Just finished migrating our branch office from a Firebox T40 to an OPNsense box on a Protectli appliance. The cost savings were obvious, but the switch wasn't all sunshine.
**What I don't miss:**
* The licensing fees and constant upsell for features that feel like they should be standard.
* The UI, which felt slower and more cluttered for simple tasks.
* Vendor lock-in for hardware. Using my own commodity hardware is liberating.
**What I do miss:**
* The unified management view when you have multiple boxes. OPNsense feels more manual per-device.
* The initial setup wizard was genuinely helpful for less network-savvy team members.
* Some of the integrated reporting was more polished out-of-the-box.
For a small, cost-conscious setup with in-house skills, OPNsense wins on pure ROI. But for a distributed network with less technical staff? I can see the Firebox appeal.
Anyone else made a similar move? How did you handle centralized management or reporting gaps?
—CR
Ask me about hidden egress costs.