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About
What is this project?
The Home Network Security Consensus is a collaborative rating of every major home network security solution by independent content creators and network engineers. No single opinion. No affiliate links. No sponsors. Just honest ratings from people who use this stuff every day, published on one chart that anyone can reference.
You were invited because you have hands-on experience with home network security hardware and software. Your ratings, combined with every other co-author's ratings, form the consensus.
Process
How voting works
When you click your unique voting link, you'll walk through each solution one at a time. No overwhelming spreadsheets or dropdown menus. Just one card per solution.
1
Set your display name. The first time you visit, you'll confirm how you want to be listed on the public chart and optionally add a link to your channel or website.
2
Rate or skip. For each solution, rate it across the categories below (1 to 5 stars each). If you haven't personally used it, hit "Skip." No one is expected to rate everything.
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Progress saves automatically. Each time you submit a rating, it saves immediately. Close the browser, come back tomorrow, pick up where you left off. Same link, every time.
4
Review and finalize. After all solutions, you'll see a summary of what you rated and what you skipped. Hit "Finalize" to lock in your votes. If you need to change something after finalizing, the project coordinator can unlock you.
5
View the results. After finalizing, you get access to the transparency results page where you can see every co-author's individual ratings.
Time commitment: 15 to 20 minutes for someone who knows the hardware. You'll go through 14 hardware solutions and 7 firewall operating systems.
Tooltips on every category. While voting, each category has a small i icon next to it. Hover (desktop) or tap (mobile) to see a quick definition. The full definitions and rating scales live in this guide. Use whichever works for your flow.
Your Creator Hub
Showcase your videos on every solution page
Every solution on the chart has its own detail page. When a visitor clicks "Protectli" or "OPNsense" on the chart, they land on a page dedicated to that solution. That page features creator content. Your videos. Your face. Your channel. Linked directly to the consensus the chart represents.
This is built into your token URL. Same link as voting. After you finalize your votes, you can return to your link anytime to manage your creator profile and add the videos you've made on each topic. Edit it, update it, add new videos as you make them. The link works forever.
1
Set up your public profile once. Channel name, avatar, banner, bio, subscriber count, social links. The avatar and banner are URLs you copy from your YouTube channel (right-click your channel art, copy image address). Two minutes of work, then you're done with the profile forever.
2
For each solution you've covered, drop in your videos. Up to 3 featured videos play inline at the top of your section. Additional videos appear in a clickable list below them. Don't have videos on a solution? Just skip it.
3
Self-report your total video count. For each solution, tell us how many long-form videos you have on that topic (don't count Shorts). This number determines your sort order on that solution's page. The creator with the most videos on Protectli appears at the top of the Protectli page. Make more videos, climb the page.
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Screenshot of an example creator section coming soon
This is content gold. You make a video. You get an inline embed on a credibility-anchored consensus page. Visitors who care about that solution find you. They subscribe. You can also point your viewers from your video back to the chart so they see the consensus your rating contributed to. Every video you make on a solution you've rated reinforces both you and the project.
Visitors can play your videos inline or click "Open in YouTube" on any embed to watch on YouTube proper. Both routes count as a view. The inline embed is a sample; the YouTube click is engaged viewers and subscribers.
Ground Rules
A few things to keep in mind
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Only rate what you've used. If you haven't personally deployed, configured, or tested a solution, skip it. Ratings based on hearsay or speculation dilute the consensus. A skip is more valuable than a guess.
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Be honest. If something you like has a weakness, rate it accordingly. If something you don't use much is actually solid, give it credit. The point of a consensus is that it self-corrects for individual bias when enough honest people participate.
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Rate the product, not the company. Maybe you love a vendor's support team but their hardware is mediocre. Rate the hardware for what it is. Rate support in Community Support. Keep the categories clean.
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Think about the home user. This chart is for regular homeowners evaluating security options, not enterprise admins. Rate ease of use and documentation from the perspective of someone who doesn't do this for a living.
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Add videos for solutions you've covered, regardless of whether you rated them. If you've made a quality video on something but you haven't personally used it enough to rate it, that's fine. Add the video to the creator hub. The voting system and the content system are independent.
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Don't know a fact off the top of your head? Look it up. Search the vendor's GitHub for release frequency. Ask Claude or ChatGPT how often Firewalla pushes firmware. Use AI to fill in factual gaps. The point is accurate ratings, not memorized ratings. If you can verify something in 30 seconds, do it before you rate.
Rating Principles
How to think about your ratings
These four principles help calibrate your ratings so the consensus is meaningful and consistent across the panel. Read them before you start voting.
1. Rate the average offering, not your favorite model
Rate the ecosystem's representative offering. If you've only used a vendor's flagship, consider how the typical buyer's experience might differ from yours. When in doubt, rate what someone walking into this ecosystem today would most commonly end up with, not the top-tier model you personally chose. A UniFi Dream Machine SE and a USG are very different experiences under the same brand.
