It seems counterintuitive that a more powerful, configurable firewall like pfSense can leave your network in a less secure state than a cheap router you picked up from a brick-and-mortar store. After all, professional tools are “better,” right?
However, the fact is, professional firewalls will do exactly what you tell them to do—including exposing your network to the entire internet. It is a bit like running a Linux distro as root all the time; sure, you can do it, but it opens up all sorts of ways to accidentally break something.
A pro firewall is a full network operating system
They’re not plug-and-play friendly
When you move from your stock router to a more capable setup like pfSense, you’re not just installing a program that filters network traffic. It is an entire operating system designed to handle routing, network address translation (NAT), virtual private networks (VPNs), and add-ons that provide intrusion detection (IDS) and prevention (IPS).
It gives you total control over every aspect of your firewall’s behavior and performance. Unfortunately, that isn’t always a good thing.
QuizDNS filtering and network privacy tools
Trivia challenge
From Pi-hole to Control D — how well do you know the tools that block ads and protect your network?
DNSPrivacyNetworkingAd BlockingSecurity
What is Pi-hole primarily designed to do?
Correct! Pi-hole works as a DNS sinkhole, intercepting DNS queries for known ad-serving domains and returning a null response so ads never load. Because it operates at the network level, it blocks ads on every device connected to your router — including smart TVs and phones — without needing a browser extension.
Not quite. Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole, meaning it blocks ad-serving domains at the DNS level before your devices even attempt to connect to them. This makes it uniquely powerful because it works across your entire network, not just in a single browser.
Which hardware platform is Pi-hole most famously associated with?
Correct! Pi-hole was built with the Raspberry Pi in mind, and its name is literally a portmanteau of ‘Raspberry Pi’ and ‘black hole.’ The low cost and small footprint of a Raspberry Pi make it an ideal always-on DNS server for a home network, though Pi-hole also runs on many other Linux systems.
Not quite. The ‘Pi’ in Pi-hole refers to the Raspberry Pi, the inexpensive single-board computer that inspired the project. The name cleverly combines ‘Raspberry Pi’ with ‘black hole,’ reflecting how it swallows ad requests before they can reach your devices.
What feature differentiates Control D from a basic DNS resolver like 8.8.8.8?
Correct! Control D goes far beyond simple DNS resolution by letting users create custom filtering profiles that block categories like ads, malware, social media, or adult content. It also supports per-device routing rules and provides detailed query analytics, making it a powerful managed DNS service for both individuals and businesses.
Not quite. Control D is a managed DNS service that layers advanced filtering and analytics on top of standard DNS resolution. Unlike a plain resolver such as Google’s 8.8.8.8, it lets you define exactly what content is blocked or redirected, and even apply different rules to different devices on your network.
What does DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) protect against compared to traditional DNS?
Correct! Traditional DNS queries are sent in plain text, meaning your ISP, network admin, or anyone monitoring your traffic can see every domain you look up. DoH wraps those queries inside encrypted HTTPS traffic, making them indistinguishable from normal web browsing and shielding your browsing habits from snoops.
Not quite. DNS-over-HTTPS is a privacy protocol, not a security or performance tool per se. It encrypts your DNS lookups inside standard HTTPS connections so that third parties on the network — like your ISP or a coffee shop operator — cannot see which domains you are querying.
What is the purpose of a blocklist in tools like Pi-hole or AdGuard Home?
Correct! Blocklists are the heart of DNS-based filtering tools. They are community-maintained or commercially curated databases of domains associated with advertising networks, trackers, phishing sites, or malware distribution. When a device queries one of these domains, the DNS filter returns a fake or null address, preventing the connection entirely.
Not quite. In DNS filtering, a blocklist is a database of known bad or unwanted domains — ad servers, trackers, and malware hosts. The DNS filter consults this list on every query and silently drops requests for listed domains, which is why Pi-hole can report blocking millions of queries per day on an active home network.
AdGuard Home is often compared to Pi-hole. What is one key built-in feature AdGuard Home offers that Pi-hole historically lacked out of the box?
Correct! AdGuard Home was designed from the ground up with encrypted DNS support built in, allowing it to act as a local DoH or DoT server without additional software. Pi-hole originally required pairing with a separate tool like Unbound to gain similar encrypted upstream capabilities, though the gap between the two projects has narrowed over time.
Not quite. One of AdGuard Home’s headline advantages has been native support for encrypted DNS protocols — DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS — both for upstream resolvers and for clients connecting to it. Pi-hole users who wanted the same functionality traditionally had to install Unbound or another resolver alongside it.
What does the term ‘upstream DNS resolver’ mean in the context of Pi-hole or AdGuard Home?
Correct! Pi-hole and AdGuard Home sit between your devices and the internet, filtering out blocked domains. For everything that is not blocked, they need to forward the query to a real DNS resolver — the upstream — such as Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), Google (8.8.8.8), or a local recursive resolver like Unbound. The upstream is what actually looks up the IP address and returns it.
