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WOMBATS Shield vs Firewalla

An honest comparison for Australian homes. Firewalla goes deep on network security tools; Shield is built for households — filtering and parental controls on every model, with storage and travel Wi-Fi on Edge and Vault.

The 30-day home trial for AU & NZ households: if Shield isn't right for your home, send it back — prepaid label, full refund.

Choose WOMBATS Shield if…

…you want the internet in your house to answer to you without becoming your hobby. Protection for the kids’ devices that you run from your phone, on every model. On Shield Edge and Vault, the family’s photos and files on your own shelf and movies streaming to the TV without an account, with Mac backups on Vault. Set up in about fifteen minutes, then it stays quiet — with an Australian company to message if you need one.

Choose Firewalla if…

…you enjoy networking as a craft, or you look after a professional or small-business network. You want a VPN server into your network, network segmentation and a close view of traffic flows. It’s the better tool for that job.

Depth for the network, breadth for the household.

Firewalla is a serious network security tool, with a VPN server, network segmentation and traffic flows. Shield is built for households: every model filters the whole home and has parental controls, and Shield Edge and Vault put family protection and private storage in one box (Edge with your own USB drive), so a household doesn’t need two devices and two vendors.

Side by side.

Subscription

WOMBATS Shield: None — bought once
Firewalla: No monthly fee for standard features

Built for

WOMBATS Shield: Households and families
Firewalla: Professional and business networks, and small networks — in its own description

Setup

WOMBATS Shield: About fifteen minutes with your modem’s admin login. It works with the modems in most Australian homes; with Starlink, eero and other routers you can only set up in a phone app, talk to us before ordering
Firewalla: Set up and managed in the Firewalla app

Blocking ads and adult content

WOMBATS Shield: Ads, trackers, adult content and phishing blocked on every device, on by default
Firewalla: A built-in ad blocker, and content filtering that covers adult content

Who sees your family’s lookups

WOMBATS Shield: No DNS company, by default. At home your Shield looks websites up itself (recursive DNS, from the internet’s root servers); when Edge or Vault is on borrowed Wi-Fi, lookups are encrypted to a provider you choose. Your internet provider still sees which sites you connect to.
Firewalla: Offers encrypted lookups (DNS over HTTPS) and a recursive resolver on the box (Unbound)

Parental controls

WOMBATS Shield: Parent-first, from your phone. Every model: whole-home filtering, SafeSearch and app blocking, plus per-device pause and schedules. Edge and Vault add filtering, SafeSearch and app blocking per device. Apps built to stay online, TikTok and Meta's among them, are closed on their main route and their backup routes, and the popular apps are re-tested every month.
Firewalla: Blocks social networking, games and adult content, with schedules and time limits

Storage, backups and media

WOMBATS Shield: Shield Edge (on your own USB drive) and Vault: family file storage and streaming to your TV (Jellyfin, DLNA). Shield Vault: a built-in 256 GB drive — encrypted, with encryption switched on when you first set up the drive — and Time Machine backups for Macs.
Firewalla: Not part of its line-up, which is firewalls, a Wi-Fi access point and a network switch

Travel Wi-Fi

WOMBATS Shield: Your own filtered Wi-Fi in hotels and Airbnbs: Edge over a cable; Vault cable-free, even on networks with a login page
Firewalla: Purple SE and Orange are made to take with you, to secure public Wi-Fi

Filtering that follows the kids’ phones

WOMBATS Shield: On Shield Vault — Follow-Me Filtering: your rules on the kids' phones away from home, through a free app. The phone's owner can switch it off, and it depends on your home internet. Most phones connect straight back to your Shield. If your internet connection has no public IP address (Starlink, many 5G and mobile broadband plans, hotel Wi-Fi), the phone connects through our relay in Australia instead — it only routes the connection, it's end-to-end encrypted, it can see a phone's IP address and when it is connected (which we don't log), and there's no subscription.
Firewalla: Its built-in VPN server (OpenVPN or WireGuard) lets phones connect back through your home network, with no monthly fee

Advanced network tools

WOMBATS Shield: Deliberately not the focus
Firewalla: Yes — VPN server and client, network segmentation and traffic flows

Where it’s from

WOMBATS Shield: Designed and engineered in Australia. AUD pricing with GST included, free AU/NZ dispatch, a 30-day home trial for AU & NZ households, a 12-month warranty plus Australian Consumer Law, and security updates until at least 31 december 2029
Firewalla: A US company based in San Jose, California. It ships internationally from warehouses in the US and Asia, and its online store can show prices in AUD

If the company disappears

WOMBATS Shield: Keeps working: no activation server, no cloud login, and the public filter lists keep updating without us
Firewalla: Its box software is published on GitHub, under an open-source licence (AGPL-3.0)

