Firewalla Gold SE (2x 2.5Gbit + 2x 1Gbit) Pre-sale Updates
Update: Pre-Sale ended, Gold SE is now orderable/ship immediate from https://firewalla.com/goldse
To celebrate the 6th anniversary of our first-ever product launch, we’re excited to introduce the Firewalla Gold SE!
Introduction Video: https://youtu.be/qftDMHPjBfY
The Gold SE is our answer to your requests for a Firewalla that is fast enough to handle the Internet of the future while still being economical enough for everyday home networks. With 2 x 2.5Gb ports and 2 x 1Gb ports, the Gold SE can get you the most out of your connection without sacrificing affordability. We hope you’re as excited about it as we are!
The Firewalla Gold SE Pre-sale will start at 8 AM June 12th, 2023 (Pacific Time). Please sign up before June 9th to get an additional early bird discount coupon
Tentative shipping date is December 2023
The Firewalla Team is proud to bring you the Firewalla Gold SE Pre-Sale.
- 2 x 2.5Gbit Ports & 2 x 1Gbit Ports
- 4GB RAM
- Quadcore ARM CPU
- Packet Processing at 2Gbit
- Same great software as the Gold and Gold Plus
- All at an affordable price!
Pre-sale Starting: June/12/2023 8 AM Pacific Time
- Pre-sale coupon signup here: https://firewalla.com/goldse
- The extra early bird coupon will be delivered via email before the launch.
- Early bird pricing is limited; coupon use is limited.
Other Details:
- The unit price will increase closer to the shipping date.
- Tentative shipping date: December 2023
- Shipping is first come, first serve
- There will be early beta units available to test (same hardware + beta software)
Presale terms:
- This a presale, your credit card will be charged after ordering the unit.
- You can cancel your order before it is shipped for a full refund. (email help@firewalla.com)
- When the unit is shipped, you will receive a tracking number.
- All units can be returned within 30 days of receiving the unit.
Unboxing Video
FAQ:
Will there be a trade-in program?
Unfortunately no, we do not have the capability to create such programs. Pre-sales are usually the best time to update/upgrade an existing system!
Will WiFi SD work with the Gold SE?
YES!
How does the unit compare to Gold?
Other than the port speed differences, the Gold is likely to have a bit higher performance on WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols than Gold SE. (10 to 20% higher).
Gold CPU performance is a bit higher than Gold SE. If you are going to run various docker applications and don’t need 2.5Gbit port speed, Gold is a better choice.
How does this unit compare to the Gold Plus?
The Gold Plus can do LAG and get you close to 5Gbit performance. When using LAG, the Gold SE is limited to 2Gbit. Additionally, the Gold Plus can handle single port traffic between 2.3 and 2.4Gbit, whereas the Gold SE is close to 2.3Gbit download but limited to 2Gbit upload (QoS via FQ_Codel/Cake is also faster on the Gold Plus). If you are running PPPoE protocol on the WAN side, the Gold SE is limited to 700 to 800Mbps compared with Gold Plus at 1.7Gbps.
The port speed of all ports on Gold Plus is 2.5Gbps, while only two ports on Gold SE is 2.5Gbps.
If you are a power user, the Gold Plus is a better choice.
What is the pricing of the Gold SE?
The final price of the Gold SE is TBD at the moment. Like all of our pre-sale and crowdfunding, the sale price will be very good.
Will I be able to migrate settings?
Yes, you can. We will likely enhance this so more configurations can be migrated. https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015356093-How-to-migrate-data-from-one-Firewalla-Box-to-another-
Is this unit fanless?
Yes
Is a mounting plate included?
No. (there will be mounting screw holes on the back of the unit)
I have a red / blue / blue + should I upgrade?
Although these single port units are great for augmenting your network, they are not 'true' routers. If you want more great features like https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/4404423835795-Creating-a-Better-Network you should upgrade. (pre-sales are always the best time to get the best price)
I have a Purple; should I upgrade?
Besides the 2 Gigabit performance, If you need any of these
- Multiple ports, or a secondary WAN, Port-based segmentation
- More memory for docker containers
- More country blocks, and VLAN (unlimited country blocks and more VLAN with Gold)
I have a Gold; should I upgrade?
