Best Home Use Hardware Firewall/Router

[DasFox]

I have a Linksys router/firewall I have had like 5 years and want to upgrade into something newer and better.

Besides Linksys for Home PCs, is there anyone out there that really stands out for the best at making small personal router/firewalls?

One box I built is for gaming and the other for work, so this D-Link DGL 4100 looks really nice for my gaming rig:

http://games.dlink.com/products/?pid=371

Anyone know anything on this D-Link DGL 4100?

THANKS

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DasFox
I have a Linksys router/firewall I have had like 5 years and want to upgrade into something newer and better.

Besides Linksys for Home PCs, is there anyone out there that really stands out for the best at making small personal router/firewalls?

One box I built is for gaming and the other for work, so this D-Link DGL 4100 looks really nice for my gaming rig:

http://games.dlink.com/products/?pid=371

Anyone know anything on this D-Link DGL 4100?

THANKS

you can't be serious

 

[DasFox]

Can't be serious about what?

ALOHA

 

[bob4432]

do you buy a bunch of fatal1ty stuff?

 

[essasin]

Why not buy another linksys? I'd get a used one or if you can find a non verison 5 wrt54g

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: essasin
Why not buy another linksys? I'd get a used one or if you can find a non verison 5 wrt54g

probably because it doesn't have the word "gamer" in the title :thumbsdown:

 

[DasFox]

No I have nothing fatal1ty, but I do happen to have a Abit board, sheesh can we have some more attitude PLEASE, LOL

bob4432, Look if you can't just help please and give some good input, answers, reviews, etc.. etc.. etc.. then PLEASE go and quit being a troll ok.

I just happen to have built a high-end gaming rig is all and I just noticed that router on ZipZoomFly and it caught my attention, THAT IS ALL!

So with that said and moving on, well yes Linksys seems to be good, or at least they where. I've been using one of their older routers for 5 years now and I have always looked up to Linksys, but after reading some reviews over at NewEgg with the BEFSX41, I started having some doubt.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124007

I mean we either have some real router newbies here, but then how hard can it be, so with some of the fuss on that review it didn't look to hot, I mean there could be some merit, especially the ones over the firmware problems, that's the one that has me worried the most.

This Netgear looks pretty nice from what I can tell and listed also as a ICSA labs certified firewall.

http://www.netgear.com/products/details/FR114P.php

But at NewEgg someone mentions this:

The SPI firewall adds a few MS of latency to your ping times, 10 -20 at most. Still, if you are a hardcore online gamer, a less inclusive firewall/router may be a better bet, just to shave that 20ms off the ping time. I find it makes no difference, I can still frag withthe best of em.

Found this ZyWALL 2:

http://www.zyxel.com/product/model.php?...1=1085450410&indexFlagvalue=1021873683

THANKS

 

[pcman83]

Well at my other job I was getting calls a lot from people with networking issues. Most of these people had linksys routers and they would have to reboot them every so often. So we used 3com routers. They are more expensive but are fast and hardly ever have problems. I would reccomend this:

http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/deta...res&pathtype=purchase&sku=3CRWE554G72T

found it here:

Router

Oh also it has a great range, and is amazing.

 

[DasFox]

pcman83 thanks, but I need a wired router and so far I have my eyes on the Netgear FR114P or the ZyWALL 2. I want to use a ICSA labs certified router/firewall.

THANKS

 

[Steven the Leech]

The gigabit included in the OP link looks pretty attractive, im sure it would be ok for home use. I use a Motorola WR850G Router wireless with 4 slots for a wired connection [and I must say the manufacturers support on it has been very good] along with a few gigabit switches, it has served my purposes well. 3com has always been synonymous with quality.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I might be mistaken, but I remember reading something about how gigabit routers usually have higher latency than 10/100 hubs / routers, so they weren't actually better for gaming. Not sure if this has any merit, but something to look into for the OP. I upgraded my network at home to a gigabit LAN, and I love it.

 

[DasFox]

I'd really like to know if the D-Link DGL 4100 is hype, I mean if nothing about it is true, then this is fraud, false claims and the last time I checked in America fraud was illegal. Companies can't go around spewing all sorts of claims like this and then they all turn out to be bogus, people go to jail for this.

