2020 Getting started with pfsense 2.4 Tutorial: Network Setup, VLANs, Features & Packages

[@Re4l1ty13]

CAPS LOCK GUY HERE TO THANK YOU FOR CREATING INCREDIBLY EDUCATIONAL AND HIGH QUALITY CONTENT FOR THESE YEARS. I AM SURE THAT I'M THE ONLY ONE WHOSE INTEREST AND/OR CAREER HAS BEEN KICK STARTED THANKS TO YOU. HERE'S TO YOU , TOM.

[@AdhamNasr-ik7yn]

You're not the only one! THANK YOU TOM :D

[@phoenixdundee]

-strikethrough guy here. Great video!-

[@bloxcodes6576]

STOP SCREAMJNG PELAASE

[@kevinm8865]

LoL

[@smizles]

@@bloxcodes6576 then take off your headphones in the comments section

[@EEVOL]

Just to let you know, I have had this video bookmarked for 2 years now and go to it from time to time for help. Thanks.

[@garyjustice8388]

I got to say this video and the other one from 2018 have been the single best source for me setting up pfsense for the first time! I had to go over it several times and even slow it down to 3/4 speed to keep up. I was coming fro a large background with consumer routers and some corporate Microsoft training from the mid 90's. Yeah, what a long strange trip it has been! Thanks so much for what you do. This channel is my go to source for pfsense.

[@augurseer]

Tom. Through your older videos. And your forum I have become and avid user and lover of PFsense. So while I don't need THIS video. I am glad it exists. You are a resource and a treasure.

[@Mr76Pontiac]

This video is still 100% relevant more than a year later. Posting this Oct 18, 2021. VERY well done video. I actually focused on this hour and a half long video over the course of three days (As we had family events over the weekend, and I just finished up the logging part today) and even though I did the setup on my own, I was hooked watching every mouse click, rewinding when I thought I missed something, going back and listening for the 3rd party apps mentioned (Security Onion being one of them) and what not. I'm running pfSense in a VM on my R710. For a less than a month old virtualized firewall, it's working great.

[@kaijohnson3930]

Long time listener, first time caller. Moving to an apartment in about a month with symmetrical 1gbps in a month and finally updating from OpenWrt to pfSense so this could not come at a better time. Thanks for the great videos, Tom!

[@KarlHamilton]

Hello to Jason Isaacs.

[@ericblitz1795]

Wow, i'm new to this channel.. but what an incredibly active audience! like, wow... i work in network security, surveillance and automation. It's a pleasure to join you nerds. Thanks for a great video

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Thank you

[@razerone49]

Thanks for the detailed video. 10 mins into it and I’ve realized that, as a lamen consumer who’s trying to protect my families data, this is way too technically involved and time consuming to go the pfsense route. I guess I’m stuck with just using a VPN and anonymizing traffic rather than a VPN + security. If I ever have time to learn all of this I’ll be sure to refer back to your channel (I’ve saved the video). The community should be grateful for the time you take to walk everyone through tedious setups.

[@chomper1329]

Take care on the VPN, if things need to be marketed and are cheaper than the competition, usually that means they collect your data to sell. A lot of VPNs also have been bought up buy corporations too. Tons of new data coming out that VPN's aren't typically as secure as believed. It may be too technical, but it's like buying a helmet with for a motorcycle, you don't need a $5,000 helmet, a $20 helmet would work, but $400-500 helmet will offer the protections, comfort, and sometime additional safety features. How much is your brain worth? Same thing here, how much do you value your security and privacy?

[@sinisterwolf89]

I am interested in using smart devices for lights and fans to automate stuff. I want to keep it all local. Watching these videos has shown me the safest way to go about creating a safe home network for all those things.

[@pinakinkale]

This video literally came at the perfect time, I just bought a nic for an old optiplex that I had to make it a router

[@arisk992]

This video comes for me at the time i just bought a nic for an old optiplex too... :)

[@minigpracing3068]

TOM, THAT'S THE EXACT SAME SERVER I'M RUNNING MY PFSENSE AT WORK ON! I JUST FELT LIKE SHOUTING!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

IT'S OK TO SHOUT IF YOU ARE EXCITED!

[@IntoTheNothing1]

😂

[@tolpacourt]

WAT

[@NIC_Pineiro]

This is one of the greatest videos on pfsense ever! Ive literally watched it a dozen times. This a great reference. Thanks!

