Netgear ProSAFE FVS336G VPN Firewall Review
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Netgear ProSAFE FVS336G is a VPN firewall designed for remote offices, branch offices and remote workers, providing secure network access to headquarters sites. The FVS336G provides businesses with a comprehensive feature set including stateful packet inspection (SPI), multiple VPN traffic lanes, Network Address Translation (NAT), AES encryption, 3DES, Denial of Service (DoS) protection and more. It also provides protection against DoS attacks and unwanted traffic as well as SYSLOG and SNMP, allowing for detailed network monitoring.
Netgear ProSAFE FVS336G is a VPN firewall designed for remote offices, branch offices and remote workers, providing secure network access to headquarters sites. The FVS336G provides businesses with a comprehensive feature set including stateful packet inspection (SPI), multiple VPN traffic lanes, Network Address Translation (NAT), AES encryption, 3DES, Denial of Service (DoS) protection and more. It also provides protection against DoS attacks and unwanted traffic as well as SYSLOG and SNMP, allowing for detailed network monitoring.
The Netgear ProSAFE VPN firewall also comes with various web content filtering options, browsing activity reports, and instant alerts, all of which can be sent via email. In addition, network administrators can set up access policies according to the time of day, specific website addresses, and address keywords.
On the hardware side, the FVS336G features two Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports for load balancing and failover protection for Internet connections, allowing for improved data rate and increased overall reliability. In addition, ProSAFE Firewall includes a built-in four-port Gigabit Ethernet LAN switch to quickly transfer data between local network resources with the ability to support over 200,000 internal or external connections.
The Netgear ProSAFE FVS336G VPN Firewall is priced at around $163 and is backed by Netgear’s ProSAFE Limited Life Warranty.
Netgear ProSAFE VPN Firewall FVS336G Specifications
- Product Number: FVS336G
- Gigabit WAN / LAN Ports: 2/4
- DMZ interfaces (configurable): 1
- Wireless: Not available
- IPv6 Support: Yes
- Transfer rate from LAN to WAN: 350Mbps
- IPsec VPN (3DES) Transfer Speed: 78Mbps
- SSL VPN Transfer Speed: 14Mbps
- Maximum number of simultaneous connections: 10,000
- Maximum number of VLANs: 254
- Dedicated VPN IPsec tunnels: 25
- Dedicated SSL VPN Tunnels: 10
- IPsec VPN
- SSL VPN
- L2TP, PPTP Server
- VPN traffic via: IPsec, PPTP, L2TP
- VPN User Authentication: Active Directory, LDAP, Radius, WIKID, MIAS, NT Domain, Local User Database
- Status Packet Inspection Firewall
- WAN modes: NAT, classic routing
- ISP Address Assignment: DHCP, Static IP Assignment, PPPoE, PPTP
- NAT modes: 1-1, NAT, PAT
- DHCP: static, dynamic, RIPv1, RIPv2
- Routing: DHCP Server, DHCP Relay
- DDNS: DynDNS.org, TZO.com, Oray.net, 3322.org
- VLANs
- Quality of service
- Bandwidth Profiles
- Content filtering (HTTP only)
- WAN failed
design and build
The ProSAFE FVS336G has the same look and feel as other Netgear products, with its simple gray design and metallic frame. The device also feels very sturdy when placed on the floor or on a desk and is very rugged when handled.
The top plate of the VPN firewall is marked with the NETGEAR Prosafe logo as well as the product name. On the front of the device are four LAN Gigabit Ethernet ports and two WAN Ethernet ports with RJ-45 connectors, both featuring Auto N-way Speed Switching and Auto MDI/MDIX. Each port has two LEDs located just above the connector. The left LED indicates a link to a connected Ethernet device, receiving/transmitting data, or if there is no link. Correct LEDs tell users if the LAN/WAN port is operating at 1000, 100, or 10Mbps. Also on the front are DMZ, Power and Test LED lights.
Looking at the back panel, you’ll see a console port used to connect to an optional console station, a factory default reset button to reset the VPN firewall to factory defaults, a cable security lock socket, and an AC power socket (12V, 1.5A) . The product label, located at the bottom of the ProSAFE FVS336G, shows factory default settings, regulatory compliance, and other information a user may need to know.
