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Netgear Inc. FVS318NA Firewalls
Customer Reviews for NETGEAR FVS318 12.5 Mbps LAN to WAN throughput 1.2 Mbps 3DES throughput ProSafe VPN Firewall Switch - Retail
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Price: $104.99
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Review Summary (125 Reviews): Rating + 4
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Excellent Rating + 5 62ReviewsExcellent
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Very Poor Rating + 1 15ReviewsVery Poor
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Reviewer Product Review
jgutz20
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/1/2010 7:22:11 AM

Rating + 5 Great SOHO Router


Pros: This is a great router, Very reliable and if you actually get into the configuration, this thing is VERY secure for a small business. I use this with a SBS Server behind it hosting VPN and Remote Web Workplace and couldnt be happier

Cons: lack Gigabit

Other Thoughts: This would be great to have a Gigabit Router attached to, So i daisy Chain to a Gigabit Router and plug in the Standard Ethernet devices like network printers to this box

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/21/2010 11:49:00 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: Pro’s This is a fairly simple device to setup. I use 3 of these units connected to a FVS338 in a hub and spoke configuration. The VPN Tunnel has been up since I first set it up. I will likely add up to 30 of these in the field. I do not require higher speed rates or large file transfers, but I do need the VPN to always work. So far I am very happy with the setup.

Cons: Con’s This unit can hang up after running for a week or more without a power cycle. I recommend using the setting that resets the router once a day. Since doing that it has not given any headaches.

Other Thoughts: The interface for the fvs318 is different from the interface of the fvs338. Even though they are basically the same piece of hardware, it makes it difficult to match settings when those setting are located in different sub menus. TO NETGEAR LEARN TO USE THE SAME MENUS.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/19/2010 5:23:52 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Easy to config, had a site-to-site VPN established in no time.

Cons: none

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
1/16/2010 7:55:57 AM

Rating + 2 Outdated Product


Pros: Worked reliably for 4 years as a VPN -- it was good for running Remote Desktop.

Cons: It's slow! You wont see the 12.5 Mbps LAN-to-WAN throughput. It's more like 5 Mbps. The 100 Mbps switch is also a bottleneck. This product will just be a drag on your network performance.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
12/16/2009 1:51:24 PM

Rating + 1 another quality product.... NOT


Pros: Nothing that the competition doesn't do.

Cons: Upgraded to the latest firmware and well, it started to do strange things. After spending about 4 hours debugging, I found out it wasn't fragmenting packets incorrectly that were going to the internet causing my TCP connections to break. Replaced it with a Linksys and everything started to work as expected again.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

FX4
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
12/8/2009 11:18:18 AM

Rating + 4 Works well


Pros: I have been using this VPN Firewall for six years with very few problems. I am just looking to upgrade because newer versions have a faster processor. VPN works well as does the firewall.

Cons: VPN can be a little tricky to set up. This is probably not the best unit for a person with low technical skills to buy if you are going to set up VPNs.

Other Thoughts: Hmm...should I buy the gigabit version?....

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maddmann
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
11/19/2009 8:05:29 AM

Rating + 4 It's been great


Pros: It's been running for me for about 6 years with zero issues. The firewall and router work great. I haven't used the VPN.

Cons: I'm here looking fo Gigabit Routers because it is slowing down my 8 computer network with wifi hotspot from 8mbps down and 6 Mbps upload TO 7mbps down and 1.5 Mbps up.

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Alexei Sayles
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/18/2009 7:00:00 AM

Rating + 1 When it gives out, it gives out hard


Pros: Fairly easy to set up, eight wired ports let me ditch my switch, decent web interface

Cons: Reliability. Even before it completely flipped out, it would from time-to-time suddenly lose all connectivity requiring a reboot. In the beginning, it was a month or so between incidents, then later it became weekly or less. A "Reboot daily" option in the web interface should be a big hint here.

In the end, the unit began to exhibit insane latency issues. I'd see ping times rise from 60-80ms to 1900ms, within hours of rebooting the router. Forcing a reboot would resolve this, sometimes for a day or so, other times for mere minutes.

Other Thoughts: I picked this unit up about 18 months ago thinking I'd save some money on the electric bill by scrapping my OpenBSD firewall I'd build a few years back. It was perfect for a while and I was very happy with my choice. I never used the VPN features since you have to pay extra for it and I stopped traveling as much as I used to.

