your home router SUCKS!! (use pfSense instead)

Home routers are often slow, insecure, and frustrating to control—so the practical fix is to replace them with pfSense, a free, open-source router/firewall platform that turns a basic home setup into something secure and configurable. The core pitch is straightforward: pfSense can protect the network with features like IDS/IPS and other security controls, add “quality of life” tools such as dynamic DNS, and—most importantly—give owners real control over traffic flows, including routing all outbound traffic through a VPN.

The walkthrough starts with what to buy and how to wire it. pfSense is software, so it must be installed on hardware. Options range from a dedicated appliance (the Protectli Volt) to cheaper appliances (around $200 from Netgate, the official pfSense company) or running it virtually on existing systems like a VMware server. The setup also benefits from a managed switch that supports VLANs, which unlocks more advanced segmentation later. For the physical network design, the video distinguishes between whether the existing home router includes a modem. If it does, the home router should be placed into bridge mode so pfSense can receive the public IP on its WAN interface; if not, the modem connects directly to pfSense’s WAN port.

Installation is then demonstrated on a pfSense appliance using a downloaded AMD 64 installer written to a USB flash drive (Rufus is used). After booting, the admin login is set up through the initial wizard: hostname, DNS servers (Cloudflare as primary and Google as backup), NTP/time zone, and—crucially—interface addressing. The LAN interface IP is changed from the default private range to a custom subnet (the example uses 10.27.27.1), and the admin password is replaced with a secure one. Because the LAN IP changes, the browser access must be updated after the reboot.

Once the dashboard shows healthy interfaces, the guide moves into core configuration tasks. DHCP is confirmed and tuned: the LAN DHCP pool hands out addresses (example range 10.27.27.10–10.27.27.45), while lower and upper ranges remain reserved. Port forwarding is demonstrated by spinning up a simple Python HTTP server on port 80 and creating a NAT port-forward rule that forwards inbound WAN traffic on 80/80 to a specific internal host and port.

Dynamic DNS is configured using Cloudflare. pfSense’s Dynamic DNS service type is set to Cloudflare, and the Cloudflare global API key is entered (with a note that free domains from FreeNom won’t work with Cloudflare’s API). After saving, the public IP is tracked and a hostname like pfSense.<domain> resolves to the current WAN address.

The centerpiece is routing all selected LAN traffic through VPN—specifically Private Internet Access, with Nord VPN mentioned as an extended option. The process includes importing the provider’s certificates into pfSense’s certificate manager, creating an OpenVPN client with matching cryptographic settings (server address, port, cipher, and auth digest), and then adding an outbound NAT configuration so traffic from the LAN subnet is translated to the VPN interface. To control which devices go through the tunnel, the guide creates a firewall alias (e.g., “Pia_people” for a subset of LAN IPs) and uses policy-based routing via gateway selection. Firewall rules are ordered carefully so “allow via VPN” rules appear above “block if VPN down” rules. Connectivity is verified by checking the public IP from an external site and confirming it changes to the VPN provider’s egress.

Finally, pfSense’s ecosystem is used to keep the VPN alive: the Service Watchdog package monitors the OpenVPN client for Private Internet Access and restarts it if it fails. The video closes by pointing to additional packages and security add-ons (like pfBlockerNG, Suricata/Snort-related tooling, and Nmap) and argues that pfSense is enterprise-grade enough to replace a consumer router while adding both security and “fun” control over home networking.