Building a Router for Starlink (and nbn, etc) using pfSense - Procrasturbate Tech

Starlink’s router kinda sucks, a lot. pfSense to the rescue! After spending a few weeks using Starlink, the one big restriction I’ve noticed is that the router is really built for quick setup and nothing else.

The general comments online seem to say yes, you can use another router, but performance may vary. So, I thought I’d do what I did last time I needed a router. I’d build one from an old PC! Well, the short version is, Starlink seems to work fine, if not a bit better using my home made pfSense router.

Today on Procrasturbate Tech, I’ll be using an old HP EliteDesk 800 small form factor PC to build a router using pfSense. The one caviet? This PC only has one network interface! I’ll also be using VLANs on a Netgear GS308E smart network switch to get around this and running both the WAN and LAN interfaces through the one ethernet port.

Not using Starlink? You can still use this video to build your own router with a single network interface. The only difference is that you’ll replace the Starlink interface with a bridged modem or ethernet output from your own network termination device. I’ve set up the exact same for an NBN Fibre to the Home system and it worked just as well!

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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:54 Hardware and Software
2:34 VLAN Configuration Details
3:39 Setting up VLANs and the Switch
5:31 Setting up the PC
6:05 Installing and Configuring pfSense
7:54 Plug It In and Configure the Web Interface
9:10 Finished Setup

[CaptZenPetabyte]

Perfect, thanks for this easy to follow tutorial on vlans. You made is so much easier to understand

[jamesknott]

While I don't use Starlink, I have been using pfSense for about 6.5 years and highly recommend it. I initially ran it on an old HP compact desktop computer and it ran well, providing about 540 Mb or so down on my 500/20 cable modem connection. About 1.5 years ago, that computer died and I replaced it with a Qotom mini PC with i5 CPU, 4 GB RAM, 120 GB SSD and 4 1 Gb Ethernet ports. The first thing I noticed was a significant performance boost. I typically get around 940 down and have seen 1 Gb, according to speedtest! Upstream stayed around 21 Mb, until recently when my ISP boosted that and I now get 32 or so up. While this performance might not be needed with Starlink, it is something to keep in mind. I also see there are now a few mini PCs available that target pfSense & OPNsense users.
BTW, I do use a VLAN for my guest WiFi support to connect the 2nd SSID.

[GumbyRoffo]

Love your vid matey, well composed. and now I'm going to have to convert a NUC to do the same

[pepeshopping]

You do not need the modem to be in bridge mode. That’s just the easiest way for common configurations.

I ended using gateway mode and that way I can have an HA setup with a backup router.

Yes, the configuration is trickier and easy to mess up as you need to create CARP addresses on the WAN and LAN, use NAT to redirect outgoing traffic to the WAN CARP address and set the modem DMZ to the CARP address.

If using IPSEC, need a few extra NAT settings but once setup, it works perfectly for all incoming and outgoing services.

[pazimen]

What exactly model of Hp elitedesk was used to build the router? how much electricity is he drawing?

[StarvingOat]

This was such an amazing video. I can see you put a lot of thought and effort into it.

Liked and subscribed.

I have one question, for the pfsense router, I can buy any mini pc with 1 ethernet port and hook it up to a managed switch?

I always thought i needed a mini pc with at least 2 ports and I was frustrated why so many NUC came with just 1 ethernet port

[Hellegaard]

I can't get pfsense to work with Starlink, pfsense pulls an IP from starlink but still no internet

[brandonlewis-luong]

I hear its not such a good idea to use an SSD with pfsense due to the constant high number of writes for logging, swap etc

[minibikemadman]

No firewall rules need to be added? I have a gen2 and waiting on my ethernet adaptor . I already have a nice brick type pc used for LED signs and installed the newest version of pfsense. It has 2 ethernet adaptors so thats nice. I just want to make sure I can hit the bridge mode on the starlink plug in the pfsense box and be good to go.

[mikecoles]

How long before you realized you had setup vlan601 on the switch and not 901?

[aguinaldopedro]

How to ship a starlink dish to Angola?

[Tigrumircea]

awsome vid. but i want to see more setings for pfsense :)

[Phil-D]

I prefer dual lan ports vs vlans, but this works

[phalcon]

OPNSense fullspeed... pfSense 0.5mpbs each way... pretty awful.