My OpenBSD firewall was rebooted four times in its four-year life, usually when I needed to move its power cord. I am now having to reboot this pile of junk 3-4 times a day. It's trash-heap bound.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

The Fox
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/29/2009 9:31:26 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Simple to setup, Durable, Large number of switchports, good throughput. VPN works good too.

Cons: Startup wizard is annoying, and requires you to do it before you can change anything. Not worth docking an egg though.

Other Thoughts: Comes with lifetime support since it's a metal box Netgear product. Netgear VPN client sucks, but box to box connections work fine. I recently deployed one to serve as the router at a boarding house with half a dozen different connections to the internet at any given time. The version 1 of this product is ancient and slow, but the latest (V3) is a nice little racehorse.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/25/2009 3:27:24 PM

Rating + 5 VPN and firewall work great


Pros: This is a reasonably priced VPN and firewall. It's easy to set up. The (separate) VPN software works great with this box. There are probably things that expensive firewall will do, that this one will not. I don't care. I had a $400 "bridge" brand firewall for a while, but I didn't use any of the extra features.

Cons: It would be nice to have VPN software available that works with Linux.

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DPillow
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/18/2009 11:52:20 PM

Rating + 5 Netgear Rocks


Pros: This device is the best one for the money. The speed is great and the setup easy to preform. I now have used 3 of these with no errors or issues. The product is worth every penny that it costs.

Cons: None, it just works great!

Other Thoughts: Read the instructions and you should not have any problems.

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e75
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/8/2009 8:24:52 PM

Rating + 3 Grr


Pros: Plenty of functioning
cheap
metal casing
etc.

Cons: -keeps going out every so often! not cool netgear! definitely bad..
-doesnt support ipv6
-last firmware update i believe was a year ago?
-vpn functioning is a bit lacking.

Other Thoughts: alright, my main gripe is it every so often requires a reboot.. not cool. the bandwidth running through it isn't even 100kbps, so i know it aint running under stress. hopefully its just mine, but then again.. i dont remember mailing in a warranty card :(

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
9/4/2009 10:53:35 PM

Rating + 2 Great when released, not so good now


Pros: Good low cost low bandwidth basic home VPN solution

Cons: Doesn't handle high volume, doesn't fail gracefuly and just locks up, won't remotely hit 12Mbps (more like 6)

Other Thoughts: This was a good product when it was released, with the lack of availability of higher speed broadband connections. Today, it will be the bottleneck with a typical cable connection. If pressed to hard expect the device to lock up completely and require a power cycle.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
7/8/2009 3:34:19 PM

Rating + 5 Dependable VPN solution.


Pros: Dependable VPN solution. Supports 8 concurrent tunnels. Easily configurable. Priced right.

Cons: Could have a little better throughput performance. The AC adapter is VERY cheap but I've only had three out of 100 go bad in two years. There appears to be no upgrade path to IPv6 unless future firmware may support it. This will get critical in about 2 years or less. DO NOT try to enter over about 15 static routes because router locks up and requires a reset

Other Thoughts: I have 100 branch offices that connect to home office (using multiple FVS-338's) throught VPN's. Every once in a while one may need to be restarted to reconnect tunnel, but not very often. Using the VPN client that came with the 338's, laptop connect easily to the 318's. You must allow client to check for newer version during install to get Vista support. Good value for the price. Other than lack of IPv6 support, this is good investment for any SMB. The IPv6 issue may be a deal breaker however. Especially this late in the game.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

BDNETworker
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/22/2009 12:18:06 PM

Rating + 5 If it moves data and its name is...


Pros: Netgear...buy it! And if Newegg is selling it...all the more so. This FVS-318 is a replacement for an FVS-318 that defended my network as a firewall and acted as my network switch for 7 years from 2002 to yesterday when it finally failed after 365x24 service with no downtime during that period!

Cons: Unplugged the old one and plugged in the new one and 5 minutes later my network was back up. The darned original unit only lasted SEVEN YEARS! The new one took five minutes to bring up in place of the old unit. It took 21 hours for a replacement to get to me after ordering. I am a happy man today!
I should have ordered two with one for spare.

