Cisco Syst. 851 Ethernet SOHO Security Router ( CISCO851-K9 )

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 10.2 x 2 inches ; 5.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000A439QS
• Item model number: CISCO851-K9
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 28, 2006

Product Description

Product Description

Cisco 850 Series integrated services routers are fixed-configuration routers that support broadband cable and Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) over analog telephone lines connections in small offices. They provide the performance needed to run concurrent services, including firewall and encryption for VPNs and optional 802.11b/g for wireless networking. The Cisco Router and Security Device Manager (SDM) Web-based configuration tool simplifies setup and deployment, and centralized management capabilities give network managers visibility and control of router configurations at the remote site.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very solid router but certainly not for amateur, February 3, 2007

By	A power home user "A power home user" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

As a home user, after upgrading my broadband to 6.0mb/s from Comcast, both my netgear and linksys routers were overwhelmed and couldn't cope up with all the activities for the 5 computers, Xbox360 and Slingbox in the house. After researching all the business class routers, including Netgear, Linksys, Sonicwall and others. Finally, I've decided that Cisco is the best product that would solve my problem. Knowing that this is a sophiscated product, I ordered the most basic router without wireless access (hence less variables to configure). Amazon has the best price among all the websites though you certainly don't get any type of technical support from them. As expected, the router requires some professional knowledge to configure. Being a home user, I only changed very few settings through the SDM software that came with the router and it worked very well within my network. The performance of the router is impressive and I am getting the same download speed if I connect my PC directly to the modem. With all the loaded activities in the house, the CPU usage was just around 40%. This router certainly is of professional quality and doesn't even warm up after leaving it on all the time.

On the flip side, I found that the user interface (SDM) to manage the router is a little over complicated. It could be much more simplier but is still acceptable. The command line interface through the console port is definitely for professional who knows exactly what they are doing. Through the command interface, you can get almost all status and configuration from the router. I dare not to modify any configuration using the console interface because I'm not sure what I'll be changing. In addition, this router is 4 times more expensive than the ones you can get from local retail stores. Overall, I would recommend this router if you need the quality and performance. Otherwise, stay with the consumer products from Linksys or Netgear.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most reliable part of my network, January 23, 2008

By	Albert K. Lee (Long Island City, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a software engineer who sometimes thinks he's a network engineer too. I run one commercial and one private system from home, with DNS, web, and e-mail service for each, and have a commercial broadband connection through Verizon Online DSL with 5 static IP addresses. After spending days reading specs and reviews of various pro-consumer routers, SOHO routers, and enterprise routers, and after having experienced downright horrible router software and performance from home/consumer routers, I decided on going with a Big Name and it's been a WONDERFUL investment.

I am comfortable working on all kinds of UNIX systems, so I am very comfortable with setting things up using a command line through telnet and ssh or by transferring files with scp. This router uses standard Cisco IOS software and there was a real wealth of documentation available on the web, and I was able to get up and running without purchasing any additional books. Once everything was set up, it never needed to be touched, and the router has been chugging along with no hiccups and at full speed.

What I had was:
- a pool of 5 static WAN IP addresses from my ISP
- an internal 192.168.x.x network
- web/email/dns/ntp/etc. servers on the internal network
- ethernet connections for everything (I have a separate DSL modem)

I wanted a router that:
- was straightforward for a competent network engineer to configure
- could implement NAT the way I wanted to
- was totally silent (no fans!)
- would not flake on me
- had a firewall

I got more than I wanted. This router also:
- stores its identity/configuration in a single file, which I can archive
- supports SNTP (only), so it gets its time from my local NTP servers
- does a lot more than I need/use

All in all, I am writing from the point of view of an advanced user, and this advanced user finds the router to be very solid, straightforward to configure, and powerful enough in terms of both functionality and processing power for my uses. I do have one gripe having nothing to do with the router per se - I have spent hundreds of dollars looking for a good wifi access point, and I wish I spent a bit extra for the Cisco 851W instead after my experiences. Right now I'm using a D-Link DGL-4300 which is working really well though, so I'm not as regretful as I was before I found the 4300.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entry level business grade router, February 14, 2008

By	geddys (MPK, CA) - See all my reviews

My old Linksys router broke after 5 yrs of use and I had a hard time finding a good replacement unit that works w/ my wireless router acting as AP. I went with this entry level Cisco because I figured Cisco would give a good warranty and product. Well, it has 1 year warranty so don't expect the 3+ yrs warranty coverage (ie some D-link / Netgear routers still have that kind of warranty).

It comes with a CD with the graphics interface software to configure the router. I don't think it's compatible with Vista because the words in the menu would not show up fully. Luckily my brother was able to use command line to configure the router to work.

In short:

Pro - fast router when you're not using Vista. Lots of options to program this thing if you know how to do it.

Con - not sure if the software is Vista compatible. Kinda expensive if you ask me.