Netgate pfSense Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

it_user280953

Network Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Jul 29, 2015

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It supports multiple ISP's, making it good for implementation, but it doesn't allow FTP.

What is most valuable?

This product supports multiple ISP's, so it's good for implementation.

How has it helped my organization?

It's made us more productive.

What needs improvement?

FTP was not allowed, and it didn't indicate during set up whether FTP was to be allowed or disabled.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for about one year.

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Netgate pfSense

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The stability is good.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's free.

What other advice do I have?

All the other features are good, and with it being free, it is very attractive to the users.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user229803

CEO & Founder at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Apr 28, 2015

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It was very straightforward to implement but the RadiusServer needs to be improved.

What is most valuable?

Captive Portal
DHCP

How has it helped my organization?

pfSense made my life easier for controlling users and their bandwidth. My internet is not misused anymore.

What needs improvement?

RadiusServer needs some work done.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I've never had any problems.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes I did.

How are customer service and technical support?

Since it's open source, the only support is available in public forums.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used different routers, but because I wasn’t happy, I was trying different solutions and I found this one which was the most effective of all those I tried.

How was the initial setup?

It was very straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

I did it on my own.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It was free.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I looked at many hardware solutions.

What other advice do I have?

Go ahead and just implement it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide

Netgate pfSense

April 2024

Free Report: Netgate pfSense Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about Netgate pfSense. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.

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769,065 professionals have used our research since 2012.

it_user221874

Manager IT at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees

Mar 31, 2015

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The proxy filtering is valuable except for blocking HTTPS which it can't do.

What is most valuable?

MAC Filtered DHCP and DNS
Captive Portal
VPN
Proxy Server
Proxy Filter

How has it helped my organization?

It has provided us with secure internet browsing and a strong monitoring ability.

What needs improvement?

Proxy filters are not supported for the blocking of HTTPS sites.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for two to three years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered yet.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered yet.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered yet.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

I have not gotten any support from the customer service center because I can get all the solutions on their web blogs.

Technical Support:

I think it is perfect.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I was using another product, but it didn't have a bandwidth controller and monitoring tool like this product does. I switched because I can find everything in one window.

How was the initial setup?

Its installation setup & procedure is so simple that a layman could install it.

What about the implementation team?

I installed it by myself and used Google for assistance.

What was our ROI?

It's positive.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I just downloaded the program from the website free of chard. The best thing is, this product can be installed on any machine.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No other options were evaluated.

What other advice do I have?

It is recommended, as it is a stable product.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user221874Manager IT at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees

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Jul 13, 2015

Can any one have experienced to deploy Pfsense on Hyper-V ... I am planning to deploy this scenario.

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it_user79791

Network Admin at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Jan 20, 2014

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The product is missing a graphic report implementation tool but performance, scalability and customization are valuable

What is most valuable?

Performance, cost effective, scalable, customizable

How has it helped my organization?

After switching from Cisco, Juniper, Astaro and Microsoft network response improved and more control of packet (for me, pfpacket technology is better than packet filter.)

What needs improvement?

Graphic report implementation tool (now possible with extra software)

For how long have I used the solution?

5+ years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No, perfect scalability from 20 to 500 users

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Cisco, Microsoft and when TMG progressively died it was necessary to switch to unix technology, many corporations require low budget and high performance.

How was the initial setup?

The initial approach is very complex because of the multiple functions, but after a short learning curve it is able to handle the standard functions.

What about the implementation team?

In my case, I buy network appliance from Lanner Inc. ltd (watchguard supplier) and deploy the image depending on the desired size and functionality required by the customer.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Identify the most suitable hardware for the required size.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes, Astaro and PaloAlto plus Juniper, but the renewal planes (AV, UTM, etc.) are very expensive.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user279654

Network and Transmission Engineer at a tech services company

Jul 27, 2015

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We've found multiple features, such as multi-WAN capability and dynamic DNS, valuable, but the load balancing of multiple networks could be improved.

What is most valuable?

Firewall
State Table
Network Address Translation (NAT)
High Availability
Multi-WAN
Server Load Balancing
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
PPPoE Server
Reporting and Monitoring Applications
Dynamic DNS
Captive Portal
DHCP Server and Relay

How has it helped my organization?

The reporting and monitoring applications improve our organization.

What needs improvement?

Load balancing of multiple networks

For how long have I used the solution?

3 Year

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Compatibility Issues

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

None

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

None

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

None

Technical Support:

Excellent

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes

How was the initial setup?

Simplest

What about the implementation team?

Extraordinary

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

pfSense software has the flexibility to integrate into wide area on a worldwide range of hardware. Among all monitoring and firewalls application. I haven't see powerful tools like PfSense.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user225414

IT Executive cum ICT Consultant at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees

Apr 20, 2015

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Remote users may access it on a local network via VPN but an improvement can be made to the user friendliness of the interface.

Valuable Features

Firewall
DHCP
VPN

Improvements to My Organization

The organization relies on pfSense for DHCP, and remote users may access it on a local network via VPN.

Room for Improvement

I was satisfied with the overall features of the product, considering the limited capacity of our hardware at the time. It's probable that an improvement can be made to the user friendliness of the interface.

Use of Solution

I've used it for over three years.

Stability Issues

I believe that the issue of stability that we encountered was linked to our hardware limitation. For example, we would need to soft reboot the system manually after a power failure to get the DHCP functioning again.

Scalability Issues

This is linked to our hardware limitation as well, however it has been working fine for company with 30-40 users.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Customer Service:

8/10.

Technical Support:

9/10,

Initial Setup

It was done by external technical support.

Implementation Team

It was implemented by a vendor who were 10/10.

Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing

I don't know the setup costs but the day-to-day maintenance is done by myself, and I occasionally need to engage the vendor for technical issues.

Other Advice

pfSense is good for a company that is looking for a solution with a reasonable cost for implementation.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Ross Bennett

Senior Systems Engineer at KeyTrust

Oct 15, 2018

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Perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI which is useful for diagnosing problems

Pros and Cons

"The ability to perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI is useful for diagnosing problems."

"I would like to see multiple DNS servers running on individual interfaces."

What is our primary use case?

We only use our pfSense as a stateful packet inspection firewall.

We have around 10 VLAN interfaces with many allow/block policies, VIPs, and NATs.
Running on VMware as a virtual machine.

How has it helped my organization?

The main improvement was we were able to replace our old hardware-based firewall with a virtual machine having HA.

What is most valuable?

The ability to perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI is useful for diagnosing problems.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see multiple DNS servers running on individual interfaces.

It would be useful to manage firewall policies on a source interface and destination interface basis.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Francis Abubot

System Administrator at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Jan 5, 2022

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Affordable and scalable but some features are difficult to configure and enable

Pros and Cons

"Sophos Intercept X is scalable. Currently, we have almost 30 people using it in our company."

"It would be great to add more to security."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for this solution is Endpoint Advanced. I have set it up for the firewall and the open VPN connections.

What needs improvement?

It would be great to add more to security.

I know that pfSense has a lot of features, but I don't know how to configure and enable them. That is why I am looking into my support options. I am looking for better security and performance.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for almost two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

pfSense is scalable. Currently, we have almost 30 people using it in our company.

How are customer service and support?

I'm currently struggling with deploying pfSense more extensively. Right now, we are not getting much support on their end.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

My opinion about pfSense's pricing is good. They are open source.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.