Buying a Sophos XG105 or DIY for Sophos XG Home (or UTM)???

Question

Hi, 
 
 I can buy a used Sophos XG105w (rev2) for around $200. Is this a good value for money? 
 
 Or is it better to buy a DIY with better specs? 
 
 I want to use it for Sophos XG Home or UTM Home. 
 
 Any help is appreciated!

lferrara · Accepted Answer

MKR74 , 
 for home my advice is always to choose a custom pc because after few years you need more resources on pc you can save some parts, case for example, PSU while on XG, you cannot save nothing at the end. 
 Regards

rfcat_vk · Answer

Hi, 
 your system for home use has the following limits 
 1/. 6gb ram 
 2/. 4 CPUs 
 
 The XG105w will have external interface limitations so check the specifications because you haven't said what your internet connection is. 
 The XG105W at the price you are quoting is excellent value because you would not even get an Sophos AP for that amount. These devices are not expandable. 
 I found specifications for an SG105w, a dual core atom 1.6ghz and 2 gb of ram. Looking at my ram usage on a simple XG with 6 rules it uses about 3gb, so you could be in trouble as far as performance goes. My CPU usage is about 4 to 6% so CPU wise you would be okay. 
 Ian

rfcat_vk · Answer

Hi, 
 I don't believe you can upgrade them, but that might be a hangover from the business boys wanting to upgrade their commercial licenced machines. 
 Ian

rfcat_vk · Answer

Hi Greg, 
 in that case go for it. I can't see why the onboard wifi isn't supported in the home licence, same software, just different licence which has AP support.?

JanSadlik · Answer

Hi, 
 See the XG105 performance parameters in this document. 
 
 If you enable full protection then your internet connection will slow down to about 30-40 Mbps. If you disable all security features then only the firewall with full link speed will remain, but why spend 200USD for XG105? Your connection needs more powerful hardware. 
 Regarsd Jan

Aditya Patel · Answer

Hi MKR74 , 
 For home, you may create your own system.Personally, I would use a used old desktop with 4GB RAM and install UTM or SFOS. See what suits you best. XG/UTM home is designed for the home users only and not an organization hence the license is absolutely free. If you purchase the XG or UTM, you may use in your home and office uses and may need to purchase the license. 
 So depending on your requirement you may configure your configuration and may check or test via VM .

Aditya Patel · Answer

Hi MKR743, 
 It's true that performance of the processor would vary, the real question is what is your requirement, how many users, which features you will be using, what is the bandwidth and no of simultaneous systems.

Murphdog · Answer

Build your own, I built a fanless 4 port one of these under $200.00 that passes my Gigabit internet with no issues. 
 
 This is the one I bought last year : 
 
 $117.00+ shipping https://smile.amazon.com/Barebone-Qotom-Q190G4N-S07-Celeron-Processor-firewall/dp/B01N645UJB/ref=pd_sbs_147_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01N645UJB&pd_rd_r=EMNK4158BB6NQ7YM3E0P&pd_rd_w=DQahc&pd_rd_wg=cwt8Z&psc=1&refRID=EMNK4158BB6NQ7YM3E0P 
 Newer model: 
 Qotom Q190G4 Intel Celeron Processor 3215U Dual Core Processor Barebone Mini PC 
 $135.00 + shipping https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B019Z8T9J0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 
 
 Spec 
 
 Intel Celeron Processor 3215U Dual core (2M Cache, 1.70 GHz, Broadwell) 
 Barebone(NO RAM,NO SSD,NO WIFI) 
 4 Intel RJ45 Lan+2 USB 2.0+2 USB 3.0+HD Video+COM Port 
 It support Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10 / Linux OS/Pfsense. We pre-install Unactivated Windows 7 for testing and we do not provide any Windows license. 
 This pfSense appliance can be configured as a firewall, LAN or WAN router, VPN appliance, DHCP Server, DNS Server, and IDS/IPS with optional packages to deliver a high performance, high throughput front-line security 
 
 They have a bunch of other models. It did ship from China but it was here in three days. Here is the processor difference: 
 http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Celeron-J1900-vs-Intel-Celeron-3215U 
 
 With everything on processor usage is low and RAM is around 45% (3 GB of 6GB).