Editorial, 22 Aug 2026. Specs from maker pages and recent street reports. We have not burned these units in. Affiliate tags are not live.
Protectli VP2420e: four Intel 2.5G ports, fanless, 24 W ceiling
The used-enterprise temptation is a retired 1U pfSense box or a dual-Xeon leftover. The retail replacement is a fanless aluminum Vault with four Intel I226-V ports and a 12 V brick.
VP2420e is the current SKU: Celeron J6412, 4× I226-V 2.5G, M.2 SATA (not NVMe), no eMMC. Official US support. coreboot optional. Same silicon as the older VP2420 minus eMMC (Protectli KB, 17 Jul 2026). Official bare $359. Comparison grid flagged backorder on protectli.com/product-comparison/ when research ran. Older VP2420 official page $369, out of stock, bulk-only. Amazon configured VP2420 8 GB / 120 GB ASIN B0BQ1K182Y snap $539 — that is the older SKU, not the e-model default.
Official max 24 W. Protectli KB wall numbers on the VP2420 (same J6412): Ubuntu idle ~8.2 W; OPNsense idle ~9.7 W; OPNsense + iPerf3 at 2.5G ~11.2 W. HomeNetworkGuy saw ~10 W idle / ~20–21 W under test on a smart plug. Fanless. We have not burned a VP2420e. Those are maker and published-review numbers.
The short list
| Box | What it is | Street, 22 Aug 2026 | Buy if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protectli Vault Pro VP2420e | J6412, 4× Intel I226-V 2.5G, M.2 SATA, fanless aluminum, 12 V DC, max 24 W. 5.75 × 5 × 2 in. Optional 1RU shelf. | Official $359 bare. Backorder has been flagged on the comparison grid — print the cart. | OPNsense / firewall / four real Intel 2.5G ports in a closet. Official support, not a used 1U. |
| Protectli VP2420 (older) | Same J6412 + eMMC. Official page out of stock, bulk-only. | Amazon configured 8 GB / 120 GB snap $539. | Only if the e-model cart is empty and you know you are buying the older SKU. |
Skip
Skip the used 1U pfSense / dual-Xeon leftover. We are not sending you to eBay firewall lots. The heater test is used vs new. Skip NVMe sticks — this slot is SATA. Skip treating Amazon Renewed as official Protectli. Brick vs 208 V 1U is the PSU rule. Shape is pizza box.
Sources
protectli.com/product/vp2420e/ ($359, max 24 W, 4× I226-V, M.2 SATA). VP2420 page. Protectli comparison. KB VP2400 overview, 17 Jul 2026. KB power draws (VP2420 idle ~8.2 W Ubuntu; OPNsense ~9.7 W; 2.5G iPerf3 ~11.2 W). HomeNetworkGuy VP2420.