Not quite. An upstream DNS resolver is the server your filtering tool consults whenever a query is not on the blocklist. Think of Pi-hole as a bouncer at the door — blocked domains never get in, but for everything else it passes the question along to the upstream resolver, which does the actual DNS lookup and returns the answer.
What is a DNS rebinding attack, and which type of tool is specifically designed to help mitigate it?
Correct! In a DNS rebinding attack, a malicious website first resolves to a legitimate external IP, then quickly changes its DNS response to an internal IP like 192.168.1.1 — effectively turning your browser into a proxy that can talk to devices on your local network. Pi-hole and AdGuard Home both include DNS rebinding protection that rejects responses containing private IP ranges for public domain names.
Not quite. DNS rebinding is a clever attack where a hacker’s domain first points to their own server, then switches its DNS record to point at an IP inside your home network. Your browser, already trusting the domain, then happily sends requests to your router or other local devices. DNS filtering tools counter this by blocking any public domain that resolves to a private IP address range.
Your Score
/ 8
Thanks for playing!
A pro firewall’s flexibility can be a security risk
Granular control means lots of room for mistakes
pfSense’s design runs almost exactly in the opposite direction of most consumer routers. Consumer routers expose a few common advanced features—like port forwarding, VPNs, and VLANs—but handle most of the important security features behind the scenes. If you never touch it other than setting your Wi-Fi password and grab security updates, it’ll just plug along happily until new standards make it physically obsolete.
On the other hand, specialized firewall setups like pfSense can very easily be configured in ways that are actively detrimental to your security by using overly broad rules.
For example, it is easy to flip on an any-to-any rule to solve a persistent connectivity issue, but you’re also allowing connections from any source, to any destination, using any protocol. It is a security nightmare.
Similarly, it is tempting to configure pfSense (or any other dedicated firewall) to allow remote management over the internet. That is a security vulnerability that exposes your admin panel to the entire planet.
Consumer routers often feature protection features that operate behind-the-scenes and aren’t the kind of thing you’d accidentally disable; in pro firewalls, those same features just carry their name and a simple toggle.
9/10
- Brand
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Unifi
- Range
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1,750 square feet
- Wi-Fi Bands
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2.4/5/6GHz
- Ethernet Ports
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4 2.5G
The Unifi Dream Router 7 is a full-fledged network appliance offering NVR capabilities, fully managed switching,a built-in firewall, VLANs, and more. With four 2.5G Ethernet ports (one with PoE+) and a 10G SFP+ port, the Unifi Dream Router 7 also features dual WAN capabilities should you have two ISP connections. It includes a 64GB microSD card for IP camera storage, but can be upgraded for more storage if needed. With Wi-Fi 7, you’ll be able to reach up to a theoretical 5.7 Gbps network speed when using the 10G SFP+ port, or 2.5 Gbps when using Ethernet.
To be clear, that isn’t a problem with pfSense—that kind of granular control is fantastic if you’re familiar with feature names, best practices, and what everything does. However, if you just need a basic firewall to protect your home network from the outside world, it just creates more points of failure by exposing controls that probably aren’t necessary in the first place.
A pro firewall is worth it only if you will maintain it
This kind of control is a great fit for homelabbers, people dividing up their networks into IoT VLANs, or anyone who enjoys tinkering with network configurations, reading logs, and manually handling the ever-evolving threat landscape. However, you have to accept the trade-offs: there is a steep learning curve, a perpetual time commitment for maintenance, and there is always the possibility that you’ll make a mistake that compromises your security.
You also have to consider the cost. You can run pfSense in a VM, but at a minimum, it requires a fast network interface card that can keep up with your network traffic and a CPU that won’t get bogged down handling all the data. Intel’s N100 is a popular option that works for most home networks.
Keep things locked down until you need to open them
If you decide that you need (or want) the flexibility of a professional firewall, you should stick with a default-deny configuration for all inbound traffic. Never expose the management interface directly to the internet, change every default login immediately, and keep up to date on the latest security patches when they become available.
pfSense Community Edition doesn’t receive updates more than a handful of times yearly.
When you need to amend rules to change how something behaves, double-check the documentation first and always pen-test your own network to ensure you haven’t accidentally created a vulnerability.
Great firewall power comes with great responsibilities
Consumer routers are literally designed to be safe out of the box. They deny inbound traffic automatically and keep the admin page off the internet. Because they have way fewer features, they tend to have fewer ways to accidentally undermine their own security.
Upgrading to a pro firewall gives you incredible capability, but you also create more ways to fail.
Only adopt a professional firewall if you are committed to learning the underlying logic, configuring it conservatively, and keeping it patched. For many homes, a solid consumer or enthusiast router (like UniFi) is a much safer bet than a misconfigured pfSense instance.
If you do want to wade into firewall self-hosting, you should look into OPNsense. It has a more friendly interface, a regular patch cadence, native IDS, and it is completely free.
Your router isn’t just for Wi-Fi—here’s everything else it can do
Your Wi-Fi router can do way more than you think
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
