Protectli Vault FW4B - 4 Port, Firewall Micro Appliance/Mini PC - Intel Quad Core, AES-NI, 8GB RAM, 120GB mSATA SSD

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 696 ratings

Price: 319

Last update: 08-26-2024


About this item

THE VAULT (FW4B): Secure your network with a compact, fanless & silent firewall. Comes with US-based Support & 30-day money back guarantee!
CPU: Intel Quad Core Celeron J3160, 64 bit, up to 2.2GHz, AES-NI hardware support
PORTS: 4x Intel Gigabit Ethernet ports, 2x USB 3.0, 1x RJ-45 COM, 2x HDMI
COMPONENTS: 8GB DDR3L RAM, 120GB mSATA SSD. coreboot BIOS optional, must be installed by user.
COMPATIBILITY: No OS pre-installed. All hardware tested with pfSense, untangle, OPNsense and other popular open-source software solutions.

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Top reviews from the United States

Ryan H
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Firewall Box
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2024
I instantly fell in love with this thing when I got it and still love it. Works beautifully with pfsense. Supporting blazing fast speeds in my home network plus VPN and content blocking for ads trackers and malware for everyone connected to the WiFi which I’m running out of a separate WAP attached to the OPT1 port. I love the start up and shut down tunes it plays out of the beeper which let me know when the network is back on, it’s not simply a power up jingle, it actually waits until pfsense has finished booting up to play it. I also love how sturdy and heavy it is. Note: this kind of firewall running pfsense is very warm constantly, it needs to be able to dissipate the heat so don’t just cram it in a tight space just because you can, it might overheat.
Mr. Canard
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Solution - Buy Yours Today!
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2023
I was seeking some good hardware to leversage pfsense - woweeee did I find it!

You will love this unit. Runs so well - FAST too. I like the interactive beeps it does during certain points of boot / shutdown (maybe silly to some of you! but it helps me! :)

I am using to front end my home FIOS network. Removed the Verizon router - put this between my ONT and our ASUS Mesh.

I am not a UNIX admin or Network SME, but downloading pfsense with VGA support to my USB key (wrote image with Rufus) was the most complex part of set up - seriously, I am 100% confident my 7th grader niece could do this set up. It is amazingly straight forward. All I can say is both Proteckli and Pfsense are sincerely amazing teams. This solution is a killer deal for ~$300.

Also - one of my more “firewall savvy” friends had me install pfBlockerng - totally totally awesome! THANK YOU PROTECTLI AND PFSENSE FOR BEING AWESOME!
Customer image
Mr. Canard
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Solution - Buy Yours Today!
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2023
I was seeking some good hardware to leversage pfsense - woweeee did I find it!

You will love this unit. Runs so well - FAST too. I like the interactive beeps it does during certain points of boot / shutdown (maybe silly to some of you! but it helps me! :)

I am using to front end my home FIOS network. Removed the Verizon router - put this between my ONT and our ASUS Mesh.

I am not a UNIX admin or Network SME, but downloading pfsense with VGA support to my USB key (wrote image with Rufus) was the most complex part of set up - seriously, I am 100% confident my 7th grader niece could do this set up. It is amazingly straight forward. All I can say is both Proteckli and Pfsense are sincerely amazing teams. This solution is a killer deal for ~$300.

