IPFire

Reader supplied reviews for IPFire Average rating 9.2 from 12 review(s) Please specify which version of the distribtion you are reviewing. Please selecting a rating in the range of 1-10. Please write at least a few sentences about the distribution while limiting your review to 4080 characters. What are your thoughts on IPFire? Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system. Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review. Version: -- 2.29-core1872.27-core1762.25-core1582.23-core1392.21-core1302.19-core1202.17-core992.15-core862.13-core762.11-core652.9-core52 Rating:    -- 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 out of 10 Your review (minimum 250 words): Past reviews - sort by: DateVotes Version: 2.29-core187 Rating: 10 Date: 2024-08-10 Votes: 9 IPFire: A Community-Driven Firewall OS with a Bright Future. IPFire is a standout in the realm of open-source firewall operating systems. It’s a community-driven project that truly prioritises its users, distinguishing it from competitors that might lean more towards corporate interests. Strengths: One of IPFire’s most compelling features is its commitment to security. The OS is hardened from the ground up, with a well-configured Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) powered by Suricata, offering a broad selection of rulesets. The geo-location blocking feature, libloc, provides accurate geo-blocking or allow-listing, which adds an extra layer of security. Additionally, IPFire’s update schedule is impressive, with packages being updated roughly every month or even sooner if a critical vulnerability is discovered. The inclusion of CAKE QoS ensures smooth connections, even under heavy network load. Another strength is the wealth of community-driven documentation, which is a treasure trove of tips and advice. This, along with an active forum, makes IPFire accessible not only to advanced users but also to those just beginning to explore networking. Areas for Improvement: That said, IPFire does have a few areas where it could improve. The Web User Interface (WUI), while reliable, is a bit dated and could benefit from a refresh. Modern networking features like Full-Stack IPv6 Support, WireGuard, and more advanced VLAN functionality are currently missing, though these are on the roadmap for a future major release. Soon™. The Future: Looking ahead, I believe IPFire has the potential to become the go-to firewall OS for home-lab enthusiasts within the next 5 years. Even now, it’s a strong contender for both home and business use, thanks to its robust security features and the dedication of its community. Conclusion: In summary, while there are areas where IPFire could improve, its strong focus on community, coupled with a solid feature set, makes it a strong contender in the firewall OS space. As it continues to evolve, I’m confident it will meet and exceed the needs of its users. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 2.29-core186 Rating: 10 Date: 2024-08-09 Votes: 1 I've been using IPFire for over 10 years, both at home and in the workplace. Many years ago I used pfSense for awhile and while it was excellent, it was much less intuitive. Getting the most out of it required a lot of effort if you weren't familiar with FreeBSD. IPFire can do most of the things that pfSense does, but in a more intuitive way. It has features such as proactive blocking of hostile networks with zero configuration needed; an intrusion prevention system that blocks malicious traffic by rules (some built in, some that require payment due to their high quality) on both the WAN and the LAN; other user configurable blocklists; blocking inbound traffic by country; a very effective Quality of Service module to help high density networks feel more responsive. There are more features which make this not just a quality router, but an effective firewall. It can be installed on most any system that has at least two network adapters (one for WAN, one for LAN) and is easy to do. Beef up your security at home, or integrate it into a SMB. It is light on resources too and can be installed on most firewall appliances such as those sold by Protectli. The community forums are super helpful and often the features can be extended with a little command line knowledge. Forum users are very helpful in this way. Lastly, they have a regular blog that talks about new features and upcoming features. IPFire gets updated quite frequently, on average 8-10 updates per year. They provide an easy and intuitive backup and restore process so that on the offchance something goes wrong, simply reinstall the OS and restore your backup and you're back up and running. If you want to try ditching your home router and rolling your own better one, this is a great option. And like I said, it is powerful enough to use in a business environment as well. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 2.29-core186 Rating: 10 Date: 2024-08-08 Votes: 1 I've been using IPFire for over 10 years, both at home and in the workplace. Many years ago I used pfSense for awhile and while it was excellent, it was much less intuitive. Getting the most out of it required a lot of effort if you weren't familiar with FreeBSD. IPFire can do most of the things that pfSense does, but in a more intuitive way. It has features such as proactive blocking of hostile networks with zero configuration needed; an intrusion prevention system that blocks malicious traffic by rules (some built in, some that require payment due to their high quality) on both the WAN and the LAN; other user configurable blocklists; blocking inbound traffic by country; a very effective Quality of Service module to help high density networks feel more responsive. There are more features which make this not just a quality router, but an effective firewall. It can be installed on most any system that has at least two network adapters (one for WAN, one for LAN) and is easy to do. Beef up your security at home, or integrate it into a SMB. It is light on resources too and can be installed on most firewall appliances such as those sold by Protectli. The community forums are super helpful and often the features can be extended with a little command line knowledge. Forum users are very helpful in this way. Lastly, they have a regular blog that talks about new features and upcoming features. IPFire gets updated quite frequently, on average 8-10 updates per year. They provide an easy and intuitive backup and restore process so that on the offchance something goes wrong, simply reinstall the OS and restore your backup and you're back up and running. If you want to try ditching your home router and rolling your own better one, this is a great option. And like I said, it is powerful enough to use in a business environment as well. Was this review helpful? Yes No See all 12 reader reviews of IPFire...