NETGEAR FWG114P ProSafe 802.11g Wireless VPN Firewall 4-Port 10/100 Switch with USB Server Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've applied the new flash upgrade, and performance is still quite good. Most of my comments from January still apply. Setup is quick, Citrix & terminal services work without modification, and I can connect to my main office via Cisco VPN client. Games are still working too.
As with most vendors, I suspect you'll have better compatibility if you use a Netgear WiFi NIC with this unit. I can get it to work with a Cisco Aironet NIC, but I cannot get WPA encryption to work. WEP (for what it's worth) works, but I'll probably have to spring for the corresponding Netgear NIC if I want to move to WPA.
The print server took a hit with the flash upgrade, however. Now it will only work as long as the PCs using it never reboot. If they do, you lose the connection to the print server until the firewall is rebooted. Tech support has been, um, less than helpful in resolving the issue. For that reason, my rating still stands at 4 stars. I strongly recommend you check the printer compatibility list on Netgear's site before you count on this as a print server.
A couple of other notes:
- The firewall is solid. I'm a networking guy, and I've tried to hack my way in a couple of times. Nothing's perfect, but this is a good solution in the home or very small business market. The worst I've been able to do against this unit is a denial of service, which disabled the Internet connection to my home network until I rebooted the unit.
- If you plan to use MSN Messenger 6.2 and/or Windows XP's Remote Assistance, you'll need to enable UPnP on this unit, which is a bit annoying, but more of a Microsoft issue.
- The e-mail logging is VASTLY improved over that of the previous flash. My logs are much more manageable, and the number of false-positive security alert messages is minimal.
- You can now create up to two remote access VPN tunnels with the new flash. I tried it and it works, although as a home user I can't imagine ever needing that feature. Difficult to set up, though, so unless you have a solid understanding of IPSEC VPN protocols, good luck.
Still, I believe this is a good unit for a home office. For me, combining the functions of print server, wireless access point, and hardware firewall into a single device make it worth the price.

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NETGEAR FVS338 ProSafe VPN Firewall 50 Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought 2 of these for vpn tunnel between 2 offices, after updating to the june 2007 firmware everything worked like a charm. I share IP based phone system, Ip based camera system, and exchange servers between the two offices, the vpn works great between both offices. Everything works no problems. Maybe this model had problems before but it seems great to me now... Oh another thing I called up netgear support to help me setup the vpn and they practically setup my vpn on both ends by remote login. They made sure everything worked and even called me next day to make sure everything was working fine. All I did later was change the passwords and the vpn key. Overall a good buy.

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50 VPN Tunnels for Encrypted Remote Access.NETGEAR's ProSafe™ VPN Firewall with Dial Back-up is a SNMP-Manageable, high-performance network solution that furnishes multidimensional security. Fully equipped and broadband-capable, this Virtual Private Network (VPN) firewall comes with connection insurance: a built-in serial port for dial-up access. This practical feature means your business can maintain operation if your broadband Internet connection fails.It lets you retain an analog modem for emergency backup and also provides a migration path from analog to broadband, making the transition effortless.High on security, this true firewall provides Denial of Service (DoS) protection and Intrusion Detection using Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), URL keyword filtering, logging, reporting, and real-time alerts. It supports up to 50 IPSec VPN tunnels simultaneously using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), reducing your operating costs and improving the security of your network. With 8 auto-sensing, Auto Uplink switched LAN ports and Network Address Translation (NAT) routing, up to 253 users can access your broadband connection at the same time.

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NETGEAR FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall 8 with 8-Port 10/100 Switch Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have been using the Netgear FVS318 router firewall for over a month now with not one glitch. For the money, this is an amazing bargain considering it is a true SPI firewall and a certified ipsec VPN endpoint for eight tunnels included with a eight port switch! The quality of Netgear products are also commendable.
We had it up and running in less than fifteen minutes. My son configured two ipsec vpn tunnels with his friends networks using Linksys VPN routers in short order and I have one configured to my Windows 2000 computer at work that is behind a nat router using Windows 2000 built in ipsec capabilities. All three of our ipsec tunnels have proven to be reliable. I also have no problems using remote desktop through port 3389 or going to my pptp Windows 2000 vpn server through port 1723 behind the FVS318.
We have not experienced any of the problems that other reviewers have, but we have experience configuring these kinds of devices. The FVS318 has fairly extensive built in logging though it does not store much information itself but it can be configured to transfer log information to another computer and can even send you an email alert if certain attacks are detected. It has configurable services based on ports and protocols that are used to create port forwarding to inbound services and block outbound services. However you are limited to 16 services. It can control outbound traffic which is very important to defend against undetected trojans or users [and kids] running things like file swapping or other unapproved applications that access the internet. Internet access can be even controlled by a day/time schedule. If your network is fairly simple, a default block all rule could be created [which must be at the end of the list] and then you can specify what outbound services are allowed. It is also possible to deny a computer or address range of computers from having internet access while allowing others full access. Though the block services is a great addition to this device, it is somewhat limited if you have more than a few variations of configurations compared to a more sophisticated [and much more expensive] soho firewall, and the services can not be configured to use certain ip address/subnet destinations for outbound control which should not be a big deal for most home/small office users. However inbound services/port mapping can be configure to come from specific ip address/subnet. That is an important security feature. For instance if you open an internal computer for remote managment, you can configure the FVS318 to accept connections from only one ip address, which will keep everyone else on the internet from trying to connect and guess your password!
I am very impressed with the Netgear FVS318. Being a true SPI firewall and ipsec VPN endpoint with all the other feaures it has in a quality package, I can highly recommend it to anyone that wants a bargain priced internet device that is a big step up from the consumer grade nat routers.