[@drtweak87]

Hairpin is a first time i have heard that term. Most routers label it as "NAT Loopback" Also just pinging the gateway work. Won't lie I picked the PERFECT time to get into PFSense a day after you posted this! haha trying to find cheaper alternatives for my clients. In one of the few cases where i have VLans setup neither one will want to talk to each other. I blocked them both from talking to each other on my test rig and i wasn't even able to ping the gateway after enabling the rule (Using 192.168.1 and 100 for test lans)

[@sugardrone5894]

YES IT USED IN CORPORATE. I am the CIO of a bank and I use it in my corporate and home environment. Thanks for the great video!

[@scemhitdepartment5497]

is it free if install on my computer and use it in my small business office 25 computer setup or I need to purchase any license

[@justinquinn7995]

@@scemhitdepartment5497 its free

[@sharedknowledge6640]

This is a really well done video and thanks for taking the time to put it together. It’s nice you not only show how to do things, but you explain why, and then even show how to test what you’ve just done which is especially important when it comes to network security. This video nicely combines a lot of what users need in one video and it does it using 2.4 which has some new differences. Pfsense doesn’t do major updates very often and it’s great you’ve been so prompt in getting 2.4 content out. Please keep up the impressive work!

[@mpxz999]

You're a wonderful teacher, Tom! This guide made my day! 2022 is off to a great start! You kick ass, and I appreciate your content, teaching style and sense of humor so much! Thank you!!

[@kc8ncr]

Hi Tom, This video is wonderful! I am running pfsense on an Hp-T620 Plus with a 4-port intel card. I have gone back and watched this video and your video on pfblockerng, a couple of times to help me configure the router. I joined to say thank you!

[@spaghettienforcer4896]

Amazing timing, I just started setting up my first PFSense box. From one Tom to another, I appreciate you.

[@hbirtt]

Thanks for another bang-up video. You guys have the best coverage of pfSense. One point I think people should think about (not starting sh*t) when it comes to the console password. Your point is valid, but there's a second concern that I always bring up when people talk about whether to password protect a console port on anything. The point you make is true. If someone has physical access, it's game over. However, most methods of getting information, access, or elevation will require a reboot of the device, and that's going to most likely draw some attention. If free console access is open, it's possible for someone to make small non-disruptive config changes that could go unnoticed in some environments. As you are aware, not all environments are the same, so it's just something that people should consider.

[@bensavage6389]

love these long form tutorials they really saved my hide when it comes to PF sense

[@666skidda]

You have absolutely made my day, I purchased a 4 port Protectli Vault with pfsense preinstalled many months ago with the anticipation of being able to configure it and was lost without any instruction on the setup specifics needed to get my network behind a firewall. Literally 20 minutes into this video and I have successfully configured and my systems are online, 5 stars brother!! Thank you for your tutorials, you've earned yourself another subscriber. Also any quick links you may have for tutorials for setting up managed Cisco switches?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I don't really do Cisco videos.

[@Vadinaka]

You read my mind. Wanted to see an update from your previous ones. Thanks a million.

[@johndroyson7921]

Thank you for taking the time to put these videos together. I have This, the snort, and PFblockerNG setup videos saved to my library. I show your channel to any of my friends interested in doing the same thing with their networks.

[@jaythompson5102]

I work in industrial controls and deal a lot with water and wastewater systems, pfsense is becoming increasingly more common. Just wanted to mention this in case anyone doubts it's capabilities in commercial or industrial systems.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Thanks

[@Max34557]

What I do for my guest network, is just setup a block rule on the guest VLAN to all RFC1918 networks, and a allow rule to the gateway above that, with a block rule with the firewall admin ports above that. Bulletproof!

[@shanebagel]

This man is doing the lords work. Godbless you man - such great content

[@deo-max9229]

OH SNAP!! YOU FIXED MY PROBLEM WITH MY HYPER-V AT 39 MINUTES. I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH. I'LL BUY A T-SHIRT!

[@Jinkle]

Great video, I’m setting up my first custom build pfSense firewall today, so I’m thankful to have a bit of guidance, only thing I would say bro is I wish you changed the theme first, white burns my eyes out on these LED backlight screens 😅

[@seaquistk]

Really appreciate you sharing your knowledge in a way us novices can use. Thank you!

[@bikerchrisukk]

Just wanted to say thanks for this Tom, using PPPPPPoEEE over in the UK, got the basics working very quickly, a bit shocking that. Have Draytek 130 modem set in the bridge mode you mentioned. 👍

[@8ballfpv]

excellent video. I have just built my pfsense router but wanted to understand pfsense more before I started using it.. this video has been perfect for me to upstanding the fundamentals of what it can go!

[@danieljackson4353]

Another excellent video, thank you. I have just setup a pfsense router with a unifi POW Gen2 24 port switch and 2x nano HDs. I setup 5 VLANS to segregate traffic (with one VLAN solely for VPN) and this video (along with your other videos on OpenVPN) for reference had me done and dusted in no time. Pfsense and unify is a great combination - inspiration for that also came from this channel.

