NETGEAR FVG318 ProSafe 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8

by Netgear

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 9.9 x 1.6 inches ; 2.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000B5LQCA
• Item model number: FVG318NA
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,852 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The NETGEAR FVG318 ProSafe 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8 offers: An 802.11g wireless access point. Stateful Packet Inspection firewall. Eight-port 10/100 Mbps switch. Eight simultaneous VPN connections.

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.

The compact FVG318 offers wired and wireless connectivity, a VPN appliance, and an SPI firewall. View larger.

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.

Product Description

8 x 10/100Base-TX LAN, 1 x 10/100Base-TX WAN - Wireless VPN/Firewall

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Received old version from Amazon, July 8, 2008

By 

Just Some Guy (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NETGEAR FVG318 ProSafe 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8 (Personal Computers)

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

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the effort..., August 20, 2008

By 

Dave S (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NETGEAR FVG318 ProSafe 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8 (Personal Computers)

While researching this product, I found many, many negative reviews. But, in the end, being able to get a Netgear VPN, firewall, router and wireless capability for 100 dollars less than buying the VPN and wireless access point separately was too much to pass up. As I have often found with networking (especially wireless) products, the underlying issue of the large number of negative reviews is people's lack of understanding of networking and/or inability to properly configure the device. In the case of this device, the configuration issue did turn out to be quite a headache, but the persistence was well worth it. If you are having trouble getting it configured, especially the part of upgrading the firmware, check out some of the reviews on NewEgg-- it made the difference for me. Once I got the firmware upgraded, the rest of the configuration was very similar to all the other Netgear products I own, and it has been a very solid performer for over a month now.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Does not work as advertised, September 30, 2007

By 

I. Chun - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NETGEAR FVG318 ProSafe 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8 (Personal Computers)

I retruned the product to Amazon and have not yet received my credit for the return.

The product did not work as advertised. Would not retain configuration across cold boots of the device. When ever there was a power failure I had to reconfigure the device. I had purchased two of them and both of them had the problem.

The DDNS does not work. Netgear acknowedgeds the problem, however, they are not willing to put out a firmware release to fix it. Instead they suggested I purchase another one of their products which was less secure, but has DDNS that worked. This after nearly two weeks of dealing with technical support with speech that I could hardly understand and that did not even know about the DDNS feature.