Review on 💻 Qotom Mini PC: 8GB RAM, 64GB SSD, 4 Intel LAN Port, VGA, 4 USB, Quad-core 2 GHz celeron j1900 Processor by Kyle Hoes

This computer is more than enough to run ipFire, OPNsense or pfSense in a small network environment. The built-in M.2 SSD makes it easy to boot and reconfigure. I've had no trouble booting from USB sticks to test and compare IPfire, Opensense and pfSense software, and connecting a VGA output port to a connected monitor. Each of the three routing software packages I tried had no trouble detecting the hardware on this device. I had no problems implementing VLANs, booting, shutting down, updating or assigning interfaces. The fact that the power supply is connected to the left of the four RJ-45 connections on the front panel of the device and not on the rear is unfavorable in terms of layout. It would be nice if the power button on the back was also on the front instead of the back. If packet filtering and port isolation are running on three ports and one WAN port with enough traffic shaping rules, the case will get warm but not hot (yet). For a larger network than mine, which only has a few dozen computers connected to it at any given time and only a few of which are doing anything at the same time, I'd rather get a two-port version of this device so that it can do things like a rules-based one firewall, and then leave the rest to a quality network switch. Using this device as a generic firewall/router behind a home or small business internet bridge is in some ways only marginally more effective than the less expensive and faster Mikrotik router/switch. type unit. The balance between the two approaches is that Mikrotik RouterOS is extremely powerful but more difficult to set up in a hybrid bridge/switch configuration while pfSense and this device are available. Neither this computer nor pfSense nor the new version of RouterOS are well documented lately. So plan to test your results if you go down this path. It's unlikely that most configurations will make good use of the fourth Ethernet connection, but it's nice. If you are an experienced and patient engineer, Mikrotik (especially models with built-in switching chip) is likely to be more efficient and much cheaper. I'm skeptical about the product's ability to handle many active rules and connections without overheating, but this hardware was able to handle any configuration I gave it with ease. to find a working approach for my needs using pfSense and this device. Sometimes it's actually a lot easier to use two or even three simple combinations of devices and logical devices rather than trying to cram it all into one block - that's the appeal of using this computer. Caveats: Having a monitor port and USB ports for setup was really luxurious. A few configurations would freeze me without them. BUT - if the legacy boot mode "Windows 7" is not selected in the BIOS, a monitor or a dummy VGA connector must be connected to the device to boot. This caused some confusion when I took the pre-configured device to the computer room only to find that it wouldn't boot there without a head. Switching the BIOS to Windows 7 Legacy mode did this without losing configuration. Keep an eye out for pfSense configurations and addons. Some add-ons (believing they are related to GeoIP) bypass firewall rules so had to be removed. Some settings also don't apply without a hard reboot of the router, even if the UI says everything happened - check everything and enable reboot from time to time to make sure everything works as intended. With a device this expensive for what it ultimately does, it's hard to justify having a spare. I keep a cheaper router on hand to replace this unit in case it fails sooner. If future tweaks turn out to bring me back more to Cisco or Mikrotik, it will be difficult to reuse that computer. The model I bought doesn't have HDMI output or 4K video, audio, or Thunderbolt 3 ports, but its M.2 drive and processor/motherboard are pretty peppy. It will be a sad waste of money to throw it in the e-waste bin as there is no future path of use. End-user verdict in a month: It's a sentinel, the hardware is sufficient to have a luxury router/firewall toy that works. really good so far for home and small business. More ports than needed for a firewalled router, as other ports are bridged but may work with different rules. Ideally, this device with an HDMI port and two or three Ethernet ports would be fine paired with another separate switch for most uses. If there are any issues with the product within the first year or two, I will update this review to reflect those issues.