[@clarionsports]

Hi Daniel. It's good to know. Could you please link up and help me

[@eece95776]

Another great use of FreeRadius on PfSense. Point your Ubiquiti controller at it and you can rock WPA-Enterprise 802.1X authentication. You can even do dynamic VLAN assignment at UBNT AP's and Switch Ports.

[@randleqgod]

Just purchased a netgate sg-3100 for my solution. Can’t wait use your video as a guide!

[@mattskinner5432]

Most excellent explanation of pfsense. I’ve gone the hp t730 thin client route, just awaiting delivery. Many thanks 😊

[@chriseggroll]

i'm about to set up pfsense for the first time, very helpful video. I configured a firewall manually using linux before for my home network but this seems not only simpler but more secure as well - creating iptables rules via the command line is not exactly my forte!

[@AndrewGalan]

I like the practical idea of a network picture in the image area, but I have a Rebel Phoenix. This is an excellent video. Thank you.

[@jacko101]

Amazing! Love the indexed video timeline, I can jump right to the subject I need. Thanks so much Tom.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mannyvelez7571]

I just got the Netgate 4100 because of your videos and came back to this one to configure it and following your video helped so much! Thank you for your time in making this and helping us with these wonderful machines!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Glad I could help!

[@Aloha_XERO]

Tom.... MY CAPS-LOCK IS ON TO YELL YOU, A BIG MAHALO BROTHER 🤙🏽 THANKS FOR ALL THE AWESOME EASY TO DIGEST INFORMATION YOU GIVE TO US MERE MORTALS.... 😀 [caps-lock is now off ]

[@Max-es4xe]

What a good video holy hell. Such a good teacher for multiple levels of knowledge!

[@pstroke2178]

Thanks so much for this, don't think there's another like it on YT.

[@allaboutcomputernetworks]

Best pfsense series I ever seen good work 👍

[@fredneedle123]

I used to use PFSense. It was way beyond my capability. I really like the idea that it has all kinds of packages you can use, like squid server. I was never sure if the squid was working properly or not. I would recommend you take a network course first and then try to figure out PFSense. It's great technology but you need to know a fair bit about networking first in my opinion, unless you just want to use it's defaults.

[@KevinJernigan]

Would love to see you guys do a vlog series on OPNsense, as you did with PFSense. You guys make fantastic videos, that are not only educational, but fun to watch. Keep up the great work!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

We don't use it, so not likely.

[@mibjt3770]

Thank you! Your video helped me resolve my WAN not connecting to my fiber ONT. Had to uncheck the 2 boxes at 18:04

[@danielfisher1515]

This has been SUPER helpful! I just got an Optiplex 9020 sff setup with a 4-port Intel NIC installed with pfsense. Playing around with it, and learning. I'll soon be replacing my ISP provided router device. Thanks!

[@philou961]

I wanted to thank you for all of this great content you have been putting out ! Very appreciated 😉 my freenas and pfsense been rocking for couple years now without any hick up.

[@nickswebtsv]

Great video, helped me get setup on my first PFSense box - HP T620+

[@gorillaau]

I have just done the same with my home network. Those things are awesome!

[@JMDIY]

it's well used. we have used pfsense for our sites (offices), even on our rackspace on a data center.

[@k.c.sunshine1934]

Thanks, Tom! This is a very good tutorial for pfsense setup.

[@scockman]

Awesome job, Tom! Been using pfSense for years. I always learn something new on your pfSense videos. I have that exact Supermicro server you used today for my pfSense firewall and it just works flawlessly. I initially tried ESXi on it and was testing different firewall builds in a virtual environment (pfSense, Sophos UTM, OPNsense) just to see how those work and I always end up going back to pfSense.

[@daniel_2]

Thats great to hear, I always wonder If I should try OPNsense (or Sophos UTM [never tried]) again.

[@user-ym9wb2mk5e]

@@daniel_2 Sophos is losing me as a customer. Their on prem, ans now is EOL for obvious reasons, so I am moving to something different. Crowdstrike is an option also...

[@MrCWoodhouse]

Awesome video. I am waiting for my netgate 1100 to arrive and you have gotten me ready!!