Other Thoughts: Ordered it at 4:30 PM yesterday (Thursday) and it arrived at 1:36 PM today (Friday). I asked that it be expedited to UPS Next Air Saver service and Newegg and UPS came through for me and kept my network form being down for the whole long Memorial Day Weekend.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Sarabian
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
4/21/2009 6:53:42 AM

Rating + 5 I love this thing


Pros: Works as described and does exactly what it was designed for. This is the least you will pay to get a VPN connection between locations.

Cons: Slightly large, but I rather expected that since it has an 8 port switch in it.

Other Thoughts: I use 4 of these to connect business locations together. I restart them once per month and have has them running over 3 years now with zero down time. Speeds are perfectly fine and I have servers syncing over the VPN at night. If you use them between locations, there is no software to buy. The only time you need the software is if you want to have end users using the VPN endpoints. Having an FVS318 at each location is the only cost you incur. What more can you ask for?

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

mingkee
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
4/11/2009 9:08:23 AM

Rating + 5 Slingbox users must have


Pros: 8 ports, runs cool and appears very stable, scheduling power cycle keeps the unit running well, multi-functional firewall/port forwarding/access control

Cons: router restarts required when applying some changes, a bit bulky

Other Thoughts: if you owns Slingbox and use external access, you should get this router, I had FR114P and it works 10000% with Slingbox, this one works also, just copycat the settings from FR114P, slow WAN/LAN is not an issue for me this time because I still use DSL

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/24/2009 12:03:51 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Is a true SPI firewall with all the features I want. Has a nice web interface.

Cons: Download speed is slower by about 10% compared to a simple linksys router w/o SPI, ie from about 6.8 Mbps to 6.1Mbps. Had a timeout problem connecting to a web site that can take several minutes to return web page, and submitted a ticket to Netgear and did not get anybody who could help me with this problem. I tried adjusting the timeout setting but sill lost connection in 3-4 minutes.

Other Thoughts: Don't use the VPN feature.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/14/2009 5:32:39 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: very reliable, I have many of these out in businesses that I take care of

Cons: can be a little tricky to set up for vpn, but other than that these are great. A good idea to erase the flash memory, and restart from scratch if problems...

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/7/2009 10:28:26 PM

Rating + 5 slow but reliable


Pros: i have owned this specific model for 2 years now NEVER had a problem once. solid metal construction loads of configuration possibilities incoming service blocking too many features too list paired with a motorola SB5101 modem on cox premier

Cons: the use of the vpn is not without cost a license from netgear runs around 149.95. and here is the REAL downside with this device the throughput is cut by over 150% i went from an avg. of 18MBps to just over 5MBps with service blocking for http and aol and a few others like pinging.

Other Thoughts: with the slow down being a big negative its longterm reliability will makeup for the negative. i would buy another of this IF netgear would make another faster model. which i believe they do. 5 eggs for reliability

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/16/2009 11:45:41 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: Just plug it in and it works. I haven't tried all of the settings & features, but what I have tried just works.

Cons: Some of the UI is confusing, and more is inconvenient - too many pages require something else to be done first, but don't provide a link, or remember what you wanted, and too many changes require restarts.

Other Thoughts: It does everything I want it to, but with the usual problems. I'd like a better UI, but I don't expect to have to reconfigure it often, and that the underlying features are solid is more important. Altogether, it's a good deal, but not exciting.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/13/2009 6:13:21 AM

Rating + 5 Rocks out of the box (nearly)


Pros: Great features for the price. Easy to follow Web configuration pages. This was setup and functioning with the Netgear Wireless Access point I purchased with it in about 45 minutes total. This firewall has been running for two and a half months now without any issues.

Cons: None yet.

Other Thoughts: I still recommend using a good third party software firewall on any computer connected to the internet.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
2/10/2009 9:05:58 PM

Rating + 4 'Bout average overall, slow WAN performance


Pros: I could find one when I really needed one. Feature set is good for such an inexpensive device. Set-up was reasonably easy. I appreciate the scheduled e-mailings of the log. I liked the HTML-format documentation on the CD (PDFs are a lot harder to read).

Cons: 12.5Mbps LAN/WAN throughput is a pipe dream. It tops out at a little less than 10Mbps. This is significantly slower than a Linksys WRT54G with DD-WRT (about 13Mbps) despite a higher price-tag, although it's much easier to set up than re-flashing to DD-WRT on the Linksys.

First try at set-up lost the default admin password for some reason, forcing hard reset, despite not being anywhere near the "change password" page. Subsequent to hard reset it worked fine.