Feature	WOMBATS Shield	Firewalla
Subscription	None — bought once	No monthly fee for standard features
Built for	Households and families	Professional and business networks, and small networks — in its own description
Setup	About fifteen minutes with your modem’s admin login. It works with the modems in most Australian homes; with Starlink, eero and other routers you can only set up in a phone app, talk to us before ordering	Set up and managed in the Firewalla app
Blocking ads and adult content	Ads, trackers, adult content and phishing blocked on every device, on by default	A built-in ad blocker, and content filtering that covers adult content
Who sees your family’s lookups	No DNS company, by default. At home your Shield looks websites up itself (recursive DNS, from the internet’s root servers); when Edge or Vault is on borrowed Wi-Fi, lookups are encrypted to a provider you choose. Your internet provider still sees which sites you connect to.	Offers encrypted lookups (DNS over HTTPS) and a recursive resolver on the box (Unbound)
Parental controls	Parent-first, from your phone. Every model: whole-home filtering, SafeSearch and app blocking, plus per-device pause and schedules. Edge and Vault add filtering, SafeSearch and app blocking per device. Apps built to stay online, TikTok and Meta's among them, are closed on their main route and their backup routes, and the popular apps are re-tested every month.	Blocks social networking, games and adult content, with schedules and time limits
Storage, backups and media	Shield Edge (on your own USB drive) and Vault: family file storage and streaming to your TV (Jellyfin, DLNA). Shield Vault: a built-in 256 GB drive — encrypted, with encryption switched on when you first set up the drive — and Time Machine backups for Macs.	Not part of its line-up, which is firewalls, a Wi-Fi access point and a network switch
Travel Wi-Fi	Your own filtered Wi-Fi in hotels and Airbnbs: Edge over a cable; Vault cable-free, even on networks with a login page	Purple SE and Orange are made to take with you, to secure public Wi-Fi
Filtering that follows the kids’ phones	On Shield Vault — Follow-Me Filtering: your rules on the kids' phones away from home, through a free app. The phone's owner can switch it off, and it depends on your home internet. Most phones connect straight back to your Shield. If your internet connection has no public IP address (Starlink, many 5G and mobile broadband plans, hotel Wi-Fi), the phone connects through our relay in Australia instead — it only routes the connection, it's end-to-end encrypted, it can see a phone's IP address and when it is connected (which we don't log), and there's no subscription.	Its built-in VPN server (OpenVPN or WireGuard) lets phones connect back through your home network, with no monthly fee
Advanced network tools	Deliberately not the focus	Yes — VPN server and client, network segmentation and traffic flows
Where it’s from	Designed and engineered in Australia. AUD pricing with GST included, free AU/NZ dispatch, a 30-day home trial for AU & NZ households, a 12-month warranty plus Australian Consumer Law, and security updates until at least 31 december 2029	A US company based in San Jose, California. It ships internationally from warehouses in the US and Asia, and its online store can show prices in AUD
If the company disappears	Keeps working: no activation server, no cloud login, and the public filter lists keep updating without us	Its box software is published on GitHub, under an open-source licence (AGPL-3.0)

Founding Edition

Protection from $424 AUD, inc GST (Shield Core) · storage and media from $524 (Shield Edge, with your own USB drive) · Shield Vault $724

Founding prices for the first 20 numbered Shields, locked in for life. Standard prices from unit 21: Core $574 · Edge $664 · Vault $914, plus $25 delivery in Australia.

Pay in 4: From $106.00 a fortnight with Afterpay or PayPal, interest-free — or Zip, with weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments on Zip's terms. The total is the same either way.

30-day home trial for households in Australia and New Zealand · 12-month warranty plus Australian Consumer Law · Security updates until at least 31 December 2029

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Compare all three models →What owners say →

Common questions.

Is Firewalla a bad product?

No — it’s a good one, built for a different job. Its own site describes it as a cybersecurity firewall for professional and business networks. Shield is built for households that want the outcome without the project.

Does WOMBATS Shield have a VPN server or firewall rules like Firewalla?

Advanced network tooling isn’t Shield’s focus. Every Shield filters the whole home and has parental controls; Shield Edge and Vault add storage, media and travel Wi-Fi. If a VPN server or network segmentation is your priority, Firewalla is the better fit.

What happens to each if the company behind it shuts down?

Your Shield keeps working: there is no required activation server, no cloud login and no subscription that can lapse, and the filter lists it uses are public and continue updating without us. Firewalla publishes the software for its boxes on GitHub, under an open-source licence (AGPL-3.0).

What does an Australian company add here?

AUD pricing with GST included, free AU/NZ dispatch, a 30-day home trial for AU & NZ households, a 12-month warranty plus Australian Consumer Law, and support in your timezone — by WhatsApp message or email.

This comparison is based on publicly available information from each maker’s own website and documentation, reviewed 14 September 2026. Firewalla is a trademark of its owner; WOMBATS Shield has no affiliation with, and no endorsement from, the companies or projects mentioned. Spot something outdated or unfair? Email hello@wombatss.com and we’ll fix it.