Advantages: Router and wireless in one package Disadvantages: VPN doesn't work as advertised!
I purchased this router hoping that I'd be able to connect my Hx4700 pocket pc to my local Lan via VPN but unfortunately it didn't work!
As a wireless router I can't say anything wrong about the WRV54G, once you managed to set it up it works a treat. The manual is slightly out of date, with a few extra settings appearing which if set wrong can prevent the router from working properely.
One new setting is the VPN gateway function, this is not listed in the current manual. This function is so that if you have a site where all your traffic must go via a central gateway, ie you use a internet proxy, the router can send all your traffic over a vpn tunnel to that site. The problem comes if you make the mistake of thinking that this function is setting the router up as a gateway to accept VPN connections. If this function is turned ...
Advantages: Good features, VPN support, 10/100 WAN port Disadvantages: Challenging documentation
Not so long ago, you were lucky to have broadband of any speed. Now broadband is getting faster with speeds of 8-10Mbps becoming more common and 24Mbps not so far away. As a result, the current generation of routers for the home or small office are starting to show a weakness - they only have a 10Mbit WAN port for connecting to your ADSL or Cable connection.
The Netgear FVS114 manages to bring a 10/100 Mbps WAN port equipped router to the party with a whole bunch of extra features. As the box proudly proclaims, it combines 8 VPN tunnels, a router, 4 port switch and SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) Firewall in to one compact device in the familiar dark blue metal case that Netgear are famous for. With support for 253 users, there's a lot of power here for the price.
What's in the box
As well as the Netgear FVS114 itself, you get ...
Advantages: Fairly easy to set up, easy to use, reliable, looks good. Disadvantages: Bandwidth Innacurate.
We'd wanted to upgrade our router for a while to cope with Rich playing on his Xbox online mainly as we kept getting lag, which was especially apparent if I was also browsing the net (which I generally was) even to the point of Rich being disconnected mid game. He was getting annoyed with it so when we saw this router on offer at ebuyer.com for £69.99 (but has since gone back up to its previous price of £89.99); I jumped at the chance to get it and now we have it, I thought it was worth writing a review about, so here we are!
My review will be based on my experience of the router, and not a full technological break down of what it is capable of etc as that is readily available online from the manufacturer and would probably bore most people to tears anyway.
The first thing I notice when opening the box is how big the router is ...
Link activity, port transmission speed, alert, CPU Ready
Line Rate
T1/E1
Framing Format
G.703
Expansion / connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free)
2 ( 2 ) x PCI, 2 ( 1 ) x PCI
Interfaces
4 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45
1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 ( WAN )
1 x management - console - RJ-45
Miscellaneous
Cables Included
No power cord is included
Compliant Standards
RoHS
Pricing Type
Remanufactured
Power
Power Device
Power adapter - external
Voltage Required
AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Software / system requirements
Software Included
Nortel VPN Client, Contivity VPN Client For Windows
OS Provided
Contivity OS
Environmental parameters
Min Operating Temperature
0 °C
Max Operating Temperature
40 °C, 50 °C
Humidity Range Operating
10 - 90%
Communications
Type
DSU/CSU - plug-in card
Manufacturer's product description
Nortel VPN Router 1000 Series adapts to several roles in enterprise and carrier networks: basic IP access router, dedicated VPN switch, or firewall. A Nortel platform can evolve from one to another by licensing a software key. Supporting up to 30 tunnels, Nortel VPN 1000 Routers are ideal for bringing branch office and partner locations into a secure corporate network.
