Home Firewall Appliances in 2026: Do You Actually Need One? (Protectli vs. Firewalla vs. Netgate)
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Homelab
Author name: Raj Khanna
Raj Khanna writes about single-board computers, maker electronics, and the surprisingly deep world of open-source guitar amp modeling. He has spent the better part of seven years building projects on Raspberry Pi hardware, starting with a Pi 2 running a home weather station and progressing through motor control rigs, retro console emulation builds, and low-latency audio pipelines. His current focus is real-hardware testing of neural amp modelers: NAM, GuitarML, and Aida-X running on Pi 4 and Pi 5 boards, measuring actual latency figures and CPU headroom rather than relying on benchmark sheets. Raj approaches every project the way a hobbyist with limited bench space and a finite parts budget has to: methodically, with one eye on what breaks first. He documents failures as carefully as successes, because knowing that a particular HAT causes USB audio dropouts at 48 kHz saves someone else an afternoon of troubleshooting. His articles include wiring diagrams, terminal output snippets, and frank notes on which steps took three attempts before working. He does not assume readers own a soldering station, but he does assume they are willing to learn. Articles published under this byline are drafted with AI assistance and edited by a human reviewer before publication. Published by Auburn AI, Calgary AB.
