Interesting! I haven't seen that brand before. Manufacturer shows ECS which was a bigger name in the past. I wonder if they are trying to reboot the brand?
The LIVA line has been around for a few iterations and I've always been intrigued by it's more powerful platform than the rpi's. This isn't too expensive and could be useful as a docker host or something if pfsense doesn't work so perhaps I'll just pull the trigger...give it a bit more time for others to answer though
Also interested in source...this was referenced earlier in the thread and they do look compelling but the website seems a bit....well unprofessional.
I've purchased products from pcengines before. They are solid. Still have my original running pfsense at my mom's. They are popular with the WISP world. I think they are a bunch of engineers without a marketing team.
I purchased straight from PC engines website. I was hesitant at first but when I asked for a quote for one unit, I was surprised by the low price and went for it. Also I've seen their name a lot in the pfsense forums (ALIX boards, etc), so that gave me more confidence in my purchase. I agree, I see no marketing/sales team. But that is ok, I'm a techie guy. I like a simple websites with tables of specifications. No fluff.
They have a reputation for crappy drivers.. Particularly when they get pushed with more than minimal load. Intel NICs just always work and don't choke when under load. I've definitely seen issues be resolved by swapping to intel NICS!
You need the t620 Plus, as opposed to the more common base models, to get the 4 lane PCIe slot. It also has a faster quad core CPU and faster integrated graphics. More info on this model available here: HP Thin Client: t620
I can't tell you how many bizarre issues I've had with Realtek NICs and the associated drivers over the years. Some issues I've had: High CPU usage with medium traffic volume, random disconnects for a few milliseconds corrupting downloads, it looks like it is working and connected but has no connection, BSOD's or crashes associated with hardware and driver packages, autonegotiation problems where it flip flops between 10/100 and 1000, jumboframe incompatibilities, eco power mode spamming the network with malformed packets and crashing switches/firewalls, etc..
