access point to provide Wi-Fi for your home. You can find the right one(s) for you using our Wi-Fi Access Point Technology Advisor. If you are still interested in buying a commercial Wi-Fi router, you should also check out our Wi-Fi Router Technology Advisor.
First Choice: Protectli Vault 4 Port Mini PC
- 【NEWER MODEL AVAILABLE: Protectli Vault V1410】THE VAULT (FW4B): Secure your network with a compact, fanless & silent firewall. Comes with US-based Support & 30-day money back guarantee!
- CPU: Intel Quad Core Celeron J3160, 64 bit, up to 2.2GHz, AES-NI hardware support
- PORTS: 4x Intel Gigabit Ethernet ports, 2x USB 3.0, 1x RJ-45 COM, 2x HDMI
This is an extremely popular choice for pfSense builds. With its hardware it should easily be able to achieve gigabit speeds and perform well with multiple pfSense packages installed. The version listed above is a barebones version, meaning you’ll need to buy an hard drive and RAM to complete the build. Below are a few different versions of this hardware that might better suit your needs:
Second Choice: GMKtec M5
- MINI PC FOR OFFICE GAMING – UPGRADED GMKtec Nucbox M5 Plus Series is equipped with the powerful AMD Ryzen 7 5825U processor, 8 Cores/16 Threads, Base 2.00GHz (Power Saving Quiet Mode) with Turbo Boost up to 4.50GHz (Performance Mode) in BIOS settings, Based on the ZEN 3+ architecture, this small but powerful mini pc delivers satisfying results in productivity, office work, and gaming. 35% Performance increase over previous AMD Ryzen 5 7430U/ Ryzen 7 5700U, 5600U, 5560U, 5500U.
- 32GB DDR4 RAM & 1TB PCIE SSD – Installed with DDR4 32GB RAM Dual Channel (2x16GB), the Nucbox M5 Plus mini pc support expansion to 64GB RAM. Featured with 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 SSD, support dual slot expansion to 4TB SSD. (Upgrades not included)
- DUAL NIC LAN 2.5GBE ETHERNET – Fast Network Speeds: Enjoy up to 2500Mbps data transmission speed without worrying about lagging. Ideal for working, gaming, and surfing the internet. Great for Untangle, Pfsense or as a server office PC.
This is a powerful mini PC that has dual 2.5GbE NICs for extra speed. It has a ton of ram and hard drive space. In reality, it is overkill for your pfSense router, but at a decent price it will do everything you want a router to do with ease!
Third Choice: Beelink Mini PC
- 【Intel N95 Low-Power Office Mini PC】Beelink Mini S12 Mini PC adopts the 12th generation Intel AIder Lake-N95 (7nm) processor (4 cores 4 threads, 6M cache, up to 3.4GHz) Max 25W TDP,The performance is 20% faster than N5105. A fast, smooth and power-saving mini PC for daily productivity and entertainment needs,Host size: 4.52*4.01*1.54 inch Micro PC
- 【Mini S12 Expansion-Friendly】The Beelink N95 mini PC comes equipped with 12GB LPDDR5 4800MT/s memory (supports up to 12GB) and a 500GB M.2 solid-state drive (expandable up to 2TB) to meet various needs such as office work, design, and home video. It runs stably and meets your daily work and entertainment needs.
This is a nice-looking model with dual 2.5GbE LAN ports for extra speed. It also comes with all the RAM (16GB) and hard drive (500GB SSD) that you’ll need for a great pfSense box. Beelink is a well-known and trusted brand.
Fourth Choice: Netgate models
- SECURE – Your best pfSense+ Firewall, Router, and VPN solution. #1 ranked “best firewalls” solution on PeerSpot (June 2025). 10+ million installations around the world. Flexible to solve your specific networking needs.
- COMPLETE – Pre-loaded with pfSense+ software to get up and running fast. Simply unbox it and start customizing for your secure edge networking needs. Free help with setup from our expert Technical Assistance Center (TAC) available 24/7/365.
- PRIVATE – Enterprise-grade VPN without breaking the bank. Virtual private network protocols including IPsec, OpenVPN and WireGuard VPN.
Netgate is the best place to go for an out-of-the-box, fully working, and supported solution. They are the maintainers of pfSense and they sell a few relatively affordable models appropriate for home users. The 2100 above has 4 LAN gigabit ports and a combo WAN port (Ethernet and SFP), which means you can use this for multi-WAN or VLANs. It’s fairly low-powered but suitable for most home applications unless you plan on running a lot of intensive packages.
Netgate offers more options if you buy from them directly. Keep in mind, you’ll be getting pfSense Plus instead of pfSense CE if you buy a Netgate model.
Fifth Choice: MOGINSOK 4X 2.5GbE Intel I225-V
- 【CPU&Ports】MOGINSOK Firewall Appliance Router MGSRCJ4 with Gemini Lake 10th Gen Intel Celeron J4125 Quad cores Four threads 2.0GHz up to 2.7GHz 4MB cache with Intel UHD Graphics 600,supported AES-NI . Support HDMI+VGA Dual Display,2xUSB 3.0
- 【Intel Ethernet I225-V 2.5GbE】This Firewall Router with 4*Intel I225 Network card Suppot 2.5GbE, bring you more faster and professional network usage(some system suppliers maybe have not released compatible driver to match yet, suggest to install newest version of following systems: compatiable with pf-sens CE 2.7.X/plus 23.0X, OPNsense 22.1, OpenWrt, ROS7, ESXI, Proxmox, CentOS etc).
This nice little package comes with plenty of RAM and hard drive space pre-installed. You just install pfSense and go! Also great if you are looking for 2.5GbE ports.
