Home Router/Firewall Project

With the kids getting older, I decided to go on the quest to find and build an open source firewall solution which also provides additional security and parental controls (plus I do not trust the ATT router).  After several weeks of testing (on VirtualBox), reading and testing again I concluded on IPfire.  This will essentially act as firewall, IDS (Snort), Wi-Fi access point, router and proxy.  Some other contenders:

pfsense

• Current version seems to be built on an old version of Linux with outdated drivers, etc.  The current beta builds appear to fix this, but the forums appear to indicate a lot of issues.

smoothwall express

• Open source version cuts out quite a bit of the functionality I am after.

ipcop

• IPFire is built off ipcop and more up to date.

dd-wrt

• This is more for the old Linksys routers and not really flexible for the hardware I am looking at.

There were several others, but these were the main ones I reviewed...

I ordered the parts moments ago from Titan Wireless and Amazon.  Some of the parts, such as the SSD drive were much cheaper on Amazon.  Here is the parts list to complete the build:

APU.1d4 4GB RAM 3GigE
APU black enclosure (better heat dissipation than the other colors)
Compex WLE200N2-23 802.11n, 80.211b/g, 200mW
Dual Wi-fi Antenna Kit 5Dbi RP-SMA Antennas and 20cm/8" U.fl/IPEX to RP-SMA Cables
C2G / Cables to Go 26886 USB To DB9 Male Serial Adapter
StarTech DB9 RS232 Serial Null Modem Adapter
Kingston Digital 2-Inch 30GB SSDNow mS200 mSATA
12 Volt Power Supply - 2.5 Amp Standard (12V 2.5A DC) Adapter 2.5mm center

Should be a really fun build and looking forward to the parts arriving.  This is essentially what the device will look like once finished.  I will take pictures and document the process once the build begins.

[Image borrowed from IPFire Alix APU evaluation]

[1/22/2015] Update: I received the APU and case today.  I was also able to get the cooling assembly together and install the board in the case.  Here is an actual picture: