Broadband Router for Small(ish) network?

ve

Hi, I have a small(ish) network...4 PCs, 1 Server, 1 Network Printer, 1 D-Link 24 Port Switch, 1 Linksys Wifi Router, 2 VOIP (SIP) phones and 1 Sonicwall VPN/Firewall/Router.

At the moment my architecture is as follows...

Broadband -> Linksys Wifi Router
Wifi Router -> Sonicwall, SIP Phones
Sonicwall -> D-Link Switch
Switch -> PCs, Server, Printer

The reason for this was because the sonicwall box was an absolute nightmare to configure and we just couldn't get it to route SIP traffic to our VOIP phones, so we put the Linksys box at the gateway and connected phones to that. Then uplinked the Sonicwall to the Linksys router. To be honest it was the PCs and the server that needed greater levels of security so we put them behind the sonicwall. The phones and wifi network we were not too bothered with.

Anyhoo, now we're getting rid of the Sonicwall router and the VOIP phones (no more need for VOIP). What we want to get is something to connect to our broadband. Then from that we can connect up our Linksys router, and also our D-Link switch. If we could get something that could do VPN/Firewall for us that would be great. We need some security to prevent Internet side machines from accessing our network. We don't have a massive budget either (approx €200). We do not currently have a VPN setup, we couldn't manage it on the Sonicwall box, it just didn't make sense. However in the not so distant future we would like to be able to VPN tunnel to our LAN from outside.

I already had a look on Komplett, but can't seem to find anything. One plus side of the Sonicwall box is that we didn't have to keep rebooting it every now and then. The linksys wifi router on the otherhand needed to be rebooted once or twice a month. We are hoping to reduce the level of traffic through the Linksys router and instead through our new purchase which will hopefully be able to manage it without the constant need to reboot it.

Can you offer me and advice or suggestions?

bushy...

Just keep the Sonicwall ?

No point throwing it away if you already have it

Its very easy to setup VPNs , and the VPN client is easy for people to use.

( you probably missed it in the list of clicky things )

I'll try and dig out a guide

ve

No sorry I should have said, we can't keep the Sonicwall box (or the phones), they are being shipped elsewhere. They are being relocated to another office beyond our control.

So we need this new router. Just getting a device (with DHCP) that doesn't require constant reboots is more important to us right now that VPN support. Also some sort of firewall is needed also. This is a small office, so we're not looking for some costly Cisco offering. We also don't have our own network support team. I'm literally in charge of my own network and I'm not a network engineering. I'm a software engineer.

Ideally we're looking for something that we can plug in and go.

bushy...

Tbh , a small sonicwall would suit you , that seems to be what they are designed for.

There are a few other options that'd be reliable enough , like get a pc/server and put some ready-made firewall software on it or little boards that you can set up.

A cobbled together yoke might be just as reliable but much simpler just buy a ready to go little device.

All that said , no doubt the thread will go on with " download this and and and " but there are times and places for everything.

matrim

I've used a Netgear router for this before

Something like

http://www.netgear.com/Products/VPNandSSL/WiredVPNFirewallRouters/FVS338.aspx

It provides VPN and router / firewall functionality, and from my experience was pretty reliable

ve

Cheers bushy for all your help

bushy... wrote: »

Tbh , a small sonicwall would suit you

I know in theory the Sonicwall seems like what we need, but from our experience it doesn't suit us. It may have the features we need, but it wasnt usable. We literally spent weeks telling the box to open every port under the sun (completely open, unsecured) and it still wouldn't route SIP traffic to our phones. We swapped in the Linksys box and hey presto no configuration required, it just worked. We do not have time to read manuals here and become network specialists. If it's not plug in and go (short of changing default passwords, etc), it's not suitable.

I know I may sound very impatient, but when you've spent so much time and actually spent money on some sort of VPN client licenses for a box that doesn't work, I'm sure you'll appreciate our despise of that product range. We couldn't believe it when we one day decided to set up the VPN and found that we needed to spend money on some piece of software or license so we could VPN tunnel to it. Then the license restricted the number of active tunnels we could create. I mean "red tape" is not even the word. It's a money racket and IMO not a good investment when there are plenty of other devices out there that may not be able to service larger networks, but when you only have a few devices, they're ideal.

I am literally hoping someone out there can recommend a Linksys or DLink, Belkin, etc device that will just work. Something that I could pick up in PC World / Komplett / Elara / etc.

bushy...

I know what you mean , i've seen the web interface being a bit iffy , but good uptime and all that though. The having to buy extra licences is more a PITA than the expense.

bushy...

See PM ( private message ) for suggestion ( PM because dont want to tell the planet what you might use )