Need recommendations: small business router
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Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Given the above, the SA520 would be the device I would go with. If you need more ports, you can attach it to one of their small business Gig-E switches (if you need a model number let me know).
These things are a BREEZE to configure compared to their IOS counterparts. They run Linux and have a very intuitive web GUI that will have you up and running very quickly.
I recommend these products particularly if you intend on setting them up yourself. If it was me doing the roll-out, you'd get the 1941 with an EHWIC, and a Catalyst 2960 48-port Gig-E switch. But I'm not doing the install, and that stuff is not friendly to configure by any stretch of the imagination.
The SA520 is plenty affordable too!
Thanks again for your help. I have some further questions if you still have time.
On the comparison page for the Cisco SA500 series that you linked, I'm looking at the throughput numbers for the firewall. Am I correct in reading this as the maximum bandwidth the routers can provide (between the network and the Internet) with the firewall enabled? If so, since both FIOS lines combined don't even approach 200 Mbps, is it safe to say the SA540 won't offer any advantages over the SA520 in that respect?
Also, the comparison page says that the second WAN port is "optional." Does this mean I need to purchase something extra to use it, or simply that I don't have to use it?
Nope, no need to purchase anything. It is a port on the device that can be configured as a WAN port or something else.
Note the description: "1 optional port for use as LAN, WAN, or DMZ port".
Pic of the rear of the SA520W:
And nope, no benefit to moving up to the big girl if you aren't going to max out the 520.
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Given the above, the SA520 would be the device I would go with. If you need more ports, you can attach it to one of their small business Gig-E switches (if you need a model number let me know).
These things are a BREEZE to configure compared to their IOS counterparts. They run Linux and have a very intuitive web GUI that will have you up and running very quickly.
I recommend these products particularly if you intend on setting them up yourself. If it was me doing the roll-out, you'd get the 1941 with an EHWIC, and a Catalyst 2960 48-port Gig-E switch. But I'm not doing the install, and that stuff is not friendly to configure by any stretch of the imagination.
The SA520 is plenty affordable too!
Thanks again for your help. I have some further questions if you still have time.
On the comparison page for the Cisco SA500 series that you linked, I'm looking at the throughput numbers for the firewall. Am I correct in reading this as the maximum bandwidth the routers can provide (between the network and the Internet) with the firewall enabled? If so, since both FIOS lines combined don't even approach 200 Mbps, is it safe to say the SA540 won't offer any advantages over the SA520 in that respect?
Also, the comparison page says that the second WAN port is "optional." Does this mean I need to purchase something extra to use it, or simply that I don't have to use it?
Nope, no need to purchase anything. It is a port on the device that can be configured as a WAN port or something else.
Note the description: "1 optional port for use as LAN, WAN, or DMZ port".
Pic of the rear of the SA520W:
And nope, no benefit to moving up to the big girl if you aren't going to max out the 520.
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Not sure what do you mean by a good company, they bought 3COM
3COM is currently owned by HP.
Quote:
In 2006, 3Com bought out Huawei’s stake in H3C. The following year, investment firm Bain Capital teamed up with Huawei on a $2.2 billion bid to acquire 3Com.
But federal regulators blocked the bid because 3Com owns TippingPoint, a maker of network security gear used by the US Department of Defense.
The regulators noted Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese government and worried that Huawei might help Chinese intelligence officials circumvent TippingPoint technology.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/11/12/3com_to_be_sold_to_hp_for_27b/
Not sure what do you mean by a good company, they bought 3COM
3COM is currently owned by HP.
Quote:
In 2006, 3Com bought out Huawei’s stake in H3C. The following year, investment firm Bain Capital teamed up with Huawei on a $2.2 billion bid to acquire 3Com.
But federal regulators blocked the bid because 3Com owns TippingPoint, a maker of network security gear used by the US Department of Defense.
The regulators noted Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese government and worried that Huawei might help Chinese intelligence officials circumvent TippingPoint technology.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/11/12/3com_to_be_sold_to_hp_for_27b/
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Originally Posted By: brianl703
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Not sure what do you mean by a good company, they bought 3COM
3COM is currently owned by HP.
