It took a few weeks for the epidemic to make operating from home a requirement. Because of the quick shift, numerous technical aspects were originally overlooked. One of these is our exposure to hackers, which is only going to become worse as more things become linked. A firewall is the first line of defense a hacker encounters while hacking into a network, and it primarily serves as a deterrent. That’s where Firewalla Purple firewall comes into action.
Firewalla’s story began with a Kickstarter attempt to get a firewall into as many households as possible. The Purple, their newest gear, is a portable gadget with a strong multicore CPU and software that allows users to control their home network. Due to two Wi-Fi connections and low battery consumption, one can also utilize this tiny gadget on the go.
What will you see here?
Pricing and Availability
The Firewalla Purple firewall is available for a limited time at a discounted price of $319, with an MSRP of $369. Firewalla also offers various variants that are more cost-effective for its customers. The entry-level Firewalla costs $139, while the Firewalla Gold costs $478.
Design of Firewalla Purple
Firewalla’s Purple contains high-quality materials and comes with everything you need to get a boost using the gadget in a matter of minutes. The kit includes a 15W Type-C power converter, a matching power cord, and a flat Ethernet cable. When you open the package, the purple plastic firewall sits at the top of the peripherals and is the first thing you notice. Instead of a paper user guide, cardboard with an Internet connection to the online handbook is there in the box.
The firewall is small enough to put in a back pocket. The 110g box measures 3cm x 6cm x 9cm and measures 3cm x 6cm x 9cm. Two 1G Ethernet ports, an idle USB Type-A port, and the USB Type-C port for power are all on one side. On the other side, there’s a micro-SD slot and a reset button that is accessible through a pinhole. The purple box is small and light, with four rubber feet. It also displays the status at all times via two LEDs on either side of the casing.
Hardware
The hardware is powered by a 1.9 GHz Amlogic 922X six-core CPU. The performance of the four Cortex A53 & two Cortex A73 architectures is marginally better than that of the Raspberry Pi 4. The Purple also offers 16GB of eMMC memory and 2GB of DDR4 RAM. A tiny fan installed on a heatsink cools the memory chips and CPU.
The system is cooled via air vents on the side, which regulate the temperature and prevent CPU throttling. A 2×2 WiFi radio on the firewall supports the 802.11ac standard and has a peak speed of 867Mbps. The first software configuration is done via an embedded Bluetooth 5.0 interface. Two internal PCB antennas give a few meters of range, making the firewall useful in places like coffee shops. Finally, a pair of 1G Ethernet ports connect to the WAN and LAN networks, with the WAN serving as the Internet provider link and the LAN serving as the home network.
How to Use?
The Purple firewall is set up using Firewalla’s mobile app, which is available for both Android and Apple devices. After downloading, the user must first choose the sort of product that will be utilized and then go through a pairing procedure. The software will then use Bluetooth to find the firewall and confirm it using a QR code on the back of the device. The entire procedure normally takes no longer than five minutes.
The firewall may function as both a router and a bridge. The key distinction is that if Firewalla’s unit is a router, it will issue IP addresses and other network information. A bridge, on the other hand, will transport network traffic to a different router. As a router, the Purple box gives you more control over your network. It is the preferred method, although it is more difficult to set up.
The device keeps track of all events and statistics related to data passing through it at all times. These are shown as graphs and interactive objects on the dashboard. When the part displays the connectivity activates, for example, a page with hostnames and allocated IPs appears. After that, groups may be constructed to contain hosts that fit into a specific category.
The ease with which you can examine, activate, and alter settings is where the purple firewall truly shines. The built-in AD filter gets into action with just a few button pushes. Another excellent example is looking for open ports that hackers may use to get access to the network. Once again, a single push is all it takes to check for open ports. VPN client and server, DNS over HTTPS, and parental filters are among the other essential features in Firewalla’s Purple box.
Other Alternatives to Firewalla Purple
Compact firewalls for home use are getting quicker and less expensive as a result of the low-cost CPUs featured in Android TV boxes. These CPUs come with a slew of high-speed connections, including numerous Gigabit Ethernet connectors. They also run firewall software that is accessible in open-source form. All that remains for a manufacturer is to combine all components while delivering a nice user interface.
WatchGuard has been manufacturing firewall appliances for more than two decades. The Firebox T20, their entry-level model, has identical capabilities to the Purple box but costs around twice as much. The bundled 32-bit CPU is less powerful than Firewalla’s 922X, and resources like RAM and Flash memory are also insufficient. Finally, the T15 lacks family-friendly features like an AD blocker and social time-off. The designer only needs to combine all of the components while offering a suitable user interface.
Zyxel Communications manufactures enterprise-level network equipment. The USG Flex 100 is a simple firewall that protects against internet threats. The pricing of Flex 100 is similar to Firewalla’s Purple, but it has more Ethernet ports. However, like with the Firebox T15, the Purple’s current six-core CPU outperforms the Flex 100’s dual-core. The Zyxel firewall is also substantially larger and lacks a Wi-Fi interface.
Conclusion
Firewalla’s Purple firewall is on a mission to conquer the globe by making internet safety more secure. Its modest size can fool you; it has numerous features available in more costly models. The main attraction is the powerful CPU. With numerous gateways such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a wide range of use-cases may be generated in software without regard for computing power. This is readily seen in the mobile application, which includes capabilities such as DNS over HTTPS and an advertising blocker.
The price is a little high for the hardware coming with it, but you can consider the Purple firewall to be software with long-term maintenance. The amount of firewall protection will be determined by Firewalla’s ability to stay ahead of hackers. There have been several instances where centralized systems have been attacked by malicious agents, resulting in a DoS. If this were to happen to Firewalla, it would mean that all of its clients would be without protection.
