Customer Reviews

NETGEAR Prosafe Wireless-n Vpn Firewal

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Pros: Easy setup. Great menu navigation. Great SSL VPN client (haven't tested IPsec client but most people probably won't use it.) Super powerful wifi. Very good ProSafe series technical support. Windows 7 32/64 bit VPN support (fixed with Nov 2010 firmware!!) 5 SSL VPN licenses and 5 ipSec. Perfect for small biz. Lifetime hardware warranty. No yearly license fees like other firewall manufacturers.

Cons: "Only" 60 mbps WAN to LAN!? LOL. This may be a "problem" it you have 75/100 meg Fios but for 99% of the world it should be more than AOK. Connected with 35/25 Fios and it hits those numbers with ease.

Other Thoughts: I just did a network job at a office building and replaced 3 old firewalls with 3 of these. (3 separate clients in one building.) Reason being: great price for what you get and Netgear doesn't nickle and dime for every feature. The only things is if you want more ipsec it seems like you need to buy a 5 pack of the software. It does come with one license but really, with the 5 SSL tunnels it comes with, you won't really need IPsec.

Overall, setup was super easy. The manual is very thorough even though there are some typo's. LOL. I had to call support and they were very helpful.

In reading reviews about this router, some people find it complex. To that I say, Read The Fine Manual! Or, "there is no manual included." Tip. Google "SRXN3205 manual" But if you find config complex/difficult then you probably shouldn't be working with this firewall.

VPN Windows 7 compatibility was fixed with firmware Firmware Version: 3.0.6-29 Q4 of 2010.

In short, for those of you looking for a solid business VPN wifi router, this is a "no brainier" at just over $250.

My 2 cents.

I've been doing IT professionally for over 17 years. I have worked with a lot of routers, firewalls, and WiFi access points over the years. This unit has been great. I have deployed four of these units to date. I created a fully meshed WAN (using these routers as IPSEC VPN endpoints) for four remote sites of a medical office. Setup could not have been easier. If someone says the setup was difficult, it was in all likelihood a testament to their lack of experience or skill. If you expect the hardware vendor to hold your hand while you configure these units you are expecting too much. Hire a professional that knows what he or she is doing. (Do you expect the Ford dealer to teach you how to drive and/or repair your new Mustang?!?)

There are built in wizards to create point-to-point VPNs. The wizards are easy to use and do a fine job. I literally spent no more than 15 minutes per router to get them setup for shared Internet access and LAN-to-LAN routing via the VPNs. The routers have great throughput to accommodate even today's fastest Internet connections. If your Internet speed exceeds the throughput of these routers, your connection has got to be in the top 1% of what's available today.

The only real gripe I have with these units is that they say they support both 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz frequencies for the WiFi. This is true, but you can only use one or the other, not both at the same time.

Because this unit is an SSL VPN device, it is designed to intercept incoming SSL connections (TCP port 443). This is by design and should not be considered a flaw or defect (like another reviewer suggested). You CAN turn off the SSL VPN functionality and change the port used for remote management in such a way as to allow SSL traffic to be redirected to an internal host (like what you'd need with a Microsoft Small Business Server). I have not tried to use the SSL VPN functionality in any capacity.

The routers have not required a single reboot or any care and feeding since deployment over 4 months ago. I am about to purchase more of these units for upcoming projects. I also think the price point for these devices is very good. You are getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Replaced an Cisco 871 router with this.
Peer to Peer Worked first time to a sonic wall.
Cisco took weeks and the 871 connection to Linksys never worked right.
Wireless is faster then the access point I was using before.
Everything I have done with the routers has just worked as expected.

Cisco small 871 and 880 and Linksys router took weeks to setup. Several calls to cisco support.

So far so good.

I've just got the shipment of this firewall. It's beautifully built and reasonably easy to setup but it died with in the first 24 hours of the first power up. Tech. Support answered quickly and was very competent with troubleshooting. It's going back/RMA.

Aside from that, if you enable SSL VPN, then the firewall will expose 443 on the WAN side (because you would need to get there to establish SSL VPN). There was no way to change the port to something non-standard and no way to remove the blatant annoucement that it was the firewall login page.

A VPN client for IPSEC is also provided on a CD but unfortunately the manual doesn't come on it. Imagine I found that out when trying to look for a troubleshoot tips of the dead firewall and found out I need to go online to find the steps...

This product lacks serious internal support. Product was released with SSL VPN functionality on windows vista (64bit), windows 7 (64bit), or MacOS NOT WORKING. They also do not have any time table for when it will be getting such support. Other products in the Netgear SSL VPN family have this support already. I suspect this is a company wide issue rather than a product issue.

Purchased this device to upgrade my existing Linksys Router. Plugged it in and configured it. Everything worked fine except for my Wireless media system which kept stuttering. Confirmed that the units worked correctly with wired connections. Removed the NetGear unit and re-installed the Linksys unit, everything worked great again. Upgraded Firmware in NetGear unit and re-installed it. Problems with Wireless streaming still present. Contacted NetGear support and asked for assistance. Was informed that getting wireless streaming working required 'advanced configuration support' which is charged service. Informed the support agent that they could either get this working for me at no charge to myself or unit would be returned immediately and an appropriate review would be left. Agent hung-up. So here's the appropriate reiview and the unit is on it's way back to Amazon as I type..

This is a great product for a great price, unless you are using the most popular OS on the planet and want to use the SSL VPN feature, in which case you are out of luck. Netgear has changed the date on their web site for Windows 7 support twice already, with 6 weeks left until 2Q 2010 is over, I expect it will change again soon. It has also taken them too long to release a firmware version that support Mac OS 10.6, just now available in the most recent version. Unless your OS is locked in the last decade, look elsewhere!

The reason I bought the SRXN3205 was simple: I want my laptop to become part of my home network where ever I am.
This has proven to be impossible to accomplish with this router.
Also, connecting with OS X requires you to buy software like VPN Tracker.
In short, a waist of money. Better to buy a Cisco 5505 if you ask me.

GOT THE ORDER THE NEXT DAY!! AMAZING!!!! SO FAST SERVICE BEST I HAVE EVER RECIEVED