Quote:
In 2006, 3Com bought out Huawei’s stake in H3C. The following year, investment firm Bain Capital teamed up with Huawei on a $2.2 billion bid to acquire 3Com.
But federal regulators blocked the bid because 3Com owns TippingPoint, a maker of network security gear used by the US Department of Defense.
The regulators noted Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese government and worried that Huawei might help Chinese intelligence officials circumvent TippingPoint technology.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/11/12/3com_to_be_sold_to_hp_for_27b/
Brian:
There is a really good article on 3COM's China involvement. I can't find it at the moment, but it is also from 2009. Essentially, their plans were to leverage China to turn themselves into a viable competitor to Cisco.
Obviously that didn't happen.
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Not sure what do you mean by a good company, they bought 3COM
3COM is currently owned by HP.
Quote:
In 2006, 3Com bought out Huawei’s stake in H3C. The following year, investment firm Bain Capital teamed up with Huawei on a $2.2 billion bid to acquire 3Com.
But federal regulators blocked the bid because 3Com owns TippingPoint, a maker of network security gear used by the US Department of Defense.
The regulators noted Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese government and worried that Huawei might help Chinese intelligence officials circumvent TippingPoint technology.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/11/12/3com_to_be_sold_to_hp_for_27b/
Brian:
There is a really good article on 3COM's China involvement. I can't find it at the moment, but it is also from 2009. Essentially, their plans were to leverage China to turn themselves into a viable competitor to Cisco.
Obviously that didn't happen.
Yes, apparently because some Federal regulators said "no".
Why does the SA520 get poor reviews at a popular vendor site? Buyers don't enough to make it work? Or do they have valid points to consider?
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Originally Posted By: brianl703
Yes, apparently because some Federal regulators said "no".
Yes, apparently. Though I think that is in our best interest. Though I wonder what kinds of inroads, if any, they would have made anyways.
Yes, apparently because some Federal regulators said "no".
Yes, apparently. Though I think that is in our best interest. Though I wonder what kinds of inroads, if any, they would have made anyways.
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Originally Posted By: BearZDefect
Why does the SA520 get poor reviews at a popular vendor site? Buyers don't enough to make it work? Or do they have valid points to consider?
I've had one in service at the shop of my wiring guy for about a year now. It has been flawless.
Why does the SA520 get poor reviews at a popular vendor site? Buyers don't enough to make it work? Or do they have valid points to consider?
I've had one in service at the shop of my wiring guy for about a year now. It has been flawless.
Originally Posted By: brianl703
Yes, apparently because some Federal regulators said "no".
No, bought lobbyist in Cisco and HP's pocket.
Yes, apparently because some Federal regulators said "no".
No, bought lobbyist in Cisco and HP's pocket.
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: brianl703
Yes, apparently because some Federal regulators said "no".
No, bought lobbyist in Cisco and HP's pocket.
Most likely.
Originally Posted By: brianl703
Yes, apparently because some Federal regulators said "no".
No, bought lobbyist in Cisco and HP's pocket.
Most likely.
What I use at a number of consulting customer satellite offices:
A garden variety PC with at least 3 ethernet ports. There's usually one on the motherboard and I buy an extra card with dual ports. This has the advantage of offering almost free hardware if you already have a spare PC laying around.
Then you download and install pfsense:
http://www.pfsense.org
Or you can just order a pre-built one from a company like this:
http://store.netgate.com/1U-IPSU-Netgate-ALIX-single-pfsense-P285C84.aspx
I generally loadbalance 2 WAN links and use it as both the firewall and gateway router for the location. I've got a few of these that have been running 24/7 for a couple of years.
Best,
A garden variety PC with at least 3 ethernet ports. There's usually one on the motherboard and I buy an extra card with dual ports. This has the advantage of offering almost free hardware if you already have a spare PC laying around.
Then you download and install pfsense:
http://www.pfsense.org
Or you can just order a pre-built one from a company like this:
http://store.netgate.com/1U-IPSU-Netgate-ALIX-single-pfsense-P285C84.aspx
I generally loadbalance 2 WAN links and use it as both the firewall and gateway router for the location. I've got a few of these that have been running 24/7 for a couple of years.