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The NETGEAR FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall 8 with 8-Port 10/100 Switch offers the small office a space-saving design combining wired connectivity, a NAT router, VPN appliance, SPI firewall, and an eight-port 10/100 Mbps Ethernet switch.
Wired and Wireless Connectivity The FVS318 has a built-in switch, with eight 10/100 Mbps auto-sensing, Auto Uplink ports. With Network Address Translation (NAT) routing, up to 253 users can simultaneously access your connection.
High-class Security For businesses that require more than just a simple NAT router, the FVS318 offers significantly more protection. It provides: a Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall to prevent Denial of Service attacks, an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), the ability to block Java/URL/ActiveX based on extension, and FTP/SMTP/RPC program filtering.
The FVS318 has eight dedicated VPN tunnels to protect links between remote locations, encrypting the data between them. IPSec-based encryption up to 256 bit is also supported. This lets you easily create secure connections to branch offices or mobile workforces.
Easy Setup Even with all the functionality the FVS318 provides, NETGEAR makes setup a breeze with the intuitive Smart Wizard that connects you to your ISP quickly. The web-based configuration screen is easy-to-use and requires no additional software. DHCP and PPPoE support makes widespread deployment simple.
The NETGEAR FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall 8 with 8-Port 10/100 Switch is backed by a 3-year warranty.
What's in the Box FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall, power adapter, category 5 ethernet cable, installation guide, resource CD, warranty/support information card.

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ZyXEL ZyWALL 5 Internet Security Firewall Appliance With 4 10/100 Fast Ethernet Ports and 10 IPSec VPN Tunnels Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased a Zywall 5 VPN server to replace an older Linux Freeswan solution. It took about a month to set up in my corporate environment, which likely differs greatly from the Zywall's intended configuration.
The Zywall 5 assumes that it is the default gateway to the Internet, and thus lacks the capability of answering ARP requests for its connected VPN clients (which are configured with virtual IP addresses in the same subnet as the LAN). The Linux Freeswan solution could be configured to answer ARP requests for connected VPN clients. Working around this problem required adding an additional network card to the internal LAN firewall, attaching the Zywall to that LAN card, and configuring the internal firewall to forward packets destined to the connected VPN clients directly to the Zywall. This was not as clean as the Linux Freeswan solution, but it worked.
The Zywall 5 supports X.509 VPN certificates, but requires that a certificate authority be set up on a Windows 2000 server to generate the appropriate certificates for the Zywall and VPN clients. This is a bit awkward to accomplish, considering that the same was possible with just a couple command line entries on the Linux Freeswan box.
It is easy to accidentally misconfigure the Zywall, such that the web and telnet interfaces are no longer accessible, requiring a connection with a serial cable to undo the settings. This happened more than once when trying to make the Zywall send packets back to attached VPN clients.
While the Zywall supports up to 10 simultaneous clients, there are severe limitations. Preshared keys cannot be used with road warrior connections (where the client's IP address changes with each connection). X.509 certificates can be used with road warrior connections, but the same client X.509 certificate must be used for all road warriors (this makes it hard to revoke a certificate should a laptop be stolen). The Zywall supports RADIUS authentication in addition to certificates, so that somewhat resolves the need to share certificates. Multiple road warriors can simultaneous connect using the same VPN rule configured in the Zywall.
The Zywall at my site sits behind an external routing firewall. Some of the Zywall's NAT features appear to be buggy in this configuration, directing return VPN packets at the external routing firewall, rather than to the connected VPN client's IP address.
Bandwidth limitation capabilities help prevent attached VPN clients on high speed cable or DSL connections from completely saturating the corporate Internet connection.
Based on my experience with configuring Linux IPTABLES firewalls on the Freeswan box, the firewall on the Zywall is a challenge to set up correctly. Instead of referring to the encrypted network interface connection as IPSEC0 as on the Freeswan box, the Zywall uses verbose descriptions such as (LAN to LAN / Zywall), (LAN to WAN), (LAN to DMZ), (WAN to LAN), (WAN to WAN / Zywall), (WAN to DMZ), (DMZ to LAN), (DMZ to WAN), and (DMZ to DMZ / Zywall) - determining which setting to use in order to restrict traffic between the corporate LAN and a connected VPN client based on the documentation is difficult (even though the manual is 500+ pages). I had to disable the Zywall's firewall to resolve connectivity issues, and rely on the internal firewall to control traffic destined to connected VPN clients. Maybe if one of the verbose descriptions were labeled (LAN to VPN Client) it would be easier to set up the firewall.
The Zywall 5 supports time synchronization to Internet time servers, which is a required feature to keep the time from rapidly drifting from the correct time. Time synchronization is not always successful, nor does it always use the specified time server.
Once the device's limitations are determined, and it is set up to work around those limitations, the Zywall 5 performs very well for its intended purpose with clients using Safenet SoftRemote VPN software.

