For my capstone, I use OPNsense for my project and its broader benefits for enterprise and cybersecurity context. OPNsense is an open source based firewall and routing platform. It offers enterprise-grade features such as intrusion detection and prevention system, VPN support, traffic shaping, and web filtering, all without license cost. This platform has a modular design, a clean web-based GUI, and frequent updates that prioritize security and usability. It competes with commercial firewalls such as Cisco ASA, FortiGate, and Palo Alto, but stands out because it's community-driven, cost-effective, and transparent.

I find OPNsense's feature of acting as a central firewall and gateway most valuable, providing robust point segmentation between the internal network and DMZs in my capstone project, intrusion detection to monitor malicious traffic, VPN services for secure remote access, and logging and monitoring for compliance and auditing. This allows me to simulate a real-world enterprise environment on a smaller scale, demonstrating both security hardening and network efficiency.

OPNsense impacts my projects and home network positively because its cost-effectiveness is perfect for lab and enterprise setup without expensive licensing. The flexibility, easy VLAN and DMZ configuration supports different zones such as web servers, mail servers, and log servers. The security-first design for IDS/IPS integration helps me showcase modern defense-in-depth strategies. The user-friendly management through the web GUI makes it possible to manage complex firewall rules clearly, which is critical when documenting and presenting a capstone. Scalability is also an advantage. Although my project is lab-based, OPNsense can scale into production deployments in SMBs and enterprise.

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In my opinion, the best features OPNsense offers are that it's open source, so it can be implemented in whatever scope or environment that I need. I just need to scale the hardware for that environment and I don't have to pay a license, perpetual or renewal.

The open-source aspect and flexibility of OPNsense have helped me significantly, especially due to the difference in the currency exchange rate here in Egypt, where the licensing and budgeting for IT infrastructure is very hard right now due to the high cost of the products in the Egyptian currency. Most companies see that the IT department is a consuming department, not one that's bringing money, with the ROI being an improvement in SLAs in a few percentages. We have a tight budget in Egyptian pounds, so when we get stuck because the budget has ended, we have to prefer open-source solutions to save budget, and here the open source can rise and shine. I don't need the license, so I will save cost in my budget that I can use in another product that doesn't have any alternative.

People sometimes overlook that OPNsense is modular, and that you can install plugins to improve it. You don't have to use it bare-metal OPNsense releases; it's modular, and you can add whatever plugin or features that you need to be added.

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The best features OPNsense offers include the VLANs that work spotlessly, and I feel very secure in my network because of it. It was relatively easy to set up, though I think a better wizard would help out.

One of the things I appreciated about the VLANs is that I can have a Wi-Fi VLAN and feel secure that the server network or the VM network that I have on a different VLAN are isolated, and they cannot talk to one another, which adds a great level of security.

OPNsense has positively impacted my organization and home lab through its security features, though it's hard to quantify as I don't pay enough attention to the logs to see what it's stopping from an outside perspective. It's actually sitting behind my modem from my ISP and I'm not in bridge mode.

OPNsense definitely gives me peace of mind and helps my workflow because of the network isolation. I can have multiple subnets without having to worry about one affecting the other.

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The main features I find valuable are ease of use, code stability, and the ability to add features such as Zenarmor, which provides fourth-generation firewall capabilities with deep packet inspection. Additionally, integrating solutions like Tailscale for VPN is very valuable for my uses. View full review »

YouTube is one of the best features with OPNsense.

In today's world, it is YouTube that stands out. It is just a big game, with someone writing code, putting it in a box, an embedded system and writing the 200-page manual on how to use it. In my opinion, down the road it is plain old TCP/IP, UDP in terms of communications and it is completely overrated. But this is what we have to live with unfortunately, that is what is out there. YouTube provides video explanations, and that brings you to speed, instead of sitting down and reading a 200-page document on the product.

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The most valuable features include the basic firewall functionality and the GeoIP location services. OPNsense is very stable, easy to upgrade, and maintain. I can work efficiently, knowing it does what it needs to do.

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I mostly rely on the solution's network intrusion detection and prevention system, along with other systems, CMs, and log management. We are currently satisfied with the solution's threat intelligence. It's a pretty much in-house developed solution because it's in a Wazuh server. We have several scripts around it, allowing us to improve our posture on threats.

