 Tom here from Lauren systems, and this is not a review of the firewall. I want to say that this is only my thoughts on the firewall Because I try to answer all of the YouTube comments. Well as much as reasonable in the comments that makes sense and Firewall is a common comment. I don't think I've done a firewall review in the last couple years without someone saying What are your thoughts on firewall? Well, I do have some thoughts and I wanted to share them I also have links to my friend Ross and Stacy on IOT who have both done reviews of these listed in the description below Ross has a video review Stacy has a write-up on her site for reviewing the firewall So they have more in-depth coverage than I have But there are still a few thoughts that I have and I want to make this video as a reply for people who keep asking My thoughts on how the firewall works and is it a good product? There are a few factors I want to put into this the first being that it's a consumer dice and I don't really spend a lot of time with consumer devices That is not a reason not to use it That is just my thoughts and when I have only a finite amount of time I just don't want to spend a lot of time on consumer devices that I won't use commercially because if I don't use something in a More commercial setting I can't really give you an in-depth feeling on it I'm certainly not switching out my firewall for a firewall So even home use is kind of out for me because it just doesn't have enough features But that doesn't mean it doesn't have enough features for you So let's give a quick rundown of this device and I'll share my thoughts on it now a quick little bit of history This started as a really cool project that was in 2017 on Kickstarter and it got well funded And I like the concept of making firewalls and savage QT easier for consumers. That is absolutely a lofty challenging goal They have plenty of funding they get started with to get the company kicked off in 2017 And bring that to here in August of 2023 They have a cool-looking website and I think clear branding and marketing in terms of like hey, here's these devices Here's the speeds they support. There's nothing hiding around in here. They have a cool offering and yes I know they're working on a firewall a managed service provider for IT providers But it's still kind of basic and it's not something I'm interested in that's my opinion in terms of that But let's talk about how these devices work one ease of use But ease of use has some challenges first one is does the firewall have a web interface? Yes, there's a web interface currently as of and this is on their site I'll leave links as of 7 2020 this interface is in beta stages and the web address is my firewall calm The first challenge with these and even from a reviewing standpoint is the fact that they want you to operate them all with a phone app that does add a user level of convenience especially for home users because being able to manage your firewall means Well, we're just gonna scan a QR code and log in and that's what they do They have you scan the QR code and you set up an app on your phone from a business management standpoint It puts a deeper reliance on their Infrastructure this is something there you just want to take into consideration and they have it listed once again inside of their FAQ here The different domains it uses because this is not a firewall like a normal traditional Let's say PF sense which I talk a lot about in a channel where you're logging in directly into the firewall matter of fact the firewall and the features that it has are really great because they depend on the firewall of back end So these are the different functional and it as it says to work functionally firewall box may need to access the following domains support API Etc. Now the reason for this of course is because when you scan the phone app It's going to take this device that's now registered with a Registered ID that's related to the QR code and then the app on your phone will reach out to firewalls domain and Connect you with the device This means you can actually operate the firewall when you're not at home as well because the phone app is always gonna call out To the firewall service and it will call back to the firewall So there's a connectivity that's maintained between them to keep it working Why no monthly fee this is an important thing because I think about how business models work simple and affordable We really want to make firewall Affordable this is actually a big challenge because if you look at many of the commercial firewalls and the Subscriptions that come with them the subscriptions support all the different things such as web filtering web filtering is not a static thing We're doing the cybersecurity where we want to block certain sites or block ads Etc. The features that firewall has that is in parity with a lot of other commercial firewalls Those are all services that have to be constantly maintained and updated Go back to this is where that update comes from is from firewalls So so long as they're in business that cloud information will be maintained and updated So they are either curating the list or purchasing the list in order to have this and this is something you have to actively have a subscription for with most commercial firewalls But they're rolling it in in a offset that as a business model by saying hey Let's keep selling more devices and some percentage of that revenue from the device goes towards maintaining those updates This avoids a subscription And so long as firewall that keeps selling devices that fund the company and those feeds stay up to date And that server in the cloud that that firewall is talking to that then your phone app talks to all stays up to date Awesome that seems to be a great business model going forward. They're very popular devices I can tell just by the number of comments people have on there My thoughts are hey, this is not a bad business model because ubiquity does something very similar ubiquity and their unify switches are Supported by the unify controller software that you get for free because they take some percentage of the revenue that comes from selling switches access points and firewalls And put that into developing the software that manages it and then with the unify firewalls They are also taking and getting subscriptions for the different geo blocking and different threat model blocking that they pay And that feeds from the ubiquity site into their firewalls And that's the same business model because there's no subscription fees related to how the ubiquity works Not to mention you can also control the ubiquities through their cloud interface in a similar way So it's not a new or breaking ground business model But it's just something you take into consideration when you're setting these up now as I said in the beginning This is not a review. These are my thoughts on it. It's a nice consumer device I think it gives you a lot of flexibility and control For your home network and if you are looking for something that has an easy app to Block different devices and track what they're doing and be able to filter those devices And by the way, it's not doing full ssl inspection It's just doing deep packet inspection So you're not installing any certificates on the devices But it gives you a level of visibility and control and in ease of view So I think that's pretty cool And I don't see any reason or no any reason you shouldn't buy one if it fits your use case It may not fit my use case, but I'm not you. I'm just sharing my thoughts that This is that reply video for all those people that keep saying, hey, Tom What are your thoughts on firewall and those are my thoughts? I think it's probably much better than a majority of the consumer devices out there They seem to have an engaged community. So hey, I give it a thumbs up if it fits your use case I have no relationship with the company. This is not sponsored Nor do I plan to be sponsored by firewall or actually buy one of their devices and review But do check out my friend Ross and his video he did where he dives deeper into it And Stacy on iot has a write up on there and hey pink Stacy Maybe she'll do a new version because that write up is just a couple years old right now But if you're wondering about some of their newer things that they have coming out Maybe she'll do an updated one But uh, don't really expect Tom to do one because I just don't see it as a business use or anything I plan to deploy in our business Leave your thoughts and comments down below love hearing from you like and subscribe If you want to see more content from the channel and head over to forums.loren systems.com If you want to engage with me on this topic or any other topic We talk about on a channel and I'll see you later. Thanks