I have been running a pfSense router for years, and I think there are a lot of good reasons to do so. In fact, pfSense is better than most consumer routers out there. One of the best things about pfSense is that you get to pick the hardware you want to match your needs. I’ve previously written about the best pfSense hardware. But, some of you are looking to upgrade your entire network to 2.5GbE speeds, including your router. In this article, I’m going to give you five great 2.5GbE pfSense router hardware options that should meet your needs.
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A note about these 2.5GbE pfSense hardware options
All of these options are compatible with pfSense software. They all also have multiple 2.5GbE ports that you can use with WAN and LAN connections. Additionally, these will also work with other good router software like OPNSense.
MOGINSOK 4x 2.5GbE Mini PC
- 【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 box, featuring four Intel 2.5GbE ports is a reader favorite that many have been happy with. It features a 10th Gen Intel Celeron J4125 processor, AES-NI, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB SSD that should make it plenty powerful and ready for pfSense right out of the box.
If you want to save money and supply your own RAM and hard drive you can get the barebones version. You can upgrade if you want to beef up the machine with more RAM and a bigger hard drive out of the box for a little more $$.
Sharevdi Micro Firewall Appliance
- 【Processor and Operating System】 Firewall Micro Appliance Fanless Mini PC with Intel N3700, 4 cores, 4 threads (2MB L2 cache, up to 2.40GHz), supports AES-NI, pre-installed pf-sense system, supports Linux Ubuntu and other open source systems. The device with i226 chip is not compatible with IPCop/sophis/untangle/coreboat. (“DEL” key to enter BIOS).
- 【6x Intel Ethernet Ports】The Firewall Micro Appliance has 6 * individual Intel 2.5GbE i226 ports, 2 * USB3.0 ports, 1 * VGA port, 1 * HD port, 1 * DC port. 6 Intel Gigabit Ethernet ports ensure a stable and fast network, software routing, and other network applications.
This box features similar hardware to the MOGINSOK hardware and is just as highly rated by Amazon purchasers. However, it has more RAM and hard drive space.
Beelink Dual 2.5 GbE Mini PC
- 👍【N150 Intel 12th Alder Lake Mini PC】The EQ mini N150 mini PC is powered by the energy-efficient 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake N150 processor, featuring 4 cores/4 threads, a 6MB cache and a clock speed up to 3.6GHz. As one of the latest CPU models from Intel, the Beelink EQ mini desktop PC greatly upgrades your experience for office work, home theater playback and commercial display applications.
- 👍【4K Dual Screen Display & AV1 Decoding】The Beelink EQ mini PC comes with Intel UHD Graphics, which supports AV1 hardware decoding and 4K dual-screen output. It delivers stunning high-definition visuals for an immersive entertainment experience.
Beelink is a popular brand option sporting a more powerful process than other options above hardware to the options above. Below are a few other Beelink dual 2.5 GbE models you might be interested in:
VNOPN Micro Firewall Appliance
- 【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 option has an N3700 quad-core processor, making it a little different than other options on the list. This processor is older and a little slower than the Celeron J4125, but it does consume less power. The VNOPN comes in multiple configurations as well and features Intel NICs.
This is another model many of my readers have purchased and been happy with.
Hamsing Jasper Lake Micro Appliance
- Fanless box PC with four intel Nic, Intel Celeron N5105 Quad Core processor
- Suitable for Network Security Application. Support AES PXE
This choice features a more modern and powerful processor in the Intel Celeron N5105. Overall, it has slightly newer hardware than the other options while remaining in the same price range.
Editor’s Note: If you go with a pfSense router, you’ll probably 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.
Bonus! Additional option
This is probably overkill for a pfSense box, but I’ll mention it here nonetheless. This mini PC is powered by an Intel Core i5-12450H and has 16GB Ram and a 512GB hard drive to go along with its dual 2.5GbE ports. This box also could serve well as a Proxmox host.
Editor’s Note: You can also check out the best options for OPNSense hardware, which will also work for pfSense.
You also may want to check out my article about 2.5GbE small form factor Proxmox hardware for even more options (including a listing of 2.5GbE USB NICs) Here are some other options you may want to consider. These are all highly-rated bestsellers on Amazon.
Final thoughts
If you’re making the upgrade to a 2.5GbE network or planning to in the near future, then your router is probably a good place to start. Hopefully, these great 2.5GbE pfSense options will get you started!
Do you have a 2.5GbE pfSense router? What hardware are you using? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
