Best home network firewall devices in 2024 [We tested 5]

Although the Internet offers an abundance of information relating to this topic, many users are concerned about their security online.

These worries are not unfounded considering the latest news about third parties collecting and using data from users to earn some extra money.

Besides the obvious implications of having your data sold for money, there also is a concern present about the personal data that can be collected by third parties and used to access your bank accounts, make purchases online, etc.

Most routers offer solid firewall protection, but if you want an additional layer of security, you might be interested in an extra firewall device for your home.

How we chose the best firewall devices for your network?

Our expert team of testers, using their 15+ years combined experience, have tested the best devices on the market at this point in time by looking at some very important factors.

After the testing proceeding has been completed, the results were measured, introduced in a database, and then the results were compared amongst themselves, in order to come up with an on-point and unbiased list of the best firewall devices available.

Tip

Editor’s tip:

To make sure that you’ll make an informed decision, here are the most important elements that you should pay attention to:

⇒ Connection stability
⇒ Number of ports and connections
⇒ Capability to resist network attacks
⇒ Rate of threat identification
⇒ Design

The rigorous tests that the firewall devices were exposed to were designed in such a way that ensures not only the efficiency of their features but also the stability of the connection, and the capability of removing possible network threats.

What to take into consideration when choosing the right firewall device?

Connection stability

Even though this might be a bit too obvious, no matter how well your network is protected, if you don’t have a stable and powerful enough connection to the internet, then you didn’t really solve any problem.

Connection stability will vary depending on the branding and model of the actual device you’ll choose to use, but you can rest assured that all of the devices presented in this guide passed the test with flying colors.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been included in the list in the first place.

Number of available ports

If you already have a good internet connection, and a good device that doesn’t affect your connectivity while protecting your network, the next important element will be the number and type of connection ports that your devices supports.

The number will of course vary quite a lot, but in order to not experience any problems, it is always good to choose a device that has at least 3 Ethernet ports available.

Network protection strength

The strength of your network protection comes into play as soon as your device goes online and you are using it to browse the internet.

The encryption level of your firewall device can make an enormous difference, being one of the most important elements that a device of this type enables.

Even though the encryption level will vary from a device to another, our list only includes devices that have been proven to resist even the strongest of network attacks.

Rate of threat identification

Even though this element is directly connected to the encryption level mentioned before, the rate at which threats are identified can be a truly important feature.

To try this element out and extract unbiased data, our experienced testing team have sent a specific amount of network packages through the tested networks, and have created a report of the percentage of threats that were identified for each of these firewall devices.

Design

Easily overlooked, but very important for some users, the design of the device also plays a big role when it comes to where you would be able to set it up in your home without looking like an industrial factory because of it.

Opinions about what looks good will always be varied of course, but there are some specific design element that are appreciated by all beholders.

Tip

Buyer’s tips:

⇒ If you’re looking for a stable and powerful connection without issues and very powerful home firewall router network protection, we recommend trying the Cisco Secure Firewall.

This device has proven amazing stability and sturdiness even though exposed to highly demanding tasks in our tests.

⇒ If you’re more interested in the number of network connections you can protect with your firewall device, we recommend that you have a look at the powerful Zyxel USG Flex 200.

This rugged firewall device offers a great security features, ensuring that your network remains perfectly safe at all times.

⇒ For improved network threat identification, any of the devices that we mentioned in this guide will do the trick, with some minor pluses for the Cisco Secure Firewall, Zyxel USG Flex 200 and GL.iNet GL-AR750 devices.

⇒ When it comes to a timeless design that can fit the environment in any home, the most nicely designed options remain by far the Cisco Secure Firewall, and the Firewalla Red devices.

With all these ideas taken into consideration, we are now ready to delve into the long-awaited results for the best firewall device to protect your home network.

Note: All the prices and offers in this article are subject to change, so be sure to check the official product page to get the latest deal. If the product/offer you’re looking for is no longer available, you can try to find it on its official manufacturer page or get another one from our list.

Cisco Secure Firewall

• Amazing performance
• Highly configurable
• Cisco AnyConnect for remote access
• Compact
• Fanless design makes it perfectly silent

• AnyConnect VPN might be too expensive for some users

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Cisco is well-known for its amazing network hardware, and we’re happy to say that Cisco Secure Firewall lives up to its reputation.

The device has hardware-based acceleration and it will maintain great firewall performance in all conditions. There’s also included FTD base software, so you can add network-based content inspections, IPS and URL filtering.

The design is compact, allowing you to easily put it wherever  you need it, and it with its fanless design, it’s incredibly quiet, so it’s perfect for all small office or home environments.

We also have to mention that this firewall is remote work ready thanks o the features such as Cisco AnyConnect.

Overall, Cisco Secure Firewall offers amazing features, which make it one of the best firewall devices on the market.

Zyxel USG Flex 200

• Can support up to 72 users, 1800Mbps Firewall
• 2x Gigabit WAN ports, 4x Gigabit LAN ports
• SPI Firewall, SSL VPN
• Nebula cloud Management integration

• Wi-Fi configuration can be tricky
• IP blacklists can be hard to create

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Zyxel USG Flex 200 can handle up to 75 users, and it delivers 1800Mbps firewall. As for available ports, this model has 2 Gigabit WAN ports and 4 Gigabit LAN ports.

The device has SPI firewall and it can block spoofing with IPSec. For extra security, there’s SSL VPN with L2 tunnel that you can use.

This firewall works with Nebula Control Center, and if a threat is detected on any of the clients, it will sync with the cloud and contain the threat at the edge of your network.

There’s also a deep reporting, allowing you to see detailed information regarding your wired, wireless, BYOD and IOT devices. For extra security, there’s even a 2FA access available.

