{"id":1656,"date":"2020-06-03T19:53:07","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T19:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.it-react.com\/?p=1656"},"modified":"2021-09-13T22:02:21","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T22:02:21","slug":"convert-an-old-laptop-single-nic-into-an-opnsense-firewall-router","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.it-react.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/03\/convert-an-old-laptop-single-nic-into-an-opnsense-firewall-router\/","title":{"rendered":"Convert an old laptop single NIC into an OPNsense Firewall\/Router"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In today’s post, I would like to show you the process of transforming a single NIC old laptop into an OPNsense firewall\/router. I wanted for some time to install pfSense in my home network, but I didn’t want to buy an expensive already made firewall device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After spending a few days looking for a solution, I found at some point that Dell PowerEdge R210 II is quite used as hardware for pfSense\/OPNsense. I had the intention to buy one from Ebay, though they are also not so cheap. Then I changed my mind when thinking that the noise coming from the fans could be disturbing and the power consumption could also be a bit to high. Then I searched for a few more days and finally I decided that will be more challenging to go as cheap as possible with this project. Though I haven’t had any idea about the hardware that I was going to use.

Suddenly, I remembered that I am having an old laptop that was lying in a corner and I said that this would be the perfect candidate for my new future firewall\/router. I wanted to integrate the firewall in my home lab rack, so I’ve started to tear all the components apart until only the base components remained – motherboard, ram, cpu, hdd. Here is a picture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n


I am planing to integrate these components in a rack metal case, but a rack miniITX case is expensive and I don’t know if will properly fit. Cause I decided to maintain the price as low as possible, I looked for other possibilities and found on Ebay and achieved a switch that was sell with only 10\u20ac transport included. I’ll try to use its metal case and to integrate my components in it. I hope it will work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the moment, my firewall is completely naked and all the components are lying on my desk. I didn’t have the patience to wait until the switch is coming to take its metal case, so I proceeded with the software installation. I’ve started with pfSense installation, but because of some problems with the firewire port on my laptop’s motherboard, which couldn’t be disabled, the installation of the pfSense failed.

After many unsuccessful attempts to access the Advanced Bios of the motherboard and to disable the Firewire port, I gave up on pfSense and decided to give it a try to OPNsense. Both of them are having the same origins, but it seems pfSense is more popular. Though there are many people that prefer OPNsense to pfSense and I also find its interface more clean and intuitive. The installation of OPNsense went very smooth, without any errors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Requirements<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In regard to OPNsense requirements, you can find here<\/a> more information.
My hardware’s laptop is:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P7550 @ 2.26GHz (2 cores)
Memory: 4GB
HDD: 500GB<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cause we are having a single NIC device, we also need a managed switch that supports 802.1Q VLAN. Luckily, I already have a 24 ports managed switch, so I’ll use 2 ports for setting up the firewall.
Here is the model I’m using – TP-Link T2600G-28TS<\/a>, but you can also find cheaper models with fewer ports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Network D<\/strong>iagram<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The design of the new network with the OPNsense Firewall and the managed switch will look like in the below diagram:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n