pfSense Software Embraces Change: A Strategic Migration to the Linux Kernel

to be honest, with the slow wifi stack of FreeBSD I have long been wondering when one of OPNsense or PFsense would switch to Linux. I hope they know that they also need another name, because PF doesn't really make sense in the Linux world ;-)
 
I've got an el cheapo OPNsense installation serving as my home network router since ages. Personally I couldn't care less about the wifi stack performance of FreeBSD on my little router at all, because I am using a dedicated Wifi access point for that job.

Anybody who remotely cares about having a decent Wifi performance at home will probably come to the same conclusion: letting FreeBSD or any other OS at that point handle the access point stuff should be only a temporary thing for testing or if the AP is broken, but that's it. Dedicated hardware access points are the way to go, because they've got way much better antennas and more antennas as well than most USB/PCIe wifi stuff has.
 
hardworkingnewbie said:
Anybody who remotely cares about having a decent Wifi performance at home will probably come to the same conclusion: letting FreeBSD or any other OS at that point handle the access point stuff should be only a temporary thing for testing or if the AP is broken, but that's it. Dedicated hardware access points are the way to go, because they've got way much better antennas and more antennas as well than most USB/PCIe wifi stuff has.
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Linux and hostapd proved to be a very capable solution for our clients (small businesses with < 30 wifi devices simultaneously)
 
hardworkingnewbie said:
Well... seems like you never exposed your client to a good hardware wifi ap then.
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^This! I also do not see the point. Good quality WiFi access points are cheap, I am using Unifi Mesh access points at about $120 to $250 a piece, For larger areas, the mesh function is great. For a small setup, a single access point will do. By the way, all this is controlled/managed by a great software package that is available in Ports:
net-mgmt/unifi8

I would not run the WiFi for any business, even a small one, on some homebrew Linux solution,
 
richardtoohey2 said:
I wonder what is running on these WiFi access points?
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That is besides the point, as these are highly specialized, embedded systems. Most often some RTOS, which might even contain a Linux kernel (as this is what you were fishing for). Not comparable to some homebrew solution.

In case of Unifi, the intelligence is mostly on the unifi server.
 
The internet says UniFi is just Linux, yes:


I get your point; hopefully a company would do a better job in terms of robustness and security and patching than one individual. But I think we’ve seen plenty of examples where that’s not been the case.

EDIT: The devices are a lot simpler to get an all-in-one solution, plug & play, so yes these APs a good solution. Just that Linux is likely to be there one way or the other.
 
rootbert said:
we do run Unifi for larger customers, however, we try to stay as much in open source land as possible.
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Most PCIe/USB wifi hardware with open source drivers is not really open source anyway, because many do require a black box binary blob in order to run. So in most cases the driver is just a small wrapper in order to communicate with the blob. This is among other points due to be compliant with national regulations regarding the used sending frequencies, and to get the certification many hardware vendors do claim.
 
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