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Firewalla Gold Pro review | TechRadar

Harry November 6, 2024

Firewalla’s new Gold Pro best firewalls money can buy. It is much more advanced than previous generation firewalls and provides twice the processing power and memory.

Features

Processor: Intel Quad Core N97 at 3.4GHz

data store: 8GB DDR4 3200MHz

FLASH: 32GB eMMC

view: 1 HDMI

Ethernet connection: Two 2.5GbE, two 10GbE

Public link: Two USB3.1, one Type-C console

Power Consumption: Approx. 35W

Dimension: 218mm x 165mm x 44mm

Weight: 1.1kg

Connectivity has also been increased, switching to quad copper Ethernet, two of which support up to 10Gb. The unit consumes over 35W of power with all ports connected, while the cooling fan makes it less reliable in the long run.

Hardware is actually half of this user-friendly story firewall. The software is as polished as you could want, and in most cases requires only two steps to enable a feature. Firewalla is keen to add new ideas to each software release with the latest features like Wi-Fi testing. Gold Pro has become more than just a firewall; aspect routerIt greatly demystifies network setup and fine-tuning.

The Gold Pro is available in only one model: a model based on the N97 Intel CPU with 8GB RAM and 32GB flash memory. The price is very high, just under $1000 (currently $899 for a limited time), looking at hardware only. Firewalla offers cheaper models, from the lowly ARM-based Purple SE to the J4125-based Gold Plus. All products have a one-year limited warranty and unlimited software updates.

Firewalla Gold Pro: Design

Gold Pro ships in a brown box with a 40W AC adapter and user manual. The white and yellow metal enclosure measures 218mm x 165mm x 44mm and weighs 1.1Kg, almost twice the size of the previous flagship device. Four rubber feet prevent the Gold Pro from moving when too much force is applied to the Ethernet cables. The unit has air vents and four mounting holes on both sides, while the back has a socket for power. The unit does get warm after a while, but the small internal fan does not make any noticeable noise.

The front panel has four RJ45 sockets, two USB 3.0 Type-A, one USB Type-C connector for the serial console and one HDMI socket. Two recessed buttons on the right allow users to reset and enter recovery mode or reboot. The front LEDs are for RJ45 and indicate link speed and activity. The status LED on the right turns on during the boot process and remains off during normal operation. The USB key shipped with the unit acts as a security and Bluetooth dongle and should be inserted at all times.

Firewalla offers the Intel N97 quad-core x86 processor to do all the heavy lifting. This is the only processor onboard and all network traffic goes through it. The motherboard includes two 2.5Gb and two 10Gb Ethernet MACs from Intel to connect the CPU to the network. Application memories consist of single-channel 8 GB RAM in SO-DIMM format, expandable to 16 GB, and 32 GB flash as eMMC chip.

The power consumption of the Gold Pro ranges from 17W to 33W, slightly higher than the Gold Plus. The fan turns on when the CPU is running at maximum power and remains completely silent, making it great as a desktop unit in an office environment. Since the unit is entirely RJ45 based, upgrading to fiber is impossible without an SFP media converter. This somewhat limits the use of the firewall in a home environment; While the software supports PPPoE, most residential Internet is fiber-to-the-home and therefore cannot be connected directly.

Firewalla Gold Pro: In Use

Gold Pro turns on when power is applied to the box. The Linux boot process takes less than a minute, and the right LED lights up to indicate progress. Software installation requires scanning the QR code on the bottom of the case into the Firewalla mobile app. An Internet connection on the WAN dedicated port is required to complete the installation. The internet port reaches speeds of up to 10 Gbps, protecting Gold Pro from wear and tear.

Gold Pro can operate as a standalone firewall or as a router behind a firewall. In router mode, the unit can optionally assign IPs while examining incoming and outgoing traffic for threats. VLANs have been added for extra security, allowing different networks to reside on the same physical connection. Applications such as VLANs take full advantage of the CPU upgrade, with the N97 delivering over 100% performance gains over the previous CPU generation.

Firewalla’s mobile app is polished and avoids intimidating the user with too much technical detail. The first panel shows the firewall’s health status and alerts about potential threats. The mobile app contains features that can be enabled, such as a Wi-Fi tester, VPN clients and servers, or Adblocker. In addition to the threat list, the add-on list is also updated periodically.

Although not recommended, Gold Pro’s software can be customized by the end user via Docker containers. Commercial applications such as unRaid for NAS or home automation can be installed remotely via SSH.

Firewalla Gold Pro: Competition

A good firewall requires constant updates from a service provider. Firewalla’s offerings are much more than just good firewalls with regular updates. These are essentially network devices with features such as: VPN And ad blocker. These features have more points of failure and potential vulnerabilities, placing greater responsibility on manufacturers for testing and prevention.

Many OEM computers with two or more 2.5GbE connections require an operating system like pfSense to run. They are usually competitively priced since you only pay for the hardware but a steep learning curve is needed to create a working system. While the threat database is generally tied to the open source community, a mobile app is also not available; This does not apply to Firewalla Gold Pro.

Firewalla Gold Pro: Final verdict

The Firewalla Gold Pro performs twice as well as its predecessor in terms of processing power, while 10G connectivity is beyond what most people have at home. The ecosystem that includes the app, cloud and threat update services, and technical support sets it apart from its competitors. The mobile app is one of the best available and will make setting up the unit very easy. Services like VPN and Adblocker make life easier at home or in the office.

The just under $1,000 price tag means the unit falls well beyond the price most people are willing to pay for a prosumer firewall. With four Ethernet LAN ports, the hardware can route packets over four high-speed links of 2.5Gb and above. Finally, the system can be customized by the user, thanks to Firewalla’s willingness to open access to the underlying Linux system via SSH.

Buy Gold Pro if: … You need 10G speed and a smooth mobile application.

do not buy if … if you are on a budget or saving power is important.

We also listed the best Linux firewalls

Harry

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