Showcase Small ad hoc SOHO firewall

[Cleo]

Hi MalwareTips,
I need hardware advice. I'm hoping to put together a PC to act as a SOHO firewall. It will run in a class room and will be taken home during school holidays for Roblox use.
I have a couple of existing parts which I would like to integrate if it turns out they are compatible.
cpu) Intel i3-10325
mobo) Maxsun H510-ITX Challenger
gpu) 玄人志向 GF-GT1030-E2GB/LP/D5
m.2) ADATA XPG SX8200 PRO 256GB
If my i3 isn't compatible, I can get a cheap i5-10600K but I'd rather not so as to keep cooling requirements lower.

The build would be ideally suited to a nice ITX case - I'm not glued to any in particular but I do like IQUNIX designs. Prefer prices under 350USD for the case.
The smaller the better.

I don't mind taking out the GPU and using a network card during school term as the chip is technically an APU but I'm also open to a managed external switch.

OS during term will be Pfsense if I can wrap my head around the install and Win11 during holidays. I wouldn't mind getting a separate Win 11 gaming drive to swap in when needed.

What's a good option for the networking aspect? How does a 4 port Intel network card sound? Would that create much heat? The internets max is 120/60mbps.
If I use a managed switch into the mobo's single ethernet port will that overload it? H10 is a budget chipset.
The likely wired network load isn't going to be that high. A 4K TV, a laptop and a NAS will be all. Its not going to be a Wi-Fi access point.

I'm also after RAM sticks and a PSU if there are any good suggestions but they probably won't matter.
Thanks.

 

[Brahman]

How many devices you want to control using your SOHO firewall? is it just 4K TV, a laptop and just Nas? if so the power overhead of using a dedicated pc ( approximate of 200W to 250W) is just waste of money. Get a Netgate 1100, it will be much more economical (5W) to run and you can add a cheap switch to increase the LAN ports plus it will only cost as much as a good 4 port intel LAN card.

 

[Cleo]

How many devices you want to control using your SOHO firewall? is it just 4K TV, a laptop and just Nas? if so the power overhead of using a dedicated pc ( approximate of 200W to 250W) is just waste of money. Get a Netgate 1100, it will be much more economical (5W) to run and you can add a cheap switch to increase the LAN ports plus it will only cost as much as a good 4 port intel LAN card.

How many devices you want to control using your SOHO firewall? is it just 4K TV, a laptop and just Nas? if so the power overhead of using a dedicated pc ( approximate of 200W to 250W) is just waste of money. Get a Netgate 1100, it will be much more economical (5W) to run and you can add a cheap switch to increase the LAN ports plus it will only cost as much as a good 4 port intel LAN card.

That’s an excellent solution but no fun.
I’m going to tinker and recycle so I’d still like to know how to get a solid working machine as outlined. It must have some kind of basic Win 11 seat potential. I might expand the switching load later and virtualise pfsense.

 

[kC77]

I wouldn't bother with windows myself... raspberry pi4b is ideal for this

 

[Brahman]

I wouldn't bother with windows myself... raspberry pi4b is ideal for this

It can't run pfsense, hardware is not supported.

 

[Cleo]

In the end I just decided to use it as a Win11 PC for when I visit home. I got a bad false positive from Cylance so they are out on the naughty step for a while. I'm using K7 with SecureAPlus now. I wasn't able to get the GPU I had planned as ark-pc.co.jp wasn't friendly with my VISA card. The Intel UHD 630 is fine for desktop work. It runs very cool and silent. The ADATA drive was replaced with an Intel 670p 1TB. I settled on a X12STN-E for my baby pfsense box.