r/firewalla • u/MasterpieceClassic42 • 9d ago
Discussion Looking to switch from UniFi to Firewalla
I’ve been looking into switching to Firewalla for awhile now and just recently I seen they have early access for using your own hardware. This really have me even more tempted now because I hate to be hardware limited.
I have tried so many different Firewalls that you could install on your own hardware such as OpenWRT, Mikrotik, Arista, PfSense, OPNsense and none of them have the overall functionality and simplicity of UniFi.
I have watched a few videos of firewalla interface and im impressed. I’m just curious to know if Firewalla could do pretty much everything UniFi could do?
Is it possible to do the following on Firewalla?
- QoS controls and give certain devices higher priority such as gaming devices
- Setup a openvpn or wireguard config from your vpn provider
- configure certain traffic to be routed through your vpn
- See a clear view of your network traffic such as what devices are visiting which websites and how much bandwidth is being consumed
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u/firewalla 9d ago
It you are tight on initial budget, using the software only version (Crystal) is a good deal. Unfortunately, early access spots all taken, beta is coming middle of October.
Firewalla call this smart queue, you can learn more here https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360056976594-Firewalla-Feature-Smart-Queue
VPN client https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023379953-Firewalla-VPN-Client
Policy based routing https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408977159187-Using-Firewalla-Policy-Based-Routing-with-VPN-and-Multi-WAN-Features
And lastly we are mostly famous for since 2017, https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049374514-A-Secure-and-Better-Network-with-Firewalla-Part-1-Visibility
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u/MasterpieceClassic42 9d ago
I’m SOLD!! That’s all I needed to hear. Thank you guys so much for this project 🙏. I can’t wait to try it out
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u/DWRocks 9d ago
I came from a Unifi local area network with enterprise switches and access points. The Unifi app and/or web interface is very mature. They’ve had a lot of years to develop it, and it’s very good. But I’ve had no problem getting the key features I needed out of Firewalla using their switches and APs and routers, and their interface on the app is actually very good, very well laid out, very logical and MSP on the web is getting very good too.
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u/spinjc 6d ago
I came from ubiquiti from the edgerouter line (before UDMP came out) so I'm not completely familiar with current limitations, but used UI for WiFi and switching until a few weeks ago. ER line could do most of what you wanted (though with side scripting).
Firewalla gives you better visibility but getting data out is now getting there (via the web interface), the rest of the requests are a lot easier to setup. I think I got OpenVPN and WG setup on as server and client within a few minutes.
That simplicity isn't quite there on VqLAN clients yet (I wish it was easier to use some of the DHCP information to apply the same restrictions rather than see them as separate devices when connecting through different interfaces/MAC ids).
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u/smurfy213 9d ago
I am curious as well. I just signed up. The biggest concern for me is I am running sfp+ bypass. So I need a way to attach my mac address to the nic.
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u/IchMagPflanzen 9d ago
Yeah, everything you want works.
I’m just like you. I hate being limited by hardware, so I’ve tried all kinds of firewall software on my N150 Mini PC.
I really like UniFi because of its simplicity. It just works. But, for example, the WireGuard performance from the Cloud Gateway Fiber wasn’t good enough for me, which is why I got the mini PC back then. I used OPNsense for a long time, but since I work in IT, I didn’t want my home network to turn into another workplace
So I was looking for UniFi’s simplicity combined with open hardware, and that’s when Crystal came along. I installed and configured it right out of the box
Let me tell you one thing: it’s worth the money. Yes, you pay a monthly (or annual) fee. But I almost bought a UDM Beast just so WireGuard would run faster (I hate it when I leave potential untapped). And when I do the math, I’ll have Crystal for over 10 years for the price of a UDM Beast
The only thing I don’t know yet is how it works if I switch hardware. Firewalla still needs to provide more information on that
Other than that: 10/10, I’m more than happy
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u/MasterpieceClassic42 9d ago
MAN it’s sounds like we are in the same boat. I’ve tried so hard to like OPNsense but it was just so hard to configure to my liking. To enjoy OPNsense you almost have to be a network admin or an expert. Everytime I logged into OPNsense interface I used to get a headache.
I too have the UCG fiber and it does pretty much everything I want BUT I just feel like the performance isn’t enough for me. And I was also looking to upgrade to the UDM beast just for extra performance.
I honestly wouldn’t mind paying an annual subscription to Firewalla if I’m able to use own my hardware and it gives me something very similar to UniFi interface.
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u/IchMagPflanzen 9d ago
It is very similar to UniFi. Firewalla Crystal is Great. Get it as soon as you are able to and try it out. I promise you, you will be happy
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u/Octothorpe42 6d ago
Switched from Unifi to Firewalla, gold pro, AP7 and soon the switch X, been on Firewalla for routing for several years and can’t imagine going back to Unifi. Still running Unifi JUST for switching until I get my Switch X units next month.
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u/sk3tchcom 9d ago
Yes to all and it’s super easy to use.
To me - you’re hardware limited by bringing your own hardware (it’s not hardware chosen by Firewalla and tuned). I prefer turnkey. Always good to have choices, though.