2. Rate for the 95%
The majority of this chart's readers have never configured a VLAN, set up a firewall rule, or flashed firmware. They are not your peers. Rate Ease of Use, Docs, and Community Support from the perspective of someone who doesn't do this for a living. Engineers consistently underestimate how hard networking is for normal people. Correct for that bias when you vote.
3. Privacy: rate the vendor or the OS, not both
For hardware entries, rate the hardware vendor's privacy behavior: telemetry, firmware transparency, supply chain, hidden subsystems, BIOS auditability. For OS entries, rate the OS's privacy behavior: telemetry, open source status, phone-home behavior. Don't double-count. Combined DIY solutions (e.g., Qotom + OPNsense) are addressed by reading both rows together.
4. Reliability: rate the layer you're voting on
For hardware entries, Reliability means "does the physical device keep running?" Uptime, hardware failures, thermal stability, port longevity. For OS entries, Reliability means "do updates apply cleanly without breaking configs?" Release stability, update process, config persistence across versions. Rate each in its own row without bleeding the other layer into your score.
Transparency
Who sees what
Your individual votes are not published to the public. The public chart shows only the averaged consensus scores and the number of votes per solution. Nobody outside the panel can see who rated what.
However, your individual votes are visible to every other co-author on the private results page. This is intentional. Every co-author can see every other co-author's ratings so the data is fully auditable and verifiable within the panel. No one can manipulate the numbers because everyone sees the raw data.
Why this matters for your content: When you create a video or post about the consensus, you can tell your audience exactly how you rated each solution and why. Your viewers get your personal take backed by a broader consensus. "I gave pfSense a 2 on Update Frequency because security patches took 4 months after disclosure. Here's what 14 other engineers thought." That's powerful content that nobody else can produce.
The public sees: Averaged scores, vote counts, co-author names and links. Plus your creator showcases on each solution page where you've added content.
Co-authors see: Every individual rating from every co-author. Full transparency within the panel.
Rating Categories
Hardware & Solutions
14 solutions rated across 10 categories. Each category is rated 1 to 5 stars. The consensus score is the average of all 10.
Build Quality
Physical construction, materials, cooling design, port quality, and whether it feels like it'll survive running 24/7 for years.
Cheap plastic, flimsy ports, questionable cooling
Decent build, adequate cooling, nothing special
Metal chassis, quality ports, designed to run 24/7 for years
OS Range
Is the hardware locked to a single proprietary firewall OS, or can it run multiple operating systems? OS-agnostic hardware gives you flexibility. If you don't like OPNsense on a Protectli, you can swap to OpenWrt or pfSense. Locked-down hardware ties you to one vendor's roadmap and pricing forever.
Locked to one proprietary OS, no alternatives possible
Officially supports one OS, others may work unofficially
Runs OPNsense, pfSense, OpenWrt, IPFire, and more out of the box
Security
Maximum security capability when fully configured. What can this solution actually do to protect a network?
Basic NAT firewall, no real protection
Stateful firewall with some filtering capabilities
Full IDS/IPS, DNS filtering, VLANs, VPN, enterprise-grade stack
Ease of Use
How much effort does it take to go from unboxing to a fully secured network? Think about this from the perspective of a motivated homeowner, not a network engineer.
Weeks of learning, CLI required, expect to break things
A weekend with YouTube tutorials gets you there
Plug it in and it works, minimal configuration needed
Docs / Forums
When something breaks or you need to configure something new, can you find the answer? Consider official documentation, community forums, Reddit, and YouTube coverage.
Barely documented, tiny community, you're on your own
Decent docs, active forum, most problems solvable with effort
Comprehensive official docs, huge community, answer to almost everything
Reliability
Based on community reports and your personal experience. How stable is it day to day? Does it just run, or does it need babysitting?
Frequent crashes, failed updates, known hardware failures
Mostly stable with occasional issues
Set it and forget it, runs for months without intervention
Update Frequency
How often does the vendor ship firmware updates? Pay special attention to how fast critical security vulnerabilities get patched after disclosure. A slow patch cycle means your network is exposed longer. More frequent means more security updates, bug fixes, and features.
Rare updates, no fixed schedule, security patches take months
Regular releases, security patches within weeks
Frequent updates on a fixed schedule, security patches within days
Privacy
What is the device actually doing behind the scenes? Does the vendor collect telemetry? Does the firmware phone home? Can you audit the source code and verify what it's doing on your network?
Closed source, known telemetry, no way to verify behavior
Some transparency, telemetry optional or limited
Fully open source, zero telemetry, everything auditable and verifiable
Community Support
Beyond official docs, how strong is the community around this solution? Can you find YouTube tutorials, active subreddits, Discord servers, or forums where real users help each other?
Dead subreddit, no YouTube coverage, you're alone
Active forum, some YouTube coverage, help is findable
Massive community, multiple YouTubers, active Reddit/Discord, thriving ecosystem
Value
Is what you get worth what you pay? This is intentionally subjective. You factor in your own judgment of price versus capability, longevity, and total cost of ownership.