[@CrazyShawnTV]

we also use pfsense and unifi in corporate enviorments and I use both at home as well its a great combo especially for MSPs and home users

[@WebeloZappBrannigan]

Tom Lawrence's pfSense videos are a nice soft pillow between my head and my desk after trying to set something up on my firewall, and failing misserabley... I might still bang my head on my desk but at least it's less often and the impact is softened somewhat.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Now you have me wondering if I can make some pfsense pillow swag. 🤔🤔🤔

[@WebeloZappBrannigan]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Any chance of a "Tom Lawrence reviews the Startech 25u open rack" Newton's Cradle (kzbin.info/www/bejne/enuadKRrh6eWj6c)?

[@michnl1772]

Hi Tom, thanks for this new version of your video installing and setting up PfSense !

[@over-there]

Thanks that worked, I had to watch far to many videos with the virtual kiddies. I am behind a ISP router and running on a separate box for the firewall, and your setup worked fine. Leave the wan on DHCP. And reboot with the machines cables unplugged after configuring the LAN on the firewall. Especially if you have a linux pc it will not drop the old ip, have to reboot. I think there is a command for that too.

[@merlingt1]

Great video. I am running pfsense VM inside Proxmox with zero issues on a Dell R710. It works great as long as you pass-through the network PCI device (Broadcom). I have also tested it successfully as a VM in an R720 with an Intel network device. It saves me $64/year versus running my old standalone Optiplex pfsense machine :)

[@markdandridge3420]

im trying to run a vm on a r720. I have a static ip and cant get it to connect to the internet. any advice?

[@mackenzii709]

PFSENSE WORKS GREAT VIRTUALIZED WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT. JK it took me about 2 days to actually get it configured and going in ESXI. Great tutorial subscribed.

[@mrcrackerist]

For a VM pfsense box passing a NIC to the VM is the best in my opinion :)

[@ImARichard]

52:04 "we don't want the guests 69ing" 😂 Im still a damn child at heart. Definitely a great tutorial to watch.

[@tgm9991]

I don't know sounds like he's spoiling quite the party to me.

[@LucaSantarella1]

Was just about to comment the same! 😂

[@kozygeorg]

69 likes.... ahem XD

[@sirius4k]

I have to say it depends on the guests.

[@madscientist032]

Been looking forward to this for a while!! Thanks Tom.

[@thejerseyshaun]

Really good tutorial. Thanks to your time and effort I understand what I am doing. :) Priceless.

[@everything_virt5451]

I know that this is an older video but I've watched a ton of your vids and have learned a ton! I'm currently setting up my home lab on a Z800 with ESXi and a virtualized psfense instance. You've helped in the proper setup of pfsense and I thank you! Sub'd

[@christianojockey1630]

Thank you for this awesome Firewall Administration video (pfSense). How do I add this great experience to my CV as part of my projects?

[@parnashish1910]

Thanks for the video, and all the links to different parts of the video. Your perspective and insights you give also are really appreciated.

[@midzo9677]

You are god ! Thank you ! I will pass my school thanks to you !

[@kennethjakobsen7295]

If people are confused, if pfSense are really opensource, its properly the trademark warning in the install.

[@djspecialpaul]

A great video - i use pfsense along long time - at home and at the my mother's practice (internist/cardiologist) and it works very well - even the medical technician who set up the practice system was impressed with this software/router, especially that it is "open"^^ And yes the device is 1000x safer than this weird DGN boxing - the cool thing is. The technician has switched the entire Ameos clinic to pfsense after div test :)

[@adancalderon8915]

I recently had a WISP require PPPoE here in south texas, pfSense worked fine. I usually unblock RFC1918 IPs on the WAN for Spectrum Modems since sometimes you need to access the modem via its private IP (ie 192.168.100.1:8080) ; even if the modem is in bridge mode and providing a public ip address to pfsense's WAN interface.

[@Kolohekat]

Thanks Tom Set up a New one. Last time was 2018 when I watched that Video

[@danpaxson2450]

Tom, thanks for this video and all the other videos you've done on pfsense. They have been a huge help.

[@bruno-vicious]

I worked on MULTIPLE federal government contracts. I can tell you for a FACT that government uses pfSense. Those keyboard warriors with their caps lock on don't have a clue what they are talking about.

[@izigswe]

Im at the local goverment and we are using pfsense and opensense in some offices, besides our main check point

[@__-cs3lc]

Asian here, have worked on pfsense on multiple small to medium scale businesses. It is gaining popularity on that side of the sector.

[@tonyhanners1031]

miss you guys, let's see all do some new stuff, with cat 7 and 8 and setting up 2.5gb and 10gb networks

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Cat6 can do 10GB at 30M and Cat6A can do 10GB at 100M so no need for Cat7 ot Cat8 for most projects.

[@FoX84tac022]

@27:35 Not if you disable USB ports in bios, put an admin pass on the bios, and if really necessary, lock the case. I know this is a bit over the top for home users but small businesses should know.

