Firewalla vs Palo Alto Firewalls
I am running a palo alto PA220 in my house and while the product is great the costs are yearly and really the model of hardware will soon be EOL as the OS continues to grow. So I am looking for a new home solution but wondering how this product might compare or differ from something like a Palo Alto Firewall or even a Cisco firewall, or maybe even a pfSense firewall. I thought about untangle and openSense, one being about 50 a year vs free but I want to make sure I can do the things I need to do.
- Does the Firewalla Purple support Sub-interfaces on the LAN side interface?
- Can I disable certain devices from all internet access based on policies?
- Can I set schedules based on group or devices for access vs no-access?
- Does Firewalla using application based filtering? Block applications like Snapchat?
- Is there only an iOS/android app and not a web gui?
- What is the frequency of updates for the product?
- Is there QoS based for devices and/or applications? Like limiting bandwidth for youtube?
- How does the product deal with SSL traffic? Is there any SSL decryption?
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1. Yes, you can create vlan-based "sub-interfaces" on the Firewalla Purple and Gold.
2. Yes, you can block access on a per-device basis, a per-group-of-devices basis, or a per-network basis.
3. Yes, it appears you can set schedules on a per-rule basis.
4. It uses a limited version of application-based filtering. There's about a dozen applications that it understands natively (mostly social media), and there's some domain-based filtering for things like gaming sites, video sites, porn sites, P2P file sharing, etc. But it's extremely limited compared to what a PA firewall can do.
5. There is a web GUI, but it's tied into the app. Meaning, you go to https://my.firewalla.com and it shows a QR code. You scan the QR code using the app on your phone, and it logs the browser into the web GUI on the Firewalla device. Then you have access to configure rules and view stats. 90% of the configuration is only done via the mobile app.
6. No idea, I just plugged mine in yesterday. :)
7. There's a Smart Queue feature available in Purple and Gold that allows you to set bandwidth limits and priorities for certain traffic. Very limited compared to what Palo Alto provides, but better than what Ubiquiti gateways provide.
8. No SSL decryption.
The Firewalla products are replacements for crappy ISP routers, consumer-grade routers you can get at Best Buy, and pro-sumer gateway products like Ubiquiti. They are not replacements for enterprise-grade products like Palo Alto.
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