Overpriced for what it delivers
Fair price, reasonable capability
Exceptional value, punches well above its price point
Info Columns (not rated, displayed for reference)
Type (DIFM / PCS / DIY)
Country of Origin
CPU (x86 / ARM)
Hidden Subsystem
Open BIOS
Cost
Firewall Operating Systems
7 operating systems rated across 10 categories. Same 1 to 5 star scale. Some categories overlap with the hardware table but are evaluated differently because you're rating software, not hardware.
Capability
Feature depth and breadth. What can this OS actually do? Firewall rules, NAT, VLANs, VPN, IDS/IPS, DNS filtering, traffic shaping, captive portal, high availability.
Basic routing and NAT, limited features
Solid feature set covering most use cases
Full enterprise feature set, rivals commercial firewalls
Ease of Use
How approachable is the interface? Can a motivated homeowner figure it out, or does it require networking expertise?
CLI-heavy, steep learning curve, sparse UI
Functional web UI, some learning required
Clean intuitive interface, guided setup, hard to misconfigure
Docs / Forums
Same as hardware: when you need help, can you find it?
Sparse docs, small community
Decent docs, active community
Outstanding documentation, massive community
Reliability
Does the OS run stable over months? Do updates break things? Can you trust it to just work?
Updates break configs, frequent instability
Generally stable, occasional hiccups after updates
Rock solid, updates apply cleanly, runs unattended for months
Update Frequency
How often does the project ship releases? How fast do critical security patches land after a vulnerability is disclosed? More frequent means more security updates, bug fixes, and features. Developers and projects that ship quickly should be rewarded for their work.
Rare updates, security patches take months after disclosure
Regular schedule, patches within weeks
Fixed release schedule, security patches within days, transparent changelog
Plugin Ecosystem
Can you extend the OS with plugins, packages, or add-ons? How rich is the ecosystem? Are plugins maintained and compatible across versions?
Few or no plugins, closed ecosystem
Decent selection, mostly maintained
Rich plugin library, actively maintained, easy to install
Community Support
Same criteria as hardware. YouTube coverage, Reddit, forums, Discord.
Small niche community
Active forum, growing YouTube presence
Thriving community across multiple platforms
Privacy
Is the OS fully open source? Does it phone home? Can you audit every line of code running on your network?
Closed source, telemetry, opaque behavior
Mostly open, some proprietary components
100% open source, zero telemetry, fully auditable
Security Defaults
How secure is the OS out of the box? Does it ship with sane defaults, or does the user have to manually harden everything? A firewall OS that requires 30 steps to be secure is different from one that ships locked down.
Wide open by default, user must manually harden
Reasonable defaults, some tightening needed
Ships locked down, deny-by-default, secure without user intervention
Transparency
How honest and open is the project about how it operates? Public roadmap. Open issue tracker. Public security disclosures. Honest distinction between commercial and free editions. Does the project communicate openly with its users about what's coming, what broke, and what got patched?
Closed development, hidden roadmap, surprise feature removals, opaque commercial relationships
Some public information, occasional disclosures, mixed messaging on commercial offerings
Fully public roadmap, open issue tracker, prompt security disclosures, clear distinction between editions
Info Columns (not rated)
Built On (FreeBSD / Linux)
100% Open Source (Yes / No)
Scoring
How the consensus score works
The consensus score for each solution is the simple average of all 10 category ratings, weighted equally. If you rate a solution across all 10 categories and your scores are 4, 3, 5, 3, 4, 2, 5, 4, 3, 4, your individual consensus score for that solution is 3.7.
The published score on the public chart is the average of all co-authors' individual consensus scores for that solution. A minimum of 3 votes is required for a consensus score to be displayed. Solutions with fewer than 3 votes show a dash instead of a score.
Cost and other info columns do not factor into the score. They're displayed for reference so viewers can draw their own conclusions.
Common Questions
Quick answers
Can I change my votes after submitting?
Yes, until you hit "Finalize." Each solution saves individually as you go. You can go back and re-rate anything before finalizing. After finalizing, the project coordinator can unlock you if needed.
What if I've only used 3 or 4 solutions?
That's completely fine. Skip everything else. A few honest ratings are worth more than a bunch of guesses. The vote count on the public chart tells viewers how many co-authors rated each solution.
Can my viewers see how I personally rated things?
Not from the public chart. The public only sees averaged scores. But you have full access to your own ratings on the results page and you're encouraged to share them in your content. "Here's how I rated it and why" is exactly the kind of content this project is built for.
Can I add videos for solutions I didn't rate?
Yes. The voting system and the creator hub are independent. If you've covered a solution on your channel but you haven't personally used it enough to rate it, you can still add the videos to the creator hub. Visitors looking for content on that solution will find your work.
Can I update my videos later?
Anytime. Your token URL is permanent. Bookmark it. After you make a new video on Protectli, click your link, expand the Protectli card, paste the new URL, save. Done. Your sort position updates if you increase your video count.
When does the next edition happen?
We are shooting for a Q1 and Q3 release cycle. Each cycle is a fresh round of ratings and a new content opportunity for every co-author.
Can I invite someone I know?
Yes. If you know a content creator or network engineer who would be a good addition to the panel, let the project coordinator know. Each co-author can recommend 1 to 2 people.