The Firewalla Gold is an extremely powerful unit. There is no need to upgrade if you do not need the 2 Gigabit ports (WAN or LAN).
I have a Gold Plus; should I upgrade?
No, the Gold Plus the best you can get
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The item I got hung up on the most is the limit that is posted on this device. The network connector is capable of 2.5 Gbps, but the device only supports ">2 Gbps" Does this mean that the system is not really capable of supporting inspecting the packets that can technically go through the router? Don't get me wrong, 2gbps is a lot, but if you factor in internal traffic, etc. it seems like this may be a little underpowered for the 2.5gbps ports. Maybe another question is if the packet inspection is only limited to traffic going through the WAN, then why does the gold support more than two bundled 1gbps ports? That all said, I am likely totally misunderstanding something, so clarification would be super helpful. Thank you.
PS: I would second the request for a mounting plate for the Gold SE.
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@Paul
To understand the speed limit, we need to divide the problem into two parts.
1. I/O, This is the amount data can be moved from one interface to another. For example, 2.5Gbit interfaces (with a decent CPU) will be able to move 2.5Gbit data around.
2. CPU, since firewalla can do deep packet inspection, it will need to use CPU/memory to exam traffic. This depends on how powerful the CPU is.
So in the case of the Gold SE is limited by the CPU processing speed, which is 2Gbit. (in reality it is a bit more since we always quote the lower end) So, if your network is equal or less than 2gbit, this unit should not slow you down. If you want full 2.5gbit, the Gold Plus (which has better I/O and CPU)
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@Abhishek
1. If you have a gigabit network, and don't need multiple ports, the purple unit is a good unit, and is cheaper. Gold Plus and Gold may be better if you want to run more containers (we feel docker implementation on Intel may be a bit more efficient, just a personal opinion)
2. The 2gbit for Gold SE is WAN traffic.
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Updates
- If you are on the wave 1 early access, your unit is getting updated to 1.977 this week.
- Wave 2 will likely start next week or the week after. If you still can register for this here https://forms.gle/esERooRyoNemSpmb6 (if you already registered, no need to do it again)
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@1980Cyber
Yes, you can apply wave 2 at any time, we are less restrictive this time.
The pre-sale price will always be the lowest.
The $499 price is something we calculated once we started the project. (Which is pretty much the original Gold was priced at). The retail price will highly depend on the supply chain, which we will know better in a couple of months. (and usually we do price adjustments when out of early access ... then another one when retail shipping starts)
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Is it possible to work with the Gold SE via HDMI out and USB keyboard like the Gold/Gold Plus? That was a big selling point for me, the Purple is a great product but if the app can't connect to it then all you can do is repeatedly power cycle it and hope whatever the problem is sorts itself out. I just realised from reading through the discussion that the HDMI/USB ports aren't really mentioned, they're only discussed for the original Gold.
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FYI, we started shipping wave 2 of the Gold SE units. If you are participating in the Gold SE early access, please remember:
- These are running beta software (1.977).
- If you have issues, please get in touch with help@firewalla.com
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That's great, thanks, CLI access is all I need - it was actually a major reason for upgrading to the Gold from the Purple, being able to sort out problems via console access makes things much easier when an error condition that's unusual enough the app can't easily deal with it crops up.
It could also be used to display things like nettop stats via a small attached display. Has anyone on the beta program tried accessing the CLI via HDMI/USB keyboard?
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Got my Gold SE. only problem is where do I put it. All of my other gear is mounted to the wall, but without a mounting plate, I’m a little stuck. I knew it didn’t come with one, but I figured it would be a smaller roadblock than it turned out to be. A template in the box would be helpful…. Or allow me to buy one.
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Good morning,
I started testing on the Gold SE unit I received. I'm quite disappointed with your family protection and ad blocker features. I make the comparison with AdGuard which is much more effective. Is this something you will improve? This is a big point that I thought was effective when choosing your unit.
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Can you please share how you configured the family protect feature on the Firewalla? There are various modes (native vs. third party) and also a list to turn off and on. See https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004304094-Family-Protect
Also, it is good to have an example of what you mean by "much more effective", are you comparing firewalla with a browser blocker?
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