Sixth Choice: origimagic C4 Mini PC
- 【RYZEN 5 3550H PROCESSOR】: ORIGIMAGIC C4 mini PC is powered by the Ryzen 5 3550H processor, featuring 4 cores and 8 threads, 4MB cache, and a maximum boost clock of 3.7GHz. With a base TDP of 25W, it ensures solid performance while offering better energy efficiency
- 【DUAL CHANNEL 8GB RAM 256GB SSD】: The mini computer is equipped with 8GB DDR4 memory (2400MHz,expandable up to 16GB) and 256GB M.2 NVMe PCIe3.0 SSD. The SSD provides fast read and write speeds, and the storage space can be easily expanded to 512GB as needed
This nice little package comes with plenty of RAM and NVMe hard drive pre-installed. You just install pfSense and go! The chipset may struggle with the freeBSD Wi-Fi drivers, however, so you may want to look elsewhere if you also want to use it as an access point.
Seventh Choice: TRIGKEY Mini PC
- 【Intel Alder Lake N100 Processor】 TRIGKEY mini pc is powered by Intel Alder Lake N100 Processor, max turbo frequency 3.4GHz (4C/4T). Better functionality, lower power consumption. It will provide you with a more stable and smooth experience, light office Mini PC can be used for daily work, 4K video playback, web browsing, learning, etc.
- 【16G DDR4 +500GB SSD】N100 Mini PC has built-in 16GB DDR4 3200MHz (up to 3200MHz, single-channel ). It supports dual M.2 2280 PCle SSDs, KEY-N100 mini pc equipped with a single PCIE3.0*4 M.2 500G SSD(compatible with an M.2 SATA III SSD), another PCIE3.0*1 NVMe SSD(not include), you can upgrade the internal storage to 4TB with two SSDs.
This is an extremely compact mini pc with two gigabit ports and plenty of power to fulfill your pfSense router needs. It comes with 16GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive, meaning it has everything you need to get going right away. It also has a couple of USB slots for additional expansion.
Eighth Choice: Vnopn Mini PC
- 【Processor & OS】Firewall Mini PC with Intel N3700/N3710 CPU up to 2.40GHz, 4Cores4threads 2MB L2 Cache, TDP 6w, supports AES-NI. It tested with pf-sense linux ubuntu and other popular open source os. (“DEL” key to enter BIOS)
- 【BIOS Setting】This mini PC can function as a firewall/controller/micro server. Various features can be configured across different BIOS pages, including AC Power Recovery, UEFI PXE Boot, Wake-on-LAN, Scheduled Power On/Off, and more. If you encounter any issues during the BIOS setup process, feel free to contact us.
This mini PC comes with 4 Intel NICs, perfect for those who want to run VLANs. Memory and a hard drive are included. Just install pfSense and go.
Ninth Choice: Teklager
If you don’t want to go through the install yourself, you can buy from a 3rd party vendor like Teklager. They allow you to purchase hardware barebones or have pfSense preinstalled.
Tenth Choice: Repurpose an existing desktop
If you have an old desktop lying around, you can probably re-purpose it to being a router. You might need to buy an additional network card for LAN and WAN connections, but chances are the rest of the hardware will work fine. The downside is that this machine will probably use much more electricity than the other options, and it will always need to be on.
Eleventh Choice: Go virtual!
You can also use your old hardware (or new) to make a virtual pfSense router. I decided to go virtual for a while and it worked out well for me. A virtual router can have a lot of advantages, including:
- Snapshots – Easy to roll back if you mess up a configuration
- Scalability – Need a more powerful router? No need to buy new hardware, just allocate more power to your virtual router
- Portability – You can easily move a VM from one machine to another
You can read more about my virtual pfSense install here. You can also find good choices for small-form-factor virtualization servers here.
Editor’s Note: You can also check out the best options for OPNSense hardware, which will also work for pfSense.
Bonus Choices: Hardware readers have recommended
Editor’s Note: Looking for other hardware and home technology recommendations? Be sure to check out the HomeTechHacker Shop and our Home Technology Buyer’s Guide!
Final Thoughts
There are tons of great and affordable pfSense router hardware options available. It’s hard to go wrong with any of them. Just pick the best one that works for you.
Netgate makes good solid options, but you can save some money by going virtual or building your own hardware. No matter how you go, pfSense is a great choice for a home router. If you think pfSense might not be for you, check out these Wi-Fi router recommendations.
Before you build your pfSense router, check out my article about things you should consider before installing pfSense and decide which pfSense version is right for you. After you get it installed, be sure to check out my pfSense tips and make sure you review my advice on the 6 post-installation configurations you should do immediately. Also, if you are running pfSense and need to upgrade, follow these tips to upgrade pfSense the right way.
One last thing – these hardware options will work for OPNSense as well. OPNSense is another BSD-based router distribution that you should also consider as an alternative to pfSense. Here are the top alternatives to pfSense, and this hardware will work for them too.
👉 The Home Network Manual
If you’re building or upgrading a home network, I cover this topic in much more detail in The Home Network Manual. It walks through planning, hardware choices, and setup in a practical, step-by-step way.
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Very interesting. This is the first time I’ve heard of this piece of hardware. I’m planning to run wired and wireless in my new home, so where would this piece of hardware sit in a wireless access point HW and network switch HW?
Hi Brad. A pfSense router would sit right behind your Internet connection (e.g. cable modem) and your switches and wireless access points would connect to it. Most pfSense hardware isn’t great for Wi-Fi, so it is important to have good Wi-Fi access points. I prefer to separate my Wi-Fi access points from my router anyway.