[@ClemMorton]

Its June 2, 2021 - With more and more ISP's switching to CGNAT without the use of VPN's and other relay servers, the only way I have found to get direct inbound connections into my network is via IPV6. So we are going to be seeing a lot more dual stack setups. Can you please do a series on IPV6 - An in depth dive into IPV6, its setup and usage on pfSense and in your LAN in general. Yes, I find it to be a bit of a paradigm shift - especially for people used to ipv4. I personally find any use of NAT to be a complete headache, and I hate it with a passion. However we all still tend to think in terms of "private" ip addresses and NAT networks. Having some general and good information out there explaining the alternative would go a long way to making it more understood in the industry.

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

Thanks for this video Tom a really great indepth tutorial; for a newbie like me to the system. Ive just set one up on an old IGEL Workspace IGEL-H820C with an internal 2 port network card and its golden.

[@rqs.beratung-conseil]

Dear Tom, thank you for your video and the detailed explanations. Your contents help with the practical solutions.

[@mikeoreilly4020]

I've watched a ton of your videos and your thorough knowledge of your subjects is outstanding, not to mention your obvious brilliance is awe inspiring. Hope your "smart" genes passed on to your children.

[@jonathangarcia4959]

I have set up and replaced pfsense for corporate. Pfsense is GREAT

[@williamshenk7940]

excellent tutorial, I am going to use to make my change to a netgate device

[@m.m.m.c.a.k.e]

Nice work bro! Thank ya’ll for the hard work and dedication! We appreciate it Pros (+) cons (-) list, hardware appliance v DIY? - Obvious reason to purchase; standardized, expected performance… - diy: customizable, repurpose existing HW, edu… How much performance is overkill for 1-2 gigabit home office, gaming, 6 users? $799 Netgate 6100 specs don’t seem overly impressive,,,, or is it? rogue ap sensing ability?

[@nitt3rz]

This is a very informative video, thanks. Probably a silly question, would you connect a WAP to the router or to the switch?

[@bazurk_dot_com]

Great content and excellent screen presence. I can see why this youtube chan has grown. I have 1 gig internet and running a RT-AX88U along with pi-hole on a raspberry pi. I'd love to add pfsense to my network. What hardware would you recommend for entry level 1 gig internet?

[@chrisumali9841]

Thanks for the demo and walk through, have a great day

[@eirikbirkeland9995]

That is a really nice build you've got sitting there.

[@babakbanijamali5130]

Thank you Tom, this felt like a good refresher course for pfsense of best practices.

[@evodefense]

Thank you so much for this amazing tutorial!

[@Eotsemobor]

Thanks a million for this video, got me started and confident.

[@ramonmartins356]

thanks for the video! i'm learning about pfsense and practicing english. pretty sure it helped me a lot. Thanks bro.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

With English and pfsense? :)

[@curtispavlovec]

Tom have you updated this for late 2022? pfSense running on 2.6.0 and some things in the webUI are different etc from this tutorial. Most is still relevant of course and I thank you for the basic setup and walkthrough. I'm somewhat experienced in pfSense but not an expert by any means and appreciate all your videos and tutorials. Thank you.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

A new version will be out soon and I will be making a new video then.

[@lukasc4534]

used pfsense on testout and didnt even know it was a firewall and now im currently installing it on my proxmox pve server

[@SudoTechSolutions]

Thank you. Your videos are very informative and useful.

[@thomascasey8171]

In my opinion there are 3 options pfsense or OpenBSD,. If your need is for extreme security and know the command line then OpenBSD is great. Pfsense is awesome though. Warning on the SG1100, you can get defective one but Netgate will RMA without much hassle. OPNsense & OpenBSD can be used on lower end hardware so that is handy.

[@chickenNoodleSuper]

You could also just use ipconfig /release and then /renew to update the IP address

[@CayoBuay]

Very awesome tutorial Tom. Thank you so much for doing these videos. Question, where is the list of parts you used in this build?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

They were all parts so old they are probably not sold anymore.

[@CayoBuay]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS any suggestions for a new build/

[@HijmenSchilperoort]

Hi Tom, great video again! You were mentioning that you use security onion as the syslog server. Can you do a video on that as well?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I might at some point, it's a very complex topic

[@rabahkhiari8621]

i see a lot of video and that was the usefull one i can get from youtub so thank you

[@McCuneWindandSolar]

wish I would have seen that case before I bought the case I'm using now with the pot's in front and not the back. but what I do have dose work for now. I just run all the ports to a patch panel upfront.

[@marcusone1]

Would love if you did a simple guide on bandwidth limiting by IP or vLAN setup on pfSense. Thanks!