NETGEAR FVX538 ProSafe VPN Firewall 200

by Netgear

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 17 x 9.8 x 4.2 inches ; 4.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00076ZV38
• Item model number: FVX538NA
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,888 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 24, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer High Performance, Manageable Dual WAN Security Firewall
At the heart of your office network, NETGEAR's high performance security appliance, ProSafe VPN Firewall 200 offers a complete security solution for small and medium sized companies. This rack-mountable, Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall is equipped with support for up to 200 security associations (VPN tunnels). The FVX538 can serve as a DHCP Server, supports Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Quality of Service (QoS) and has a powerful SPI firewall to protect your PCs against intruders and most common Internet attacks.

Featuring eight auto-sensing 10/100 Mbps LAN ports, one Gigabit LAN port and two 10/100 WAN ports, the ProSafe VPN Firewall FVX538 lets multiple computers in your office share two Internet connections. The dual WAN ports let you connect a second Internet line as a backup to insure that you're never disconnected. Or, use both Internet ports at the same time, and let the router balance your office's requirements between them for maximum bandwidth efficiency. One LAN port can be dedicated as a hardware DMZ port for safely providing services to the Internet without compromising security on your LAN. With enterprise-class 90+ Mbps firewall and up to 100 Mbps VPN throughput, the FVX538 is an ideal headquarter security solution for companies that need rock solid network protection and fast, secure VPN access for remote employees and branch offices at a cost-effective price point. NETGEAR's timesaving VPN Wizard and SmartWizard simplify setup and VPN administration. Includes, at no extra cost, the ProSafe VPN Client software 5-user license Richer Security Virtual Private Network Consortium (VPNC) tested and certified VPN supports secure data connectivity and transmission over the Internet and ensures interoperability with many other popular security products. The FVX538 also employs the Cavium Networks NITROX security processor to offload the CPU for near wire-speed VPN throughput and blazing fast tunnel setup. Future firmware upgrades will support anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-spyware policy enforcement, a robust intrusion detection system (IDS) as well as the option to use SSL VPN.

See a detailed diagram of how the FVX538 ProSafe VPN Firewall Router can be set up.

Capacity To Spare
Dual WAN ports support two broadband connections. A second WAN port supports an additional broadband connection. This second WAN connection may be configured as a failover connection in case the primary connection fails or can be used to balance the workload by distributing traffic across the two connections for optimal per user bandwidth.

Superior Value and Usability
Competitively priced and SNMP manageable, convenient VPN Wizard gathers basic information about your networks and recommends a VPN solution with supporting instructions. Optimized for NETGEAR's ProSafe VPN Client software - a five user license is included.

Product Description

High Performance, Manageable Dual WAN Security Firewall. At the heart of your office network, NETGEAR's high performance security appliance, ProSafe™ VPN Firewall 200 offers a complete security solution for small and medium sized companies. This rack-mountable, Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall is equipped with support for up to 200 security associations (VPN tunnels). The FVX538 can serve as a DHCP Server, supports Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Quality of Service (QoS) and has a powerful SPI firewall to protect your PCs against intruders and most common Internet attacks. Featuring eight auto-sensing 10/100 Mbps LAN ports, one Gigabit LAN port and two 10/100 WAN ports, the ProSafe VPN Firewall FVX538 lets multiple computers in your office share two Internet connections. The dual WAN ports let you connect a second Internet line as a backup to insure that you're never disconnected. Or, use both Internet ports at the same time, and let the router balance your office's requirements between them for maximum bandwidth efficiency. One LAN port can be dedicated as a hardware DMZ port for safely providing services to the Internet without compromising security on your LAN. With enterprise-class 90+ Mbps firewall and up to 100 Mbps VPN throughput, the FVX538 is an ideal headquarter security solution for companies that need rock solid network protection and fast, secure VPN access for remote employees and branch offices at a cost-effective price point. NETGEAR's timesaving VPN Wizard and SmartWizard¿ simplify setup and VPN administration. Includes, at no extra cost, the ProSafe VPN Client software 5-user license, a $150 value.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unreliable - drops connection, January 22, 2007

By 

Don Awalt - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NETGEAR FVX538 ProSafe VPN Firewall 200 (Personal Computers)

While I have been very pleased with the performance of this product, configuration and setup was very easy, and even updates to the device are easy to do, it's not reliable.

It seems that every 3 or 4 days I lose connection to the Internet. This is a 7 PC network, couple of servers. There really isn't huge bandwidth being used. But it is like it gets frozen - you can't ping it, you can't get to anything on the outside like the gateway or DNS servers, and a simple power reset gets it working again.

Nothing is in the log, I have to believe this is some sort of firmware problem. I have checked all the ideas on Netgear's site without help. I know at least some of the time it freezes during the middle of the night, when no one is using it. Could it be getting zapped from the outside somehow? But it sure is not reliable, I can't recommend it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A solid product, April 7, 2007

By 

DWE (SoCalif) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NETGEAR FVX538 ProSafe VPN Firewall 200 (Personal Computers)

The other review for this item might scare you into not buying it, but we installed one of these firewalls to protect my employers network and it has performed flawlessly. We liked it's gigabit capability, and that it can be connected to 2 internet sources for redundancy or to increase capacity. We also like it's construction, which is a solid metal cabinet which seems to shed heat nicely and has enough heft to say put if it's simply set of a shelf.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works lke a champ!, September 30, 2008

By 

Broadrun Technologies, LLC - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NETGEAR FVX538 ProSafe VPN Firewall 200 (Personal Computers)

I am a Netgear fan. I have a lot of equipment in my home, and have always found Netgear to be a reliable brand that just works! I had a fvs318 that worked great for years, but could not keep up with my upgraded Internet connection. I got 29M out of the modem, but it petered out to 7M by the time it got to the desktop. A new fvs318 made no difference. This baby hums! 29M right to my desktop with easy setup. I DO wish it had ore than one Gigabit port, but that's a minor hassle.