We previously looked at OPNsense, a fantastic option for routing, firewalling and VPN access. In our Build Your Homelab series, we already have Tailscale/Headscale running as another remote-access solution. Does that mean we still need OPNsense?
A separate OPNsense gateway is optional. The decision is whether you need its routing, segmentation and policy controls, not whether a homelab must collect another VPN server. A working remote-access service and a household firewall can fulfil different roles.
Separate the network roles
The internet gateway routes traffic between the home and the ISP. A firewall applies policy to traffic passing through it. A remote-access overlay connects selected devices and networks through authenticated tunnels. One system can perform more than one role, but installing an overlay client does not automatically replace the gateway for every household device.
Headscale provides coordination for compatible Tailscale clients. Reaching a service on an enrolled server is different from reaching the entire LAN. Subnet routing needs advertised and approved routes, forwarding and an appropriate access policy. An exit node is a separate choice for routing other traffic through a selected device.
These distinctions make the original question practical: if your existing router handles the home reliably and your overlay reaches the services you need, OPNsense may add complexity without solving a current problem. If you want inter-network rules, additional WAN policy or detailed gateway diagnostics, its extra control can be valuable.
What OPNsense adds
OPNsense is a FreeBSD-based firewall/router with stateful rules, VLAN interfaces, VPNs, traffic shaping and monitoring. Its built-in IDS/IPS uses Suricata; optional third-party packages add other capabilities under their own requirements and licences. A plugin catalogue should not be read as a promise that every feature is enabled or included automatically.
Our enthusiasm is strongest where the control serves a real purpose. Separating guests from a NAS, restricting an IoT network or diagnosing a troublesome route gives you a policy to design and verify. A dashboard full of graphs is less useful if no one understands what the gateway permits.
Stateful rules track allowed connections and their related traffic. They do not inspect every encrypted application's contents, nor govern traffic that stays on the same switched LAN. Place the firewall where the intended traffic actually passes through it.
A bounded segmentation example
Suppose a guest network needs internet access but should not reach your storage or firewall administration. Plan a guest VLAN on the switch and access point, an interface on the gateway and rules that enforce that policy. Check both IPv4 and IPv6 rather than assuming a network name alone supplies isolation.
Test one guest device: internet access should work, while the restricted NAS and administration connections should fail. Then check a trusted device still reaches the intended service. This is a design example to evaluate in a lab; it does not supply guessed VLAN numbers, switch ports or a replacement for your existing walkthrough.
An overlay policy separately controls remote clients. Avoid accidentally allowing a broad remote route into a network you deliberately restricted at the gateway. Keep the overlay, router and application permissions aligned with the same intended access.
Hardware and wireless considerations
Official OPNsense targets amd64 hardware. Its sizing guide depends on workload; inspection, VPNs, connection state and logging can change CPU, RAM and storage needs. “Low-power mini-PC” is not enough information to establish good or bad performance, and not every use case needs several physical NICs.
Check the actual network controllers and FreeBSD support. Two interfaces make WAN/LAN roles straightforward, while a properly configured managed-switch VLAN design can share a physical link. That alternative puts switch configuration inside the isolation boundary and shares the link's capacity.
The Raspberry Pi OPNsense article discusses community ARM builds rather than official support. A Gigabit interface limits traffic crossing that link, but does not cap every transfer between faster devices communicating directly through a separate LAN switch.
Plan wireless separately. Dedicated access points or a mesh system in Access Point mode can provide Wi-Fi behind OPNsense. On Deco, gateway functions such as parental controls and QoS are unavailable in AP mode according to TP-Link's documentation. Assign each function to the component that will actually provide it.
Dedicated appliance or virtual machine?
| Deployment | Useful benefit | Dependency to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated OPNsense appliance | Gateway can run while you reboot the lab hypervisor | It still depends on power, switches and any separate DNS/services it uses |
| OPNsense virtual machine | Consolidates hardware and supports managed VM recovery workflows | Host, storage, bridges and guest startup become part of internet availability |
| Existing consumer gateway | Simpler integrated routing and wireless management | Check the exact model's segmentation, VPN and maintenance capabilities |
For virtual OPNsense, use a VM rather than treating it as an ordinary Linux container. Map WAN, LAN and host management deliberately. A WAN-side bridge should not casually expose the hypervisor's management interface. PCI passthrough and virtual interfaces have different host, recovery and migration implications.
The official virtual-installation guide calls for disabling hardware offloading inside OPNsense. Follow that guidance and the relevant platform documentation. Do not copy an unrelated hypervisor's exception into a Proxmox configuration without understanding the difference.
Proxmox Backup Server backups and local VM snapshots are different mechanisms. A snapshot can help roll back supported VM storage, but is not an independent copy if the same host or storage fails. Preserve an OPNsense configuration export and a way to access the host when the gateway VM is unavailable.
Maintenance is part of the choice
Keep sensitive configuration backups outside the gateway and know how to restore them. Review firmware and plugin compatibility before upgrades, then check the services your household uses. Add complex inspection gradually so you can distinguish a false-positive block from an unrelated connectivity issue.
High availability with CARP requires two or more appropriately configured firewalls and coordinated network design. It is not achieved merely by creating a second VM on the same host. Shared power, host or switch failures can still affect both. For many homes, a tested spare-router recovery plan is a more manageable starting point.
Monitoring and logging also have separate roles: metrics tools do not automatically relocate all firewall logs. Configure retention and supported remote logging explicitly if required, and check free storage. Judge support using active documentation, applicable issues and product policy instead of unsupported comparisons of community size.
Our verdict for this homelab question
OPNsense remains attractive for tinkering, learning and detailed network control. Consumer mesh/gateway systems can still be fantastic, simpler choices for a household that wants integrated management. They are alternatives with different feature sets, rather than guaranteed equivalents.
Keep the remote-access solution that works for your services. Add OPNsense when its gateway functions meet a clear requirement and you are willing to maintain them. The best homelab choice is one whose benefits justify its dependencies and recovery work, while the household can keep using the network reliably.