Personally I'd still love to hear some input on this D-Link if anyone has any.

OK SCRATCH THE D-LINK, I'M JUST A SINGLE USER, I won't be running P2P, or downloading while gaming so forget it, NEXT!

LOL

I think possibly the Netgear might make a nice choice the ISCA labs certification on it makes me think about buying it.

THANKS

 

[Madwand1]

Have you tried updating the Linksys to the latest firmware? Some of their very old products can take the latest firmware, and that might give you the QoS / etc. features that you're missing, and "breath new life / fragging death / whatever into your router"...

I have a DGL-4300, and AFAIK, it's a 4100 + wireless capability. I bought it for the gigabit switch (and incidental router/firewall/wireless upgrade), and have had no problems with it, wireless and otherwise, except on occasion for some mild pangs of doubt and forum trashing people have attempted on the subject of jumbo frames (which I should say D-Link had the capability to provide, and should have IMO, but for some reason disabled at the hardware level).

Its software and functionality has the feel of a "premium" router, and its DSL connectivity and logging capabilities seems to be superior to the Linksys WRT54G (1.0 with latest firmware) that I was previously using. You should be able to download the manuals to see its capabilities in detail for yourself.

I get decent gigabit switching performance, and WAN throughput, but I haven't done any latency comparisons. But if that's from SPI, well, you can turn that off if you want.

 

[DasFox]

They haven't updated the firware on my linksys since 08/2004 so I'd say they where done with it and so am I, LOL

THANKS

 

[Missing Ghost]

Build your own. Use your old PC (P1 is enough). Slap two nics in, or more. Use something like OpenBSD for the software. They have a nice firewall called Packet Filter.

 

[mechBgon]

Cisco PIX-series might fit the bill. Maybe if you post in the NETWORKING forum someone can point you towards a good buy on a used one.

 

[DasFox]

Nah Cisco is to expensive, this is not exactly a home based setup, looks like the only thing that comes close to Home users would be something like the 800 series.

THANKS

 

[Jiggz]

Have you tried some reviews? Check here

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: Jiggz
Have you tried some reviews? Check here

Thanks I'll have a look, in the meantime I found one MEAN pup;

StoneGate SG-200

http://www.stonesoft.com/products/Appliances/SG-200/

I'm going to see how much this thing costs tomorrow, talk about serious protection.

I also found this but WatchGuard:


SOHO 6 http://www.watchguard.com/products/soho.asp

 

[DasFox]

OK I've made up my mind, unless someone really has something crappy to say about the Firebox SOHO 6, otherwise I'm BUYING it.

THANKS

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Have you tried updating the Linksys to the latest firmware? Some of their very old products can take the latest firmware, and that might give you the QoS / etc. features that you're missing, and "breath new life / fragging death / whatever into your router"...

I have a DGL-4300, and AFAIK, it's a 4100 + wireless capability. I bought it for the gigabit switch (and incidental router/firewall/wireless upgrade), and have had no problems with it, wireless and otherwise, except on occasion for some mild pangs of doubt and forum trashing people have attempted on the subject of jumbo frames (which I should say D-Link had the capability to provide, and should have IMO, but for some reason disabled at the hardware level).

Its software and functionality has the feel of a "premium" router, and its DSL connectivity and logging capabilities seems to be superior to the Linksys WRT54G (1.0 with latest firmware) that I was previously using. You should be able to download the manuals to see its capabilities in detail for yourself.

I get decent gigabit switching performance, and WAN throughput, but I haven't done any latency comparisons. But if that's from SPI, well, you can turn that off if you want.

did you ever try any of the wrt54g third party firmwares? those really helped where linksys wouldn't.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DasFox
OK I've made up my mind, unless someone really has something crappy to say about the Firebox SOHO 6, otherwise I'm BUYING it.

THANKS

unless i am reading this wrong, you still need a router -

Designed for small and remote offices with modest in-house security expertise, Firebox® SOHO 6 security appliances plug in between your cable, DSL, or ISDN router and your network. They are security solutions designed for a small business or single user.

 

[agentbad]

smoothwall would probably suit your needs. linksys WRT54G-L with modded firware would be the best choice though.