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Cisco RV016 16-port 10/100 VPN Router - Multi WAN Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I use this router on our main network of about 40 permanent users and another 20 or so users (clients) that come and go. At any one time it is negotiating 50 to 65 users via DHCP through four 24 port managed switches about ten 4 to 8 port hubs and six WAP's. Clients come and go everyday, some with Mac's others with PC's and I never have to do anything to get them on the internet. In the two years it has been in service I think that I rebooted it once and I'm not positive that it was the problem since I will reboot the modem, switches and router together. Occasionally things do get turned off for maintenance, but looking at the router admin page right now it has been running 54 days straight. I have to say it is much more stable than other small routers that advertise delivering 99 DHCP address's but really can only deliver about 10 without having to use static IP's. It's powerful browser interface lets you manage port bandwidth, port function and port priority easily. Some departments need more or less speed or higher priority. Security notifications via email keep me on top of potential attacks. The effect on speed due to security features was negligible. The "Block WAN request" even keeps our own ISP from seeing us. All these things are simple to setup. As a basic router it is very powerful.
The only short coming that I see is with the load balancing. This seems to really slow the speed significantly. I think that it is just too much for the CPU to handle. My intention was to have two different ISP's for redundancy. As a fix I leave both providers connected but only activate one WAN port at a time. If one WAN goes down I can quickly activate the other WAN port without anyone really being affected. The other ISP is mainly used for FTP anyway.
On the problems with VPN's, we don't use them so I can't comment on that.
In closing, you could spend thousands to get some of the features that facilitate subnets and load balancing, for the price it works very well.
Update: I have since purchased a second RV016 (firmware 2.0.13) with the same solid performance. I've read about some of the problems that others are having and would say that compatibility with other vendors is an issue to consider. Also using switches versus hubs takes some of the load off the routers CPU.
Update 2: We now own three routers without problem. I know that some have complained about customer service and I have to agree it's lacking. But what I would tell less experienced users is that the Sitemap column on the right side of the browser interface has extensive explanations of all the settings. This combined with a little experimentation should get you where you need to be. The file sharing problems that another reviewer had has nothing to do with the router, it's all about the computer settings. Another reviewer commented on customer service asking about the color of the cables. In the early days of DSL and daisy chaining hubs, crossover cables were used and they were generally orange or yellow and will not work with most equipment.

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WAN VPN Router, formerly part of the Linksys Business Series, is designed and built for small businesses. It provides connection sharing and secure remote access at the heart of your network to allow your employees to access the resources they need to be productive. Multiple WAN ports can be used for load balancing and redundancy. Strong security features include VPN, a proven firewall, and an optional security service that helps fight spam, viruses, and other threats. The built-in switch can connect devices in the office or additional switches.

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D-Link DIR-330 NetDefend 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8 4-Port 10/100Mbps Switch Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is the absolute worst product I ever bought. I bought it explicitly for the VPN accessibility. I never got that to work. If you have to forward a port..make sure you know what you're doing cause once you choose the port, you can't go back and change it.
Also, which was rather nice (sarcastic)....the people in support were able to establish a vpn connection to my router but I couldn't. I used 3 different machines with the trial software they recommend. Their solution was that instead of using the trial software..BUY their product and then try it.
I never write reviews but I don't want anyone getting screwed with this thing.

