Ubiquiti Enterprise Fortress Gateway (EFG) vs Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro Max: Specs & Price Comparison

Ubiquiti Enterprise Fortress Gateway (EFG)

★ 4.9 Value Score

Firewall Throughput: 23.5 Gbps (routing, iPerf3, DHCP WAN)
Threat Prevention Throughput: 12.5 Gbps (IDS/IPS)
IPsec VPN Throughput: 580 Mbps (site-to-site, single tunnel)
Max Sessions: 1,000,000 concurrent
New Sessions/sec: 71,000 (listed under general capacity; not specific to VPN or IPsec)
Interfaces: 2x 2.5GbE RJ45, 2x 25G SFP28, 2x 10G SFP+ (some listings show 2x RJ45 + 4x SFP28; verify against the Ubiquiti datasheet)
Form Factor: 1U rack-mount, dual hot-swappable PSUs
SSL/TLS Inspection Concurrent Sessions: 10,000 (5,000 recommended under heavy traffic)
CPU / Memory: 18-core ARM v8.2 @ 2 GHz, 16 GB DDR4
UniFi Capacity: 500+ UniFi devices, 5,000+ clients

✔ Pros: 25G SFP28 and 10G SFP+ uplinks at a gateway price point; 23.5 Gbps routing throughput; 1 million concurrent sessions; 18-core ARM CPU with 16 GB RAM; hot-swappable redundant PSUs; supports 500+ UniFi devices and 5,000+ clients; manages through UniFi Network controller with a single pane of glass
✘ Cons: IPsec VPN throughput of 580 Mbps is low for a gateway at this price; IDS/IPS throughput of 12.5 Gbps halves routing performance when threat inspection is enabled; SSL/TLS inspection is limited to about 10,000 concurrent sessions; port configuration differs across listings and should be verified; frequently out of stock at major US retailers, with a $170 memory surcharge at some resellers; no built-in Wi-Fi, so it depends on separate UniFi APs and switches; reviewers cite a steeper learning curve than consumer-grade routers
Est. Price: $1,999 - $2,892

Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro Max

★ 4.1 Value Score

Firewall Throughput: 9.8 Gbps measured (basic firewall, iPerf3); Ubiquiti markets about 10 Gbps
Threat Prevention Throughput: 5.0 Gbps IDS/IPS (Ubiquiti spec); 4.2 Gbps with all threat categories enabled (third-party review)
IPsec VPN Throughput: 1.8-2.2 Gbps site-to-site (third-party review); WireGuard 2.5+ Gbps; L2TP 800-1,200 Mbps
Max Sessions: Not published by Ubiquiti
New Sessions/sec: Not published by Ubiquiti
Interfaces: 2x 10G SFP+, 1x 2.5GbE RJ45, 8x 1GbE RJ45 (up to 8 WAN ports; default WAN is 1x SFP+ and 1x 2.5GbE); MAC address table 4,000 entries
Form Factor: 1U rackmount, 442.4 x 43.7 x 285.6 mm, 4.7 kg
Processor: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 @ 2.0 GHz
Memory: 8 GB DDR4
Onboard Storage: 32 GB eMMC, 128 GB SSD, 2x 3.5in NVR HDD bays (HDDs not included)
PoE Output: None
Max Power Consumption: 60 W (100-240V AC input)
Client/Device Capacity: 200+ UniFi devices, 2,000+ clients (Ubiquiti)

✔ Pros: 5.0 Gbps IDS/IPS throughput at this price point; Two 3.5in HDD bays with RAID 1 for surveillance storage and hot-swap support; Acts as gateway, NVR, and UniFi controller in one 1U unit; Scales to 200+ devices and 2,000+ clients; Shadow Mode (VRRP) gateway failover available with a second unit; Near-silent at idle with a 1.3in touchscreen
✘ Cons: Fan noise rises noticeably under sustained 5 Gbps IDS/IPS load; Built-in 1G LAN ports bottleneck WiFi 7 APs, so a separate 2.5G/10G switch is usually needed; No PoE output, so PoE devices need a separate switch or injector; HDDs cost extra (about $140-280); PPPoE throughput with IDS/IPS may be lower because the Cortex-A57 has no PPPoE offload; Shadow Mode requires a second identical unit, which doubles gateway cost; CyberSecure subscription adds $99/year; Max sessions and new sessions/sec are not published
Est. Price: $599 - $646

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