Ease of use
Installing a VPN firewall can take a lot of work; However, ProSAFE FVS336G can be up and running, configured and up and running fairly quickly due to Netgear’s feature set to simplify installation and management as well as the availability of comprehensive documentation. Some of these features include: automatic ISP detection, which automatically senses the type of Internet connection; IPSec VPN wizard, which allows users to easily configure IPSec VPN tunnels according to the recommendations of the Virtual Private Network Consortium (VPNC); and SNMP, which allows the FVS336G to support Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to monitor and manage log resources from an SNMP-compliant system manager.
The VPN Firewall is specifically designed for use in an office environment in a stand-alone position or mounted in a 19″ equipment rack (comes with a 1U rack mounting kit), allowing it to be placed almost anywhere in the office. Once you have a VPN firewall installed on your network (by connecting the cables and restarting the network), you can connect to and configure your Netgear device via your Internet browser. We used the FVS336G for remote access to our lab.
The web administration interface consists of a variety of useful configuration tools including, Network Configuration, Security, VPN, Users, Administration, Monitoring and Web Support with menus organized in a multi-layered structure of main categories and submenus.
The router status screen provides status and usage information, including the firmware version in the System Information section, which will change to reflect any new version that has been installed. This is also the first page that is displayed when you log into ProSafe VPN Firewall. In addition, LAN IPv4 and IPv6 information will be displayed here.
In the WAN Mod option tab, users can choose either NAT or classic routing, the latter allowing the VPN router to perform non-NAT routing. In order to access the Internet, all computers on your LAN must have a valid static IP address for the Internet.
ProSafe VPN Firewall’s dual WAN ports can also be configured as automatic pass-through (allowing increased system reliability) or load balancing (which provides maximum bandwidth efficiency by evenly managing outgoing traffic between functional WAN interfaces). One port can also be disabled.
The Remote Administration page allows an administrator with Internet access to configure, upgrade, and check the status of the VPN firewall. Once enabled, users simply have to configure the external IP addresses that need to be connected. To allow access from any IP address on the Internet, users will choose the “Everyone” option, while “Range of IP addresses” will be used if a range of IP addresses are needed for access. It should be noted that users have to be logged in locally to enable this feature.
The QoS page specifies the quality of that service for traffic that passes through the VPN firewall. Netgear ProSAFE FVS336G VPN Firewall supports multiple QoS profiles per WAN interface. Users can set profiles for services including HTTP, FTP, DNS, and for LAN groups or IP addresses. These QoS profiles manage either rate control with bandwidth allocation or priority queue control with the following configurable options:
- QoS type: The type of profile, which is either rate control or priority.
- Interface Name: What WAN interface does the profile apply to.
- Service: What service does the profile apply to.
- Direction: What WAN direction does the profile apply to (inbound, outbound, or both).
- Rate: The rate of bandwidth in Kbps, or priority.
- Hosts: The IP address, IP addresses, or group to which the rate control profile applies.
- Action: The Edit Table button gives access to the QoS Edit screen.
conclusion
Small businesses often overlook the importance of firewalls, especially when workers connect to their headquarters from an off-network location. It is fairly common, even nowadays, for these small organizations to be unaware of the benefits of a specially designed device and what it can offer in terms of security. Netgear ProSAFE FVS336G VPN Firewall is designed to make this transition a smooth one with straightforward installation, all while delivering business with a plethora of useful features.
We found the Netgear ProSAFE FVS336G VPN Firewall to be easy to set up and perform very well. The performance was just as high as we’ve seen and come to expect from other Netgear ProSAFE devices we use in the lab. It has a durable design and can be easily concealed without intruding on the visible workspace. The ProSAFE FVS336G offers more features than a traditional router, and it fits well with SOHO or SMB sites, or in our case works perfectly at home to prioritize traffic to the lab for remote management activities.
Positives
- Easy to install and use
- great performance
- WAN load balancing for high performance applications
Negatives
- Moderate learning curve required compared to a home router
bottom line
Netgear ProSAFE FVS336G is a well-functioning VPN firewall that is ideal for small businesses and remote offices.
Netgear ProSAFE FVS336G VPN Firewall on Amazon
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