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The DNS-level filtering is impressive for thwarting time scanners. The VPN functionality is also crucial for my needs, as I connect to multiple locations simultaneously. Running the CBN server on the VPN is exceptionally reliable and efficient.

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The most valuable feature is the Dual WAN in OPNSense, which offers advanced capabilities. It has cost-effective communication options and the flexibility to deploy on your hardware. I like the security aspects, particularly through package managers. It allows for subscription-based enhancements, providing an additional layer of security to the network.

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The interface, specifically the web interface, is very easy to use. 

The firewall functions have been quite helpful. 

Since the pandemic, the VPN component has been crucial now that everything is basically remote.

It's stable.

We've witnessed a solid ROI. 

There are helpful online forums for troubleshooting.

It's open-source and technically free to use.

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It has firewall and VPN capabilities, which are very valuable features.

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OPNsense is easy to use and open source. When the setup is complete, you can forget about the software itself. You can check the logs occasionally and set up some automatic reporting. 

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The tool's integration is more like a button press. 

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There are a lot of features I like. One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful.

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The most valuable features are content filtering, DNS level filtering and blocking unwanted Global IPs, built-in scanners and authentication capabilities, HA, etc.

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URL blocking, Wireguard, Tail Scale, Engine Blocker, and VPN are the most valuable features for me.

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It has an open license. It works very well, and there is an update every month.

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The IDS and IPS features are valuable. From the usability perspective, there is a lot of good documentation. As IT professionals, we found it very easy to configure the firewall. It was easy to configure and use. 

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The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure. 

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To be honest with you, I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free.

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The firewall solution is okay because it is like pfSsense.

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The most valuable features in OPNsense are reporting and visibility. 

The visibility is awesome. With the visibility, you can see the data source, data destination, the source port, destination port, protocols, the most used, the malicious files that have been detected and blocked, the countries the customer has visited, and the IPs based on Suricata.

OPNsense also has ClamAV, which is a great tool.

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It is easy to maintain. It is free. So, it is for small offices. It is a very good solution.

I like the dashboard. I can see what is going on and manage it as I like it. 

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The normal security options are great. 

It's light and easy to manage.

The solution is very stable.

The initial implementation process is simple. 

The solution offers a free version.

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The most valuable features of OPNsense are the GUI and frequent updates.

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What I like best about OPNsense is that, as a firewall, it's pretty good. I'm quite impressed with it.

I had an excellent experience with OPNsense, which helped me achieve the targets I wanted.

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It's open source.

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The WireGuard VPN is the most valuable feature.

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OPNsense is easy to scale when running on the hardware.

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The most valuable features are reporting, the Sensei plugin, and firewall capabilities.

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The VPN server feature is the most valuable. It is integrated with Radius and AAA for doing accounting and authentication.

Insight view is also an important feature for me at this time. It allows me to assess our network traffic. I also like the firewall feature. The BSD kernel has a packet filter. It is one of the most solid frameworks for firewalls.

Its user interface is one of the best interfaces I have used. 

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What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control. It also provides good security.

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The system in general is quite flexible.

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I have found the solution has some great features overall, such as guest access capabilities, dashboards, and ease of use. There is plenty of documentation and support and it has the plugins that I needed.

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We have found pretty much all the features of the solution to be valuable.

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The solution is very user-friendly.

It's easy to manage and deploy.

The solution is good for a basic firewall for a small business or for home use.

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The feature I find most valuable is that the program helped me to realize all the requested functionality that was needed:

- IPsec VPN connections to remote gateways from various Vendors

- IPsec VPN connections with SNAT (our local network in use at remote site)

- IPsec connections with DNAT (remote network in use at our local site)

- Let's Encrypt certificate for WebGUI

- SSH Access by Putty to the device

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The most valuable feature of OPNsense is compatibility.

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The interface and the dashboard are the most valuable features of this solution. 

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The most valuable thing about this product is that it is very easy to use. The graphic user interface is very good and it is user-friendly.  

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The solution is easy to use and is accessible. I can also use it without paying. The configuration is very easy, and the website makes it easy to find help if you need it.

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I find the solution to be user-friendly. It has a lot of reports and easy settings.

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The feature that we found most valuable is the flexibility. It has nothing to do with operating the firewall. It's that we can program it the way we want. 

There is no need to fight with the user interface.

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