M1 Plus Mini PC with N305 Processor, 16G RAM 256G SSD Mini Desktop PC, All-in-one Dual Display HDMI,Type-c/USB 3.1/4x2.5GbE LAN Business Mini Computer Win 11

I bought this to use as a firewall running OPNsense. It's working great for that purpose. I got this with a coupon which made it cheaper than any other N100/i226v device on Amazon. I was primarily looking at N100/i226v devices because I wanted something that would have good longevity for my purpose. I wanted something that could support IDS and VPN at 5 Gbps speeds. I am using link aggregation to bond 2 of the interfaces on each side to get my desired speeds. I couldn't be happier with the results aside from two minor nitpicks. First, it would be preferred to have the top and bottom NICs to have the clip on opposite sides. As it stands now, you have to use a tool or disconnect the top cable to remove the bottom cable. Secondly, the fan is louder than my desktop case. It has a higher pitch to it, so it is more noticeable. It's not loud by any means, but something to consider for those that are sensitive to that and their intended use case. It wasn't an issue for me, so I'm not sure if there is a Noctua or quieter fan that would fit in place of the existing fan.Prior to installing OPNsense, I did run Windows for a little while to see how well it worked for that purpose. It probably makes sense to swap out the 2 extra NICs for a WiFi adapter to use for that purpose, but I was pretty impressed with the performance. I would have no issue using this to surf and watch videos on a daily basis. It's impressive what this can do given the size, cost, and power consumption.

My laptop is broken and I don't usually play online games. I need a mini computer for light computing and Internet access. I had a keyboard, monitor, and HDMI cable, so I bought this compact computer. I just started using the mini computer for the first time. the size and the performance are very good. it is small and very suitable for surfing the internet and the basic office tasks. It comes with a stand (VESA) so you can attach it to the back of your monitor to save space. It works well and meets my needs both in terms of performance and price. There is a fan at the bottom for cooling, which is not loud but has obvious cooling effect, the aluminum alloy shell looks cool.

Excellent computer, perfect for my use; firewall. has been rock steady with no issues running 24/7 since purchase -- 1.5 months.

- great small size- can power it via USB PD- ethernet ports are all PCIe- low wattage- very minimal fan noise, louder if you max the cpu but router's don't normally do that- replaced a fanless mini pc with this, takes up less space- running custom openwrt, needed to blacklist wifi modules- fastest booting pc I have, 25 seconds to "router is ready"- full AMI bios menus- screwless access to m.2 drive- fast lpddr5 on router = slightly less network latency- was going to virtualize my router, but standalone is way better- no wifi is smart because a separate wifi AP is the better approach- eth0, eth1, eth2, eth3 port labels match openwrt device names- cons: no 10G port, no USB4 networking, only 4 ethernet portsvery happy with this router, have been downsizing my setup and this ended up being a really great addition