Book Image

Learn pfSense 2.4

By : David Zientara
Book Image

Learn pfSense 2.4

By: David Zientara

Overview of this book

As computer networks become ubiquitous, it has become increasingly important to both secure and optimize our networks. pfSense, an open-source router/firewall, provides an easy, cost-effective way of achieving this – and this book explains how to install and configure pfSense in such a way that even a networking beginner can successfully deploy and use pfSense. This book begins by covering networking fundamentals, deployment scenarios, and hardware sizing guidelines, as well as how to install pfSense. The book then covers configuration of basic services such as DHCP, DNS, and captive portal and VLAN configuration. Careful consideration is given to the core firewall functionality of pfSense, and how to set up firewall rules and traffic shaping. Finally, the book covers the basics of VPNs, multi-WAN setups, routing and bridging, and how to perform diagnostics and troubleshooting on a network.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)

Configuring traffic shaping

It is easy to get overwhelmed by the complexity of traffic shaping as a result of the number of options available, as well as the number of shaper rules and queues. You will likely find it easiest to work with the traffic shaping wizard, at least until you understand how traffic shaping works. To access the wizard, navigate to Firewall | Traffic Shaper, and then click on the Wizards tab. In the current version of pfSense, there are two wizards: Multiple Lan/Wan and Dedicated Links. Multiple Lan/Wan is the more commonly used option, and it can be used in a variety of circumstances in which there are one or more LAN-type interfaces, and one or more WAN interfaces. Dedicated Links is for situations in which certain LAN/WAN pairings do not mix with other traffic, such as when users on one subnet have a different internet connection than users on another...