Will pfsense router sg-2100 impede gaming experience?

**empleat** · 03-23-21, 10:17 PM

I Am thinking about Netgear sg-2100. Because I currently don't feel like building custom PC to run Pfsense on and I don't have much space for it. It has actually 4GB of ram, but only dual core 1.2ghz. There is not much about pfsense and gaming to be found, even they sell routers for home users also. I read some post on reddit, that it cause lag, in opposite when playing without pfsense router. Don't know, if it was solved. I also found one short review on Lawrencesystems.com, which says it can be used for gaming and it should be fine. But I don't know. I Am used to lowest input lag/low ping as possible. I can tell even smallest delays. Maybe it is not question only about ping, I don't know all ways in which could affect gaming performance. Even after tweaking, it may not be optimal in some way. E.g. low RAM models suffer from bufferbloat! So I would like to hear more about Netgear sg-2100 and gaming, will this be as good as classic router, or could this introduce some delays in latency, or some weird shenanigans?

Thanks!

**Philip** · 03-24-21, 09:51 PM

I imagine you mean the "Netgate SG-2100" pfsense unit, and not "Netgear".

The unit will perform fine IF you turn off unnecessary features, including QoS, etc. I would start with simple NAT routing and firewall, and it shouldn't add any noticeable lag. On the other hand, if you turn most features on it will definitely lag noticeably.

**empleat** · 03-25-21, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by Philip

I imagine you mean the "Netgate SG-2100" pfsense unit, and not "Netgear".

The unit will perform fine IF you turn off unnecessary features, including QoS, etc. I would start with simple NAT routing and firewall, and it shouldn't add any noticeable lag. On the other hand, if you turn most features on it will definitely lag noticeably.

First thanks for answer

Yeah good to know, I heard QoS is next to useless, it can even worsen lag! Instead you have to use something called FQ_Codel.

That is the thing, I don't know in advance what I will need. I will probably want to set it for reasonable security, so security features etc. No VPN. And to use VLANs! Mostly just 1 computer + 1 laptop using wifi. I would like to see some gaming benchmarks, but I couldn't find anything. I Am still worried it could cause some lag. Dual 1.2Ghz still doesn't seem that impressive! I will have to probably wait and build my own Pfsense to be sure. Since I Am not a network expert and there are no benchmarks - I have no way of knowing! I also prefer absolute lowest latency possible, so I think I will go with building my own Pfsense, unless there is some gaming benchmark saying: it won't be worse than normal router. I don't really, I can't choose

**Philip** · 03-26-21, 08:51 AM

Many routers have similar/worse hardware than that pFsense box, so it will perform fine for only a couple of clients, and not many features turned on. That said, for the price you can probably buy some mini pc with even better hardware specs, here is an example:
https://www.amazon.com/Q330G4-Indust...0&sr=8-20&th=1

***YeOldeStonecat*** · 03-26-21, 10:33 AM

Not long ago I was HUGE HUGE into online gaming, used to build and run a few gaming servers that got very popular/crowded.
Used to game a lot of course....
QoS will be important when there are other people on your LAN that you're sharing your internet connection with.
My son was big into gaming, but also big into downloading lots of music 'n stuff via torrents. My wife is a big online shopper..and always surfing the web, also she's a busy Realtor...and often download and uploading lots of large files, pictures for listings, videos, etc. My daughter frequently watching her streaming TV.

So....I was into PFSense back when it was still in beta, and LOVED IT as my firewall for my house. I could put my sons computer into the "penalty box"..so his torrenting would not kill the internet connection.

Tom Lawrence...I chat with him a bit on FB....we're both hot pepper heads and into older motorcycles...lol.
He does a lot of YouTube videos.

PFSense...great firewall, lean and mean, excellent QoS and VPN features, I call it "the Ferrari of firewall distros!"

Years ago we used Netgate for appliances that we put PFSense on for some clients. We're pretty much all Untangle and Ubiquiti now for our firewalls, but another great hardware appliance I'll mention that you can use for PFSense is Protectli...we use them now.
https://protectli.com/