The set-up wizard won't do anything at all if it's not connected to the WAN. Who connects an un-configured device to the WAN? And either I missed the link on the default admin page or it didn't have one to the manual set-up; I had to dig it out of the manual on the CD.

Other Thoughts: I am using it as a simple NAT/firewall and forwarding a handful of ports to a server inside, no VPN. Configuring that was pretty easy, although I didn't expect forwarding to be under "Rules" and you have to configure services prior to adding forwarding rules. I've seen that on other routers but not recently.

I would like more detailed status information, like how many TCP connections are active, device resource usage information, that kind of thing. It's similar to what I've seen from other consumer routers, but I miss DD-WRT's highly informative statistics page which was terrific when I was trying to figure out what was broken.

Overall it seems like a good value as long as you don't need higher WAN throughput.

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Matt
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/8/2009 8:02:58 AM

Rating + 5 Great once set up, just a pain to get running.


Pros: It does what it's supposed to. No dropped VPN connections, local connections.

Cons: It was a pain to set up. But, it isn't Netgear's fault. The wizard makes it simple. I just couldn't figure it out. But, when you do it's like a light bulb goes off in your head and you wonder why it took you so long. Also, the client software isn't included which I think is kind of lame.

Other Thoughts: I like it. I've since bought two more for clients and will most likely purchase another couple for me.

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DSH
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/28/2009 7:47:25 AM

Rating + 5 Good Product


Pros: This device was easy to setup and configure. It is involved but if you have any technical understanding of firewalls/wireless devices etc, you will like this device. The wireless strength is awesome as well.

Cons: None yet!

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/6/2009 2:16:53 AM

Rating + 3 Nice Router but Limited Thruput


Pros: Never had problem with either V1 or V3 - have been rock solid. Could not rate higher in todays world with such limited thruput (see below).

Cons: Biggest DRAWBACK is the LIMITED WAN to LAN thruput.

Netgear does not specifically list this specification like some other Netgear routers but in my case I could not get more than 5.5MB either up or down.

This would seem to KILL any recommendation for this router as it is left in the past as cheap faster rates are offered.

Other Thoughts: Comcast could not find a problem for lower speeds so I bypassed Router completely and my rates shot up to over 20MB down and 10MB up. Router has been problem all along.

This is REALLY frustrating as I had already upgraded from FVS318 V1 to V3 with its 10/100 Cat5 connection just to prepare for faster rates. Why put a 10/100 connection when rates are crippled so much or not list low WAN to LAN thruput?

I have gone with a FVS338 now with for minimal more money with a much faster rate limit (WAN to LAN 75MB).

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

RoboteK
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/25/2008 11:22:59 AM

Rating + 5 Nice


Pros: Metal case, 8 ports, web interface, management and monitoring features, price.

Cons: Can't configure multiple networks for IPSec policies unless you use subnetting, in this case the networks would have to be sequential.

Other Thoughts: Since this is a branch office router for a maximum of 8 connections, I decided not to take away an egg. The processor is an improvement over previous versions and it is very stable.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

FlyboyData
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/4/2008 3:40:17 PM

Rating + 4 Easiest VPN setup ever


Pros: With two of these puppies, two broadband connections, and about five minutes in the web manager, you have a VPN up and going to your remote office.

Cons: Installing the optional Netgear software VPN client (for an individual computer with no VPN router to connect to the office over the internet) is not so easy. In addition, the VPN software must be purchased separately.

Also, the VPN routing is all address based, so if your office LAN uses 192.168.1.x as it's numbering scheme, then the remote offices must be on separate subnets, like 192.168.2.x, 192.168.3.x, etc.

Beware: to even set up this router, it must be hooked up to a working internet connection, or the setup wizard in the device's firmware refuses to progress until it can talk on the internet.

Other Thoughts: We tricked it into working on our network, which already has a Cisco 1841 T1 router in place. I had to give the FVS318's outside interface a public IP (we have a block of several from our ISP), programmed the Cisco to route all traffic for the subnets at the remote offices to the FVS318 router's LAN address. This cost us a small fraction of what it would have cost to implement a VPN using the Cisco 1841 via IPSEC firmware upgrades and a remote Cisco VPN router or PIX.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

macigiver
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
11/30/2008 6:40:05 PM

Rating + 5 Best router/firewall etc.. for the price


Pros: The unit is relitively low cost, the price went up a little bit, but then again everything went up. The thing is heavy, and seems like a real networking component based on the construction( well built case). After the firmware updates, it works great, and it seems to work better every update it gets!