Overall, Zyxel USG Flex 200 offers incredible performance and security, which makes it a perfect choice for your home or business network.

GL.iNet GL-AR750

• Pre-installed OpenVPN and WireGuard
• Compatibility with a wide range of other VPNs
• Bluetooth support
• 3 Gigabit Ethernet ports (1 WAN and 2 LAN)

• Some firmware issues were reported
• Simple-looking design

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If you’re looking for a firewall device that will protect your network and your privacy online, you should definitely consider the dual-band GL.iNet AC VPN Router.

This device comes with 128MB RAM and offers 300Mbps (2.4G), and 433Mbps (5G) Wi-Fi speeds, making it a decent contender to all the other options.

Besides all the above-mentioned capabilities, this firewall device offers 16MB NOR Flash and 128MB NAND Flash.

You can also extend the MicroSD slot to up to 128GB, and the USB 2.0 port offers quick access to a variety of devices.

When it comes to the design of this useful firewall device,  you will find two discrete LEDs on the front each signaling the activity of the 2.4 and 5Ghz bandwidths.

What is nice about this element, besides its utility, is that the lights are placed very discreetly, and you can only see them if you know what you’re looking for. This allows you not to be bothered by any lights during nighttime.

The design of this product is far better than the previous model from the same company, now coming in a white and polished box that at the same time offers simplicity and practicality. Even though it might not be the best-looking product, the fact that it’s so compact and has a neutral color-way helps.

Because it doesn’t look like a piece of industrial equipment (like in the case of others), this device can be set on a table in your living room or mounted on the wall.

Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway

• CLI management
• 3 Gbps (packets above 512 bytes)
• Integrated UniFi Controller v4.x support
• Fanless (silent)
• Easy setup

• If updates are not performed, functionality suffers
• Simple design
• Loud at times

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Another firewall device that can protect your home network is Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway. This device has three 1Gpbs Ethernet ports, and it uses a command-line interface for configuration.

There’s integration with UniFi Controller software, so you can easily manage your network with a simple and centralized interface.

As for security, the device offers a powerful firewall that will protect your network and data from malicious users.

In addition, Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway also has support for VLAN so you can easily create a virtual network in a matter of minutes.

In order to protect your privacy, the device offers a site-to-site VPN that protects your data from malicious users.

There’s also a QoS feature assigned to voice and video traffic so you can enjoy lag-free streaming at all times.

Overall, Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway is a great firewall device, but basic users might have issues configuring the device using the command-line interface.

When it comes to the design of this useful firewall box, even though it doesn’t impress with any of its elements, it is thin enough to be easily attached to a wall in your living room, or can as easily spend time on a table or drawer, without catching much attention.

Even though it is not as cool-looking as the above-mentioned Bitdefender Box 2, the nice design detail found at the top that consists of a glossy blue square give it a more futuristic flair.

The compact casing, even if it doesn’t look very expensive, can fit anywhere in your home without it being a distraction or bothering anybody, which makes it a good option overall.

Firewalla Red

• Compact and slick design
• Powerful protection for your network
• Great parental control
• Quick and easy installation

• IPS is limited to 100 Mbits/s
• Only two colours available - red and blue

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The Firewalla Red firewall enables you to secure your IoT devices from malware and viruses, while also looking stylish and being compact.

This powerful and yet slick device can be used for home security, but it also works very well for companies and small businesses.

To set it up, you don’t need any complicated tools or knowledge base. All you need to do is to plug it into the wall socket, connect it to your network, and activate it by scanning a QR code with your phone.

What makes it stand out even more from its competitors is that it uses cloud-based behavior analytics that automatically combines with deep insight to block problems.

This enables it to assess and confront any possible issues before they arise, thus keeping your network safe at all times.

Even though the design of Firewalla Red is very simple, it looks and feels good because of the quality of the materials used, making it look amazing in any setting it might be placed in your home.

No matter if you decide to keep it on the desk in your office, or on the living room table, the design is bound to capture your friend’s attention and a question about what it is will never be too far away from that stage.

The compact size also helps in cases in which you don’t have a lot of space available, so this adds to the overall flair of the Firewalla Red firewall.

Other Firewalla alternatives that are worth mentioning before moving on with this section are:

➡ Trend Micro Home Network Security

➡ CUJO A0001 Smart Firewall Network

➡ SimpliNET2

Bottom runners

Even though our testing team has worked tirelessly to provide you with the best firewall devices available on the market, they have also found other devices that didn’t quite make the cut, but are still worthy of a mention:

➡ Cisco Meraki MX68

Even though this device didn’t make the cut in our selection of the best firewall devices for your home network, that is not to say that the Cisco Meraki doesn’t have good features.

With a speed of 450 MBps, and working at 802.11n, 5 GHz Radio Frequency, and 802.11AC, this device can prove helpful as well.

As a big downside, in order to use the device properly, you will need to have an Enterprise or Advanced Security license, which doesn’t score too well when it comes to usability.

➡ Trend Micro Home Network Security

Even though it comes in a pocket-size enclosure, this home network security firewall has some useful features, including parental controls, content filtering, and protection from viruses and malware.

That being said, because it is working on a subscription, you will only get a year of protection for this price.

Compared with the other options we presented in the Top 4 list, this takes away from the proficiency of the device altogether.

➡ d.moat Home Network Security

Another tiny device that packs a punch is the d.moat firewall, which protects you from malware, has parental controls, and is Alexa & Google Assistant enabled.

Even though this last statement might seem redundant, it is not recommended to use a security device that is open to intrusions through Alexa or Google Assistant.

This feature, even though useful in some cases, might prove to be a big security flaw, which in turn has caused this device not to be chosen for the selection of the Top 4 devices chosen.