Customer Reviews

SoHo LB2w/ 10 IPSEC VPN Tunnels

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

 

 

I bought this device to compare with my Netgear FVS124G because I have experienced some quirky behavior with the Netgear... but I'm sticking with the Netgear for now.

The Hotbrick looked promising and the reviews on Amazon were extremely positive, which influenced my purchase decision. Unfortunately, my own experience with the device was much worse than the other reviews on here would lead you to believe. Note, I'm using the August 18, 2006 firmware.

First, the outside of the box has the word "Ethernet" spelled incorrectly... a very bad sign for a networking device.

Second, I'm using VOIP and even after following the QOS setup instructions to configure my Linksys PAP2 I experienced terrible call quality, and I do know what I'm doing when it comes to these things.

Third, the web based administration interface and documentation were obviously NOT written by a native English speaker and reading them was just plain painful. My high school English teacher would've flunked whoever wrote the user manual.

Fourth, trying to configure something as simple as protocol binding to a specific WAN port was less than easy and did not work reliably when specifying multiple protocol binding requirements with overlapping IP ranges from the LAN.

Finally, tech support goes home at 6pm EST and although they tried to be helpful I think they didn't have much confidence in their own product either...

If you do buy this product, you can't say you weren't warned!

This item works great as long as you know what you're buying. It will NOT double your download speed on a connection where you are on a single threaded download from a single source, but It WILL double your overall throughput.

So if you are downloading multiple things at once, or downloading something from multiple sources (say - oh I don't know - bit torrent for example) you can expect you gain the full benefits from both connections.

It also works great as a redundant connection, so if one of your intenet connections gets hosed, the other one is still available and you don't even realize there is an outage.

If you need a redundant connection or would benefit from the added throughput I would recommend this product.

In trying to have a dual WAN solution at home, this was the only
router that held up to my tests. Others that failed included Edimax
(terrible) and Nexland ProTurbo 400 (not bad). Hotbrick was the clear
winner and well worth the money.

I tested this router and currently use it with Comcast HSI and
Verizon DSL (PPoE). Since my wife works from home, she is dependant
on e-mail and one serves as a backup for the other. I get
amazing throughput on my LAN.

Takes a little while to get setup right only because the router
is so highly configurable. Documentation is not that good (what
router is?).


This router is very highly configurable and does true load balancing
that can be configured in different ways. Very fast and responsive,
easy to upgrade firmware, good technical support from Hotbrick.

I know what I am doing with this router, I suspect that others do not. This thing is BULLET-PROOF, meaning it will get the job done - and you wont get too confused at the end of the day.

For the price, it is by far one of the best deals around.

I bought this device because I work from home doing computer consultant work and cannot afford to have my internet access down.

This machine works JUST LIKE YOU WOULD HOPE. I am combining dsl and cable with ease and superb speed.

The setup is easy and there I have found nothing negative about this device.

I ordered it through amazon/tigerdirect and it was delivered on-time and in good condition.

The Hot Brick LB2 is a fine device for simple home use. However, that's as far as it goes.
The interface, terminology, and support are horribly lacking with regard to flexibility. For example, several of the features advertised for the unit (VPN Pass-through, Port forwarding, NAT, etc) are 1. Not found in the product manual and 2. Are not any where to be seen within the interface.

Also, their support line goes to an answering machine (I've called several times over a three week stretch and have yet to hear back) and their email support falls silent. I believe they have given up.

So. If you want an inexpensive, light-weight option for home use. I say go for it.
Otherwise, stick with Cisco.

I had high hopes for this thing but was quickly crushed. I can't say for sure what the problem is other than there is one. Long story short, it will not stay running more than a few hours before it locks up. I have to unplug the unit to get it up and running again.

This isn't a good thing when you are hosting a few domains and e-mail for friends and have to keep going onsite to reboot the unit. It is wierd in that the lockup only occurs when people log in to access webmail. There is some specific string command for webmail that when passed though the LB-2, completely freaks it out and it locks up. So far Hotbrick has no explanation.

i'm an IT major and this thing is hard to configure but works great with a firmware upgrade. the only way i could get ports open was to use UPNP by adding a custom virtual server. VPN works good too. I'm only one user so i don't know how it would work for a small-med. business but its perfect for home / small office use and dual connections.

If you need protection from your ISP bringin down your link this is a good device. I have cable and DSL due to my day trading. I can not afford to be without an internet connection. This device has been working reliable for many months. It is very easy to setup. One feature that is my favorite is the Dual DMZ. When you enable this feature you can login to your computers from the internet.

I will never by another HotBrick product. After numerous support calls to and hours and hours of downtime the issue was never resolved. They said they passed it on to a programmer to reivew the issue and he would contact me. I called back several times before giving up! Don't waste your time, but a Watchguard or SonicWall.