Qotom Q555G6 for UTM home?

Hi Rick and welcome (back?) to the UTM Community!

Don't know about the Intel 211s, so you might want to consult the official UTM HCL.

Also, you might take a look at the last few pages of the *Unofficial* Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) thread.

Cheers - Bob

Thanks, Bob. I don't know how "back" I am, as I don't recall making much use of this community the last time around. I will this time, though, because I never really knew what I was doing. Now I'm starting from scratch with the "rulz" and plan to do it right.

Thanks for the resources. They made for interesting reading. After quite a few hours of research here and elsewhere, I ordered the Qotom Q355G4, not the Q555G6 I originally asked about. For the possible benefit of others, here are some observations.

TL;DR: The Qotom Q355G4 sounds like a solid choice. 

• Qotom units are generally pretty well regarded, both on this forum and on the pfsense forum.
• The Q355G4 is the subject of a 2017 post on the unofficial HCL. For that user, it worked perfectly.
• If there's a consensus alternative, I didn't find it. (I'm not saying that aren't any, only that I didn't notice them.)
• I've seen a number of suggestions on this forum that the Intel I211 NIC is well supported by Sophos.
• The "official" HCL was hard to use, at least for me. A lot has to do with how it's organized, but part of the problem is also its granularity, for want of a better word. I *think* it's organized at the level of boards, but I wanted to know about the I211 chip. That info doesn't seem to be there, probably for good reason.
• Qotom doesn't seem to have an organized presence here in the United States, and that made it hard to source. Their official web store is on AliExpress (Alibaba), and product is shipped from China, maybe with customs issues. I didn't want to wait, so I bought it through Amazon.
• Over the two or three days I considered Qotom, availability through sources like Amazon changed daily! For instance, the Q555 suddenly ceased to be available, else I might have gone that route. Prices were quite variable, too.

Thanks again. Now to getting it set up. I'm sure I'll be back with questions.

Thanks, Bob. I don't know how "back" I am, as I don't recall making much use of this community the last time around. I will this time, though, because I never really knew what I was doing. Now I'm starting from scratch with the "rulz" and plan to do it right.

Thanks for the resources. They made for interesting reading. After quite a few hours of research here and elsewhere, I ordered the Qotom Q355G4, not the Q555G6 I originally asked about. For the possible benefit of others, here are some observations.

TL;DR: The Qotom Q355G4 sounds like a solid choice. 

• Qotom units are generally pretty well regarded, both on this forum and on the pfsense forum.
• The Q355G4 is the subject of a 2017 post on the unofficial HCL. For that user, it worked perfectly.
• If there's a consensus alternative, I didn't find it. (I'm not saying that aren't any, only that I didn't notice them.)
• I've seen a number of suggestions on this forum that the Intel I211 NIC is well supported by Sophos.
• The "official" HCL was hard to use, at least for me. A lot has to do with how it's organized, but part of the problem is also its granularity, for want of a better word. I *think* it's organized at the level of boards, but I wanted to know about the I211 chip. That info doesn't seem to be there, probably for good reason.
• Qotom doesn't seem to have an organized presence here in the United States, and that made it hard to source. Their official web store is on AliExpress (Alibaba), and product is shipped from China, maybe with customs issues. I didn't want to wait, so I bought it through Amazon.
• Over the two or three days I considered Qotom, availability through sources like Amazon changed daily! For instance, the Q555 suddenly ceased to be available, else I might have gone that route. Prices were quite variable, too.

Thanks again. Now to getting it set up. I'm sure I'll be back with questions.

Here's a quick follow-up for anyone who may be considering the Qotom Q355-G4. I ordered one through Amazon, and it arrived in a couple of days in literally a plain brown box -- no frills.

The unit seems well built. UTM installed uneventfully and is running nicely. The only quirk is that the Ethernet ports are numbered 1-4 on the case, but port 1 = eth0 and port 2 = eth1 as you'd expect. I have not verified that ports 3 and 4 are for eth2 and eth3 but assume they are. I only mention this because apparently some older versions of this appliance had the ethernet ports in a different, non-consecutive sequence. They apparently fixed it, but it's something to be aware of if you get some old stock somewhere.

There is no longer an official Sophos HCL for the UTM, but the XG HCL is 99% the same for UTM.

Cheers - Bob