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New Home Build - Help spend my money!

AndrewSerff

I'm trying to find good hardware setup for a new UTM Home build. I've never used Sophos UTM, but want to protect my home network and kids from the evils of the internet! ;) I've read about a 1000 threads with everyone recommending everything from NUCs to Desktops to 1U pizza boxes, but all of these recommendations are 1) old (it's 2016 guys!) and 2) build for different needs. What I would like to find is a general solution that I could just buy and recommend to family members and friends. Here my constraints:

Budget: I'd really like to stay under $300
Home connection: 50MB / 20MB
# Users: 2 adults, 2 kids
# devices: A mix of laptops, iOS devices, gaming consoles, and smart devices. I'd say we have probably have 20 devices online...
typical usage: We have no cable, so we stream everything. lots of netflix, hulu, amazon. Lots of general internet usage. Some online gaming (ps4, xbox, wii u, ios).

I can put the box in my basement, but would still like to consider lower power usage, and quieter operation.

I need web filtering first and foremost. I'd like IPS, VPN, and other features if possible. Everything I'm reading is pushing me towards a 3GHz i3 because of IPS.

I'd also like to not have to do this again (buy new hardware) for years if possible. So hardware with room to grow with both new Sophos capabilities and new technologies (like 4k streaming...much faster internet).

I'd love to just buy a Sophos box, but they seem so expensive and I don't want the subscription fee. I love to find a hardware solution I can just order from amazon, plug it in, and install Sophos UTM Home on it and be done as well, that's not looking very possible though which is bumming me out.

So, I know I'm probably asking for a unicorn...but let me know what is possible! Thanks for all your help!

P.S. as a side note, anything announced at CES right now would be awesome. dual nic NUC with fast processors for cheap?? Let me know if you see anything!



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    Hi Andrew. I just recently upgraded my home system from a small generic (Foxconn) barebones atom D525 system to a Dell T20 server. I scored the T20 during the holiday sales from Dell for $139, but it is still on sale at Dell Business for $179 (Pentium G3220 with 4GB RAM). That still gives you $120 to add a second NIC and a hard drive to meet your budget. It isn't small (more than twice the size of the little Atom box it replaced) but it s VERY quiet and doesn't seem to use much power most of the time (plus it is a Dell with a good warranty and service behind it). With just my wife and teenage son our usage is a lot like yours (many cell phones, laptops, tablets, and streaming services). My CPU utilization doesn't rise above 30% (average is under 10) and I use web filtering and IPS.
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  • 0
    Hi Andrew. I just recently upgraded my home system from a small generic (Foxconn) barebones atom D525 system to a Dell T20 server. I scored the T20 during the holiday sales from Dell for $139, but it is still on sale at Dell Business for $179 (Pentium G3220 with 4GB RAM). That still gives you $120 to add a second NIC and a hard drive to meet your budget. It isn't small (more than twice the size of the little Atom box it replaced) but it s VERY quiet and doesn't seem to use much power most of the time (plus it is a Dell with a good warranty and service behind it). With just my wife and teenage son our usage is a lot like yours (many cell phones, laptops, tablets, and streaming services). My CPU utilization doesn't rise above 30% (average is under 10) and I use web filtering and IPS.
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