ZyXEL ZyWALL USG100 Unified Security Gateway Firewall w/50 VPN Tunnels, SSL VPN, 7 Gigabit Ports, High Availability ZyXEL ZyWALL USG100 Unified Security Gateway Firewall w/50 VPN Tunnels, SSL VPN, 7 Gigabit Ports, High Availability

Pros: Product is easy to setup and works well.

Cons: The advertising on this product is very misleading. 50 VPN connections and 25 SSL VPN connections. I wanted to use the SSL VPN but soon found out the device is only licensed for 2 SSL VPN users. You must purchase severalty a 5 or 25 user license for more remote connections. Not really happy about this.

Pros: Very fast, For a small office I cant imagine needed anything more. Above average contruction.

Cons: If there is any con it is that since thins does so much it is a little complicated to set up the first time, if you can do a sonic wall this is very close to that

Other Thoughts: you wont be sorry

Pros: I have at least 8 of the USG 100s and 200s in the field running for SMB customers and have about 50 total Zyxel devices running personally and at multiple clients. Not 1 has every failed! Support is great (real person on the phone in typically less than 5 minutes), and free firmware and tech support for the life of the product.

Cons: A few issues here and there that are always fixed by firmware updates. There are so many options that many people get over whelmed but take it slow and you will figure it out. Most people have not heard of the brand.

Other Thoughts: I have literally every client of mine with hundreds of millions of dollars of companies that depend on these units. Not a single failure or outage due to the Zyxel equipment. Many other brands charge annual maintenance for support and updates, but they provide them for free for the life of the product. No I do not work for them, I am a consultant in the San Diego area for The Covell Group

Pros: Insane feature list for the price.
Easy to understand web-based configuration.
You can designate routing and firewall rules between any of the 7 ports.

Cons: Shipped with a firmware from October of 2010 (2.2.3). This caused the performance between the LAN1 and WAN zones to hover around 1-2 MB/second -- even with the WAN1 port plugged into a GB switch in my lab, transferring data to a server connected to the same GB switch, from a workstation connected to the LAN1 (P3) port on the firewall via GB adapter.

I called their support number, and the tech was very helpful, suggesting a two-phase upgrade of the firmware. First to the 2.2.6 version, then the 3.0 version. I did this, and the performance of that same file transfer increased to 21MB/second, which is excellent for a firewall (especially in this price range).

Other Thoughts: Upgrade the firmware, and you should be in good shape.

Impossible to find a better value, in terms of features, performance (once you upgrade the firmware), and price.

Pros: - Great firewall and configuration options /built quality /power usage
- Security Zones
- Price
- Gigabit

Cons: It's a great product with one huge flaw/bug - when you have traffic between the 3 security zones the troughput falls to 1.3MB/s (and this is with firewall, ADP, AV, IDP all disabled!). Mind you this is on 1Gb network. This is a bit perplexing - the product has been out there fore some time and still no fix. I'm not sure if this is a design flaw or a software/firmware issue - but until it's fixed it's hard to recommend the product since one of it's main features is the ability to create separate security zones. Now, if you don't use the separate zones you should be ok.

Pros: Purchased this to replace a NetGear router. What a difference. The firewall and functionality is anything else out there, but does not cost an arm and a leg.

This router has been up for about a month now, with no problems. We're using it for VPN tunnels to remote offices, NAT and the DMZ. Also trying out the free 30 day content filter, which works great.

One of the best things about Zyxel? Their support. Very knowledgeable, easy to reach, and to understand.

Cons: A little slow to boot up.

Other Thoughts: Be sure to get the latest firmware.

Pros: Did not crash at all during testing. Has sophisticated feature set for the price. Attractive devices and well packaged. Throughput seemed excellent. All of this I discovered during test mode.

Cons: Supports only 2 wireless cards. The Sierra Wireless AC850 is "end of life" and there is currently no replacement for it. If you aren't interested in 3G as backup or load balancing, no problem; otherwise . . ..

Other Thoughts: I hated returning these guys. It took me about 48 hours to get comfortable with configuring them and I thought they were going to be solid performers for a small customer. I did not try any of the subscription services, purely the firewall/router/NAT functions.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Sir,

First, let me thank you first for your interest in ZyXEL’s firewall product line. I would recommend updating the firmware to the most recent release “2.11” which supports the following 3G adapters:

Sierra Wireless AC850 / AC860, AC880/AC881
Huawei E220

These are in addition to the currently-supported ones. If you have any questions or need any further information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 800.255.4101 or via email sales@zyxel.com

Best Regards,
ZyXEL's Sales Team

Pros: Very comprehensive config choice. Easy to set up SSL. Great price. Zyxel makes fine products at very reasonable prices.

Cons: Slow boot up time. Config choices can be overwhelming to newbie of enterprise class UTM.