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NETGEAR FVG318 ProSafe 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I too had a poor experience with this device. There are a LOT of updates and fixes available for the problems described by the other reviewer, but unfortunately they are only available for the "V2" device. Amazon shares part of the blame for the problem since I ordered my device WELL after the V2 released but Amazon sent me one of the "old stock" V1 devices.
After performing all possible V1 updates, tuning, tweaks, etc. I was ready to return the device. I decided that I would give the V2 firmware a try (yes, it may void your warranty, but if the device is an absolute piece of trash anyway...)
The "good news" is that the V2 firmware loaded just fine and performs "as advertised" - just no warranty. DDNS actually works for me with the V2 firmware, and all my VPN tunnels also all work without any issues. My device is used in a light business / heavy home user environment with 5 persistent VPN tunnels and I have not noticed any performance related issues, random resets, or dropped connections after the V2 flash upgrade.
Shame on Netgear for not offering an upgrade path from V1 to V2 (partial credit or something).
Shame on Netgear for not supporting the V2 software on the V1 device (since the V2 software is the only thing that makes the device usable).
Shame on Amazon for not returning all their old stock to Netgear and offering their customers the latest version of the product - my main complaint here is that if I purchase a book that has multiple revisions, at least I am told, and therfore able to select which revision of the book I would like to purchase. This was not the case with my purchase of the firewall.
CM

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The NETGEAR FVG318 ProSafe 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8 offers the small office an all-in-one solution in a space-saving design combining wired and wireless connectivity, a NAT router, VPN appliance, SPI firewall, and an eight-port Ethernet switch.
Wired and Wireless Connectivity The FVG318 functions as a 802.11g wireless access point, supporting speeds up to 108 Mbps with Super G technology. A detachable 5dBi antenna is included. The device also has a built-in switch, with eight 10/100 Mbps auto-sensing, Auto Uplink ports.
High-class Security For businesses that require more than just a simple NAT router, the FVG318 offers significantly more protection. It provides: a Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall to prevent Denial of Service attacks, an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), the ability to block Java/URL/ActiveX based on extension, and FTP/SMTP/RPC program filtering.
The FVG318 has eight dedicated VPN tunnels to protect links between remote locations, encrypting the data between them. IPSec-based 256-bit encryption is also supported.
The wireless network is protected by Wi-Fi Protect Access 2 Enterprise (WPA2), the highest available industry-standard encryption. Specific addresses, services, protocols, ports, and URLs can be filtered or block for further security.
Easy Setup Even with all the functionality the FVG318 provides, NETGEAR makes setup a breeze with intuitive Smart Wizards. Additionally, SNMP support provides complete remote administration. The FVG318 would be an ideal foundation for a small network, but it also works well integrated into an existing larger one. DHCP and PPPoE support makes widespread deployment simple.
The NETGEAR FVG318 ProSafe 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8 is backed by a 3-year warranty.
What's in the Box FVG318 ProSafe Wireless VPN Firewall, detachable 5 dBi antenna, AC power adapter, ethernet cable, user guide, resource CD, warranty/support information card.

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Netgear FR114P Firewall Cable/DSL Router with Print Server Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I read the other reviews here with some dismay before I bought this unit. I decided to go ahead with the purchase because I had spent a lot of time researching router/switch combos with print server capability and true SPI firewall capability. There are not a lot of reasonably priced options out there. In summary this unit has performed like a dream. I had two PC's, a NIC laserprinter, and a parallel port printer (via print server) all plugged in, configured with my DSL service, and all up and running in less than 30 minutes. Please note that BEFORE I purchased this unit I made 3 separate "pre-sales" calls to Netgear tech support and received what I considered to be good information in each instance (I even placed a call at 3am one morning to check if they really were 24/7). Read the installation guide from cover to cover BEFORE you actually DO anything and you will probably find (as I did) that this is a no-brainer deal.

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The Netgear FR11P ProSafe firewall/print server is a true, broadband-capable firewall that provides you with the utmost in business-class security--Denial of Service protection and intrusion detection using Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), URL access and content filtering, logging, reporting, and real-time alerts. VPN pass-through maximizes network security with access control and encryption. And a built-in print server removes the bottleneck of a dedicated PC print server and supports multiple print jobs simultaneously. With four auto sensing, switched LAN ports and Network Address Translation (NAT) routing, up to 253 users can access your broadband connection at the same time. There's even a 100 Mbps WAN port for future high-speed broadband services. Smart Wizard and Install Assistant get your network up and running in minutes, and a complete antivirus software bundle is included at no extra cost to shield your network with additional protection.

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