Best,
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: brianl703
Yes, apparently because some Federal regulators said "no".
No, bought lobbyist in Cisco and HP's pocket.
In this case, I agree with the refusal. China is actively involved in both military and commercial espionage against the US. Instead of winking at it, I think the US needs to take a firmer line with China. But let's leave the politics out of BITOG.
As someone else mentioned 3COM now belongs to HP. Our HP rep dropped by recently and was talking about the acquisition and how it would broaden their offerings, etc... Personally, I liked the Procurve line of HP switches, but they were a bit light on the layer 3 (routing) end of things. I'm not sure how acquiring a dinosaur like 3Com is going to improve things much. If HP really wanted to become a player in the layer 3-7 networking game, they would have been better off trying to acquire Juniper.
Originally Posted By: brianl703
Yes, apparently because some Federal regulators said "no".
No, bought lobbyist in Cisco and HP's pocket.
In this case, I agree with the refusal. China is actively involved in both military and commercial espionage against the US. Instead of winking at it, I think the US needs to take a firmer line with China. But let's leave the politics out of BITOG.
As someone else mentioned 3COM now belongs to HP. Our HP rep dropped by recently and was talking about the acquisition and how it would broaden their offerings, etc... Personally, I liked the Procurve line of HP switches, but they were a bit light on the layer 3 (routing) end of things. I'm not sure how acquiring a dinosaur like 3Com is going to improve things much. If HP really wanted to become a player in the layer 3-7 networking game, they would have been better off trying to acquire Juniper.
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Originally Posted By: Familyguy
What I use at a number of consulting customer satellite offices:
A garden variety PC with at least 3 ethernet ports. There's usually one on the motherboard and I buy an extra card with dual ports. This has the advantage of offering almost free hardware if you already have a spare PC laying around.
Then you download and install pfsense:
http://www.pfsense.org
Or you can just order a pre-built one from a company like this:
http://store.netgate.com/1U-IPSU-Netgate-ALIX-single-pfsense-P285C84.aspx
I generally loadbalance 2 WAN links and use it as both the firewall and gateway router for the location. I've got a few of these that have been running 24/7 for a couple of years.
Best,
I love PFSense and have a number of Intel Atom-based setups running it. However, in this case, the SA520 with three years of SmartNET would actually be less expensive than the netgate option.... .And has three years of support directly from Cisco. Next-day replacement....etc.
What I use at a number of consulting customer satellite offices:
A garden variety PC with at least 3 ethernet ports. There's usually one on the motherboard and I buy an extra card with dual ports. This has the advantage of offering almost free hardware if you already have a spare PC laying around.
Then you download and install pfsense:
http://www.pfsense.org
Or you can just order a pre-built one from a company like this:
http://store.netgate.com/1U-IPSU-Netgate-ALIX-single-pfsense-P285C84.aspx
I generally loadbalance 2 WAN links and use it as both the firewall and gateway router for the location. I've got a few of these that have been running 24/7 for a couple of years.
Best,
I love PFSense and have a number of Intel Atom-based setups running it. However, in this case, the SA520 with three years of SmartNET would actually be less expensive than the netgate option.... .And has three years of support directly from Cisco. Next-day replacement....etc.
Originally Posted By: Familyguy
What I use at a number of consulting customer satellite offices:
A garden variety PC with at least 3 ethernet ports. There's usually one on the motherboard and I buy an extra card with dual ports. This has the advantage of offering almost free hardware if you already have a spare PC laying around.
Then you download and install pfsense:
http://www.pfsense.org
If one of the network ports on the PC is a wireless port, can it be used in client bridged mode?
What I use at a number of consulting customer satellite offices:
A garden variety PC with at least 3 ethernet ports. There's usually one on the motherboard and I buy an extra card with dual ports. This has the advantage of offering almost free hardware if you already have a spare PC laying around.
Then you download and install pfsense:
http://www.pfsense.org
If one of the network ports on the PC is a wireless port, can it be used in client bridged mode?
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
No, bought lobbyist in Cisco and HP's pocket.
A little protectionism never hurt anyone.
No, bought lobbyist in Cisco and HP's pocket.
A little protectionism never hurt anyone.
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