Also - one of my more “firewall savvy” friends had me install pfBlockerng - totally totally awesome! THANK YOU PROTECTLI AND PFSENSE FOR BEING AWESOME!
Images in this review
Customer image
Chris Hubbard
5.0 out of 5 stars Really great micro-PC!
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2023
I did intend for this to be a replacement router, but after receiving this product and playing around with it, I realized there are actually tons of other uses for a box like this. I bought the FW4B with 8GB RAM and 128GB HD. This is a complete PC with support for 2 monitors. I went ahead and installed IPFire on this one, and everything went perfectly. I have not experienced any heat issues with this unit and it's fast. Fans are one of the first things to start going out. Since this unit has no fans, it's not only quieter, but should last longer than other hardware with fans. I will likely be buying more of these later.
IPC P.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great as a firewall for PFsense
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2023
I have bought many of these for Pfsense firewall projects in the past. These firewalls do not disappoint. These a great and drive packets home to their destinations quickly and efficiently. I recommend this over any closed source firewall or any consumer grade junk out there. Great base for a wired LAN and wLAN project!! I will continue to buy these for any future project that comes up!
Alphie
4.0 out of 5 stars Bought for firewall/router
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2023
I bought this to segment my network between work lab and family network. It works great, but I wish I would've notice that this product is the older model. Spend the extra $20 bucks and get the 4C and not this older 4B model. The new model has a faster processor and 2.5Gb ports. Regret buying the older model, but this has so far been serving my needs well as firewall/router running Opnsense.
Scott Gallaher
5.0 out of 5 stars get it and load pfsense
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2024
great product watch networkchuck to configure.
Hunter
5.0 out of 5 stars Neat little firewall appliance
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2020
I purchased the device to install PFsense on it for my home network. My expectations were low on the installation and setup however I was way off. I simply stuck the PFsense USB in and powered on the little guy and it took right off and PFsense was installed in less than 5 minutes, no issues. The GUI was super slow and unresponsive right after the install but after an hour or so it caught up and hasn't been slow since. I really like this device for what I have going on and I would recommend it. The one concern about it would be how hot it runs. it's running in the 120 degrees (F) range but other than that, I'm really impressed! I'm even thinking about getting another one to create a solid VPN tunnel.
Konrad Roeder (WA4OSH)
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Micro Appliance for PFSense Firewall Software
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2022
I'm using the Protectli Vault FW4B 8GB RAM, 120GB mSATA SSD as a firewall appliance for my extensive home network. It has enough 'horsepower' to handle several people in the household watching video, a total of 35 clients on my gigabit network, a VoIP phone system, an at-home business and inbound and outbound VPN service. I bought model with the larger RAM and SSD drive for plenty of buffering and network storage space. The PFSense community edition software is free and easy to download and write into the firewall appliance. Using a keyboard and display, the basic bring-up is easy. Once the basic firewall is active, the more advanced features of the PFSense firewall sofware can be overwhelming at first for an intermediate IT professional. I use the firewall software to VPN through my Internet provider as well as offering remote access VPN sever to my network and file share. In my setup, the firewall appliance sits between my cable modem and a managed switch and my WiFi router (which has been re-configured to be an access point). The firewall appliance serves as a router with DHCP complete with VLANs for segregating traffic. The Protectli FW4B will definitely work for a large household and a small business.

In the picture, you will see the Protectli vault FW4B on an open-wire shelf in my IT closet.

I found NetworkChuck's YouTube video entitled "your home router SUCKS!! (use pfSense instead)" to be a good introduction that covers about 25% of this firewall's capabilities. I also found Lawrence Systems' YouTube video "2020 Getting started with pfsense 2.4 Tutorial: Network Setup, VLANs, Features & Packages" to be useful material.

I hope this firewall appliance serves you well.
Customer image
Konrad Roeder (WA4OSH)
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Micro Appliance for PFSense Firewall Software
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2022
I'm using the Protectli Vault FW4B 8GB RAM, 120GB mSATA SSD as a firewall appliance for my extensive home network. It has enough 'horsepower' to handle several people in the household watching video, a total of 35 clients on my gigabit network, a VoIP phone system, an at-home business and inbound and outbound VPN service. I bought model with the larger RAM and SSD drive for plenty of buffering and network storage space. The PFSense community edition software is free and easy to download and write into the firewall appliance. Using a keyboard and display, the basic bring-up is easy. Once the basic firewall is active, the more advanced features of the PFSense firewall sofware can be overwhelming at first for an intermediate IT professional. I use the firewall software to VPN through my Internet provider as well as offering remote access VPN sever to my network and file share. In my setup, the firewall appliance sits between my cable modem and a managed switch and my WiFi router (which has been re-configured to be an access point). The firewall appliance serves as a router with DHCP complete with VLANs for segregating traffic. The Protectli FW4B will definitely work for a large household and a small business.

In the picture, you will see the Protectli vault FW4B on an open-wire shelf in my IT closet.

I found NetworkChuck's YouTube video entitled "your home router SUCKS!! (use pfSense instead)" to be a good introduction that covers about 25% of this firewall's capabilities. I also found Lawrence Systems' YouTube video "2020 Getting started with pfsense 2.4 Tutorial: Network Setup, VLANs, Features & Packages" to be useful material.

I hope this firewall appliance serves you well.
Images in this review
Customer image

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