Cons: I needed to wait 3 weeks when I got it for a firmware update that would let me use my Vonage without kicking my voip box off the network ( hence ending many phone calls). the update fixed it though.

Other Thoughts: Works flawlessly for my home network that basically runs my entire world, wireless router Vonage box, 3 to 5 computers simeltanisly

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Hoot
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
11/13/2008 10:01:14 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: I've had this router for years and loved it to death. Very, very reliable router, with easy setup. I have a netgear wireless router also attached to this to serve my WiFi needs, and both work great together.

Cons: I just upgraded my DSL connection to 12mb/s download. But then I found out that my fvs318 couldn't handle those speeds. I have the v2 of this router, I see that v3 upgraded some internal processing speeds so the newer v3 may be able to handle the rated 12.5mb/s. But mine was topping out at around 5mb/s max.

Other Thoughts: Dinging one egg due to mine not hitting it's rated top speed, other than that everything with this router is gravy. Time for me to upgrade to the fvs338.

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ITsjim
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/21/2008 4:24:21 PM

Rating + 5 No problems here after 1 year


Pros: This unit has been running well over a year in a pretty hostile environment -- hot, dusty. That's a plus in itself. I hit it with a blast of canned air every month.

Cons: I can recall only one instance of a lock-up and I'm not so sure the firewall was the source of the problem. The problem could have been corrupted routing table in the LAN switch section. Reboot cured it quickly. Never happened again.

Other Thoughts: I got the unit mainly as a step up from the standard routers. This has controllable logging, which I needed. I also like the good granularity in setting up the port redirection through the firewall. Running several services, including a VPN and Exchange on the LAN side so I don't use this as the VPN, just a pass-through to those services.

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KO
Tech Level: average
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/17/2008 8:55:11 PM

Rating + 5 8 ports in use


Pros: Great Router , always works and patch cables stay in.

Cons: A little pricey

Other Thoughts: Have never really used the software that came with it

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xbusinessxcorex
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/1/2008 1:11:20 PM

Rating + 3 ive seen worse, i think


Pros: Looks nice, made of metal not plastic is sturdy. same color as my switch. has blinking lights. Several Ethernet ports. A lot of nice fairly advanced features

Cons: NO QOS :-( a lot of the fairly advanced features simply do not work. example, entering DYNDNS login and password im pretty sure the router just stores them and does nothing with them, certainty does not log into dyndns. the auto-reset does not work. really a lot of it does not work, also does not allow 12.5 mbps lets say 8 and thats being pretty generous.

Other Thoughts: routes better than a tin can and some fishing line. not as good as a quad core raid 5 squid server. somewhere in between closer to the tin cans.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

elizilla
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
6/27/2008 4:07:02 PM

Rating + 3 Wireless LAN, cable modem, or VPN Prosafe - pick any two, you can't have all three


Pros: It allows multiple VPN connections, and once I gave up on using it with my wireless LAN, it has been reliable. The first one lasted three years. The second one is a year old and still going strong.

Cons: If you attach a wireless access point to a Netgear ProSafe, it soon drops connection to the cable internet. (Local network continues to work fine.) I've owned two Netgear ProSafes and they both have this problem. I've tried a number of different wireless routers and cable modems and the problem remains. But my prior 8-port router did not have this problem. This problem arrived with the first Netgear ProSafe and has been happening ever since.

Other Thoughts: I'm on Newegg tonight choosing replacement networking hardware in hopes of getting my wireless working again. Netgear is not going into my shopping cart.

3 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Eric Pulliam
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
5/22/2008 6:15:57 PM

Rating + 4 Great for the money


Pros: I bought one of these here years ago, and it's still kickin just fine. Has only needed to be cycled a few times, and my whole network was funky at those times. Dollar for dollar this prosafe stuff was definately the way to go a few years ago, and the stuff is still nice today. There are definately more advanced options with newer equip, but like I said, for the money, this line of gear is among the best you can get. If you're short on funds, pick one up on the 'bay for next to nothin and you'll definately be satisfied.

Cons: Don't waste your money on the wireless. It's almost like it is too much for one box to handle. Keep it simple, buy this box, or the 4 port version, the nice prosafe wifi access point, and the nice big switch if you need more than 8 ports.

