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as a built-in feature; Prices vary widely between resellers and configurations, and the 2021 launch price of $699 is outdated; Form factor is inconsistent across listings (desktop versus 1U)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

Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max (UCG-Max)
Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max (UCG-Max)
★ 4.9 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti in the sources reviewed
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 2.3 Gbps IDS/IPS per Ubiquiti spec page (older listings show 1.5 Gbps)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti; third-party reviews report about 800-1,000 Mbps for WireGuard and 300-400 Mbps for OpenVPN
  • Max Sessions: Not published in the sources reviewed
  • New Sessions/sec: Not published in the sources reviewed
  • Interfaces: 1x 2.5GbE RJ45 WAN, 4x GbE RJ45 LAN (one LAN port can be reconfigured as a second WAN for multi-WAN)
  • Form Factor: Compact desktop; UCG-Max-NS variant includes 512GB NVMe storage

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Low entry price at $199 MSRP; Compact desktop form factor; Five-port layout with multi-WAN support via a reconfigurable LAN port; Runs UniFi OS with integrated IDS/IPS, site-to-site and remote VPN options (IPsec, WireGuard, OpenVPN, L2TP); Manages 30+ UniFi devices and 300+ clients per Ubiquiti listing
  • ✘ Cons: Routing and IPS throughput (2.3 Gbps) is modest for multi-gigabit WANs with inspection enabled; Published throughput figures conflict across sources (1.5 vs 2.3 Gbps IPS, varying VPN numbers); Only one 2.5GbE port, with the remaining ports at 1GbE; Vendor does not publish IPsec tunnel, session, or new-connection limits; Some resellers list prices well above MSRP (one US listing at $394.79)
  • Est. Price: $199 - $279

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