PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Netgate 6100
Netgate 6100
★ 3.5 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: 9.93 Gbps (10k ACLs, Netgate shop figure); 10.1 Gbps (Netgate blog, pfSense Plus iPerf3)
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: Not published by Netgate in sources reviewed
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: 1.77 Gbps (AES-GCM-128 with QAT, Netgate shop figure); 2.1 Gbps (Netgate blog, AES-GCM)
  • Max Sessions: Not published in sources reviewed
  • New Sessions/sec: Not published in sources reviewed
  • Interfaces: 2 x 10GbE SFP+ WAN; 2 x 1GbE RJ45/SFP combo WAN; 4 x 2.5GbE RJ45 LAN (Intel i225); per reseller listings, LAN ports are unswitched
  • Form Factor: Desktop unit with optional wall or rack mount kit (per most listings); one NetBox Labs listing says 1U half-depth
  • Routing Throughput (L3): 18.50 Gbps (Netgate shop figure); 18.7 Gbps (Netgate blog)
  • CPU: Intel Atom C3558 quad-core, 2.2 GHz; passive cooling
  • Memory / Storage: 8 GB DDR4; 128 GB NVMe (MAX) or 16 GB (BASE)

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Strong routing throughput for its class, about 18.5 to 18.7 Gbps L3; 10GbE SFP+ uplinks plus 2.5GbE LAN ports suit small business and home-lab backbones; Runs pfSense Plus with a mature feature set, and Netgate offers TAC support with licensing; Passive cooling gives quiet operation; Rack mount kit available for the BASE configuration; BASE listing states unlimited IPsec tunnels (licensing statement, not capacity)
  • ✘ Cons: Netgate does not publish session capacity or new sessions per second in the sources reviewed, so sizing for busy networks is difficult; IPsec throughput of roughly 1.8 to 2.1 Gbps with AES-GCM is modest for a 10GbE-class device; Atom C3558 CPU limits performance under mixed IMIX traffic and inspection-heavy loads; Threat prevention throughput is not published, and pfSense Plus does not ship IDS/IPS as a built-in feature; Prices vary widely between resellers and configurations, and the 2021 launch price of $699 is outdated; Form factor is inconsistent across listings (desktop versus 1U)
  • Est. Price: $949 - $1,300

Compare Against

Choose another firewall to compare.

Popular Comparisons

Netgate 6100 vs Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Fiber Netgate 6100 vs Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro Max Netgate 6100 vs Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Max Netgate 6100 vs Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max (UCG-Max) Netgate 6100 vs Ubiquiti Enterprise Fortress Gateway (EFG)