Must be something in the tap-water here, but I've been inspired to do a pfSense build too.
I've gone for one of these
Qotom boxes, adding my own 4GB RAM and a 64GB mSATA board.
I currently have my Apple AirPort 802.11ac router performing gateway and PPPoE duties, with a home server (an HP MicroServer N40L) running DHCP and DNS (as well as a ton of other stuff).
I'm planning to shift all my 'infrastructure' services onto the pfSense box. I'll also be able to simplify my cabling somewhat. At the very least, with the pfSense taking over from the AirPort, I'll be able to do the fancy routing needed to get stats and WAN access from the HG612 over a single Ethernet cable instead of the two needed now.
My MicroServer's been running FreeBSD for years, and I've hand-configured isc-dhcpd, powerdns and all that gubbins on it. But it seems much tidier and dare I say secure to have specific hardware for these sorts of things. Doesn't sit quite right having my DHCP server on the same machine as my Minecraft server
I'm playing with pfSense in a VM on my Mac until the hardware arrives. I'm very, very impressed. It's rare to find a GUI that logically presents even the most advanced options for configuration. Plus, I'm a big fan of FreeBSD, so it's nice that it uses all the software I know well under the hood.
So, if anyone's interested, I'll keep updating this thread as and when stuff arrives and gets built. Currently pondering the mission required to clean out and organise the cupboard under the stairs. And picturing the pfSense box and the gigabit switch being mounted to the underside of one of the stair risers. Nifty.
(small things, small minds, etc...
)
Chris