Other Thoughts: I went into business with a friend a few years ago, and I being from the I.T. trade took over the responsibilities of building and maintaining the company's network, which is very important in what our business does. We didn't have crazy cash to invest in top notch gear for the office and shop (total of 20 computers), and though we have added a lot of gear since, this prosafe stuff is still running side by side with the newer components that cost 20+ times more money. I highly recommend the prosafe access points using industrial omni antennas, we cover an insane amount of area with 2 of them!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Leibtek
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/12/2008 7:29:12 AM

Rating + 4 Does the job


Pros: Very easy VPN setup, good firewall, email options, etc..

Cons: WAN speeds are slow.

Other Thoughts: After returning the Linksys BEFVP41 for failing to create a VPN Gateway to Gateway connection, these are heaven sent. I have three of these with VPN enabled, have a rock solid connection from the start. Yes, the WAN speeds dropped from 30/5 to 8/5, but for me that's not a biggie. I also have not experienced the constant dropped connections as reported by others.

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Dan
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
5/8/2008 1:20:59 PM

Rating + 2 Unreliable


Pros: The management interface was very well done. The logging and firewall rule editing was extremely useful.

Cons: The router drops my cable connection several times a day, as someone stated above. I replaced the unit with another one from my local Staples and it does the same thing. I updated it to the newest firmware and this is still occurring. I plug it in every once in a while and see if it's still behaving this way, and so far, it still is. It seems that browsing to certain web pages cause the connection to immediately die. I was able to reproduce this on a few different mainstream websites.

Other Thoughts: The ability to write very specific firewall rules made me think this would be the first affordable replacement for my OpenBSD PF firewall/router. If the connection wouldn't randomly go down multiple times a day, this would be a fantastic unit.

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Will
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
2/28/2008 9:45:02 AM

Rating + 1 Flaws, Unreliable


Pros: Affordable.

Cons: Port forwarding/virtual server is limited to only 15 ports. The entire router/switch resets and drops connection to all devices about several times a week!

Other Thoughts: Updated firmware to latest. Port forwarding is not as simple as it could be, requiring first a Port configuration and then a Service configuration using that port, on two different parts of the admin site. Between this and another router at my last company, there are some serious reliability issues with Netgear. They should stick to their home products, which work, in fact, much better.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
2/5/2008 8:16:22 PM

Rating + 1 HATE IT


Pros: Easy to set up.

Cons: When I connected it to my 10meg connection I could only get 8 megs, the loss in speed is not so bad if you can use the features but they Netgear wants you to pay for VPN accounts. When I upgraded my connection to 20megs I still could only get 8megs through the netgear router. Turns out that although they claim the WAN port is a 10/100 tech support claims the interface between the LAN and WAN is only 10megs (then why have a 100meg WAN port?)

Other Thoughts: Tech support was horrible, absolutely horrible.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

abarenbo
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/4/2008 10:51:08 AM

Rating + 5 great


Pros: Does what it says, intuitive admin page.

Cons: n/a

Other Thoughts: Using it mainly for DHCP, firewall, and routing. Not employing VPN just yet.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/2/2008 3:15:05 PM

Rating + 1 Too bad it doesn't work


Pros: It has a nice, professional look & feel, and 8 ports. Once you figure out how to skip the wizard the menu system feels like home to anyone who's used Netgear products before.

Cons: Doesn't actually connect to the internet.

Other Thoughts: I wanted to upgrade from my old FR114P that has served me reliably for years but doesn't have enough ports. Thought it would be a cakewalk, but not so. The "configuration assistant" that pops up when you first use it thinks that I have a static IP (which I don't as I'm on a DSL) and gives no option to switch to DHCP. After looking through the documentation I found out how to bypass the wizard and set the DHCP option in the normal way, but it still won't connect to my ISP's DHCP server. Tried various sequences of rebooting, disconnecting and renewing DHCP with no luck. Finally I put my old 4-port router back in just to get on the net.

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Jason
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/29/2008 11:30:29 AM

Rating + 4 Mostly okay


Pros: Easy to set up. Having eight ports is great.
Also, and I know it's a little thing, it has a power switch so I don't have to unplug it if I need to power cycle it.

Cons: Recently had to reset it to factory defaults after it repeatedly dropped its connection to my cable modem.
Also, the stateful firewall adds significant latency. Ping times went from 1