BeelinkEQ14 Mini PC, Intel Twin Lake N150(Up to 3.6GHz) 16GB DDR4 500GB NVMe SSD, 2.5G Dual LAN Mini Computer Supports WiFi6, BT5.2, USB3.2, 4K@60Hz Dual HDMI Display, Home-Server/Network Firewall

I purchased this while shopping and researching for a home OpnSense firewall build. Reasons I chose this Mini PC:Compact - Not trying to have an old Optiplex sitting on my TV stand2.5 Gbps Ports - Absolutely perfect for this application. Better than 1Gbps, but not too much for the hardware to handle.Intel Celeron N100 - Low power, but still considered "high performance" by ZenArmor500GB NvME - Great for system performance and plenty of space for log storage16 GB DDR4 - Plenty of overhead for ZenArmor, IDS, IPS, etc.For the uninitiated, OpnSense is an open source, powerful and feature-rich firewall software that allows great visibility and control for your home network. It is free to download and install, and beats the snot out of any consumer wireless router. It can run on a variety of hardware, including old PCs. This Mini PC is perfectly spec'd for OpnSense.For the initiated: My home network is very small: 2 PCs, 2 smart TVs, a robot vacuum and 5 mobile devices. My internet connection is roughly 400mbps down and 10mbps up. I run QoS, ZenArmor and five VLANs. I run OpnSense "bare metal" because I am uninterested in dealing with latency and routing issues brought on by virtualization. I use two TP-Link 8 port Gigabit smart switches and an OpnSense router for wireless VLANs to achieve a multiple SSID network configuration with segmentation.I will admit I was a little bummed that the PC was light grey rather than dark grey like I imagined. I was impressed with the OEM Windows 11 installation, but I immediately wiped it out by installing OPNsense, which went perfectly fine. CPU usage is very low, even during speed tests while running QoS and ZenArmor. I have not installed WireGuard yet but I am certain it will perform just fine.My old HP T620 Thin Client had CPU spikes to 100% pretty consistently and didn't seem to handle local log storage or IDS/IPS very well. It was also much bulkier, and had a 1Gbps NIC.Overall, I am very impressed with this Mini PC's performance. I can't recommend this enough for OpnSense or virtualization projects.

Using this pc to replace an older dedicated router. No problems installing OPNSense and zenarmor on this, although it actually had realtek NIC ports, works fine with drivers I got through Sunnyvale. Running large home network, streaming server, several WAP, total of 85 devices with ease while maintaining 935 Mbps throughput with firewall and IPS software protecting everything. Excellent unit for the price, quiet, low power consumption, zero compatibility problems.

Its working great.

I mounted this mini computer on my TV to handle simple tasks like email, video chatting, and smart home management. Compared to the top-of-the-line, same generation, Intel processor in my laptop, it's much slower and less responsive, but considering its price, functionality and small size, it's a great fit. Key features are good port availability, quiet performance, and value. The SSD can be upgraded, but unfortunately you'll be stuck with 16 Gb of RAM.I set up my own Windows account and one other local Admin account to allow my wife to access Outlook under her own credentials. This turned out to be a good ideal. Like most Windows systems, it requires immediate updating. Its modest speed and memory made updating quite lengthy, requiring about a dozen restarts, many of them manual. It was taking so long and not letting me login between reboots, I almost decided it was defective and needed to go back.My perseverance was eventually rewarded. However it still "stuck" at my login window, probably due to some Windows 11 conflict. Fortunately, that second local Admin account allowed me to get in, delete the first Admin account and create another. I was then able to login to Microsoft for both users and finish setup. I can't blame Beelink for this issue and it might not be a problem for you. That said, play it safe by setting up a second local Admin account before you begin the updating process.

I wanted something small for my home network and this fit right in. It has just enough ram to get you started but you might want to upgrade depending on your needs. Thankfully the expansion slots are easy to reach and don't require too much fuss. I'd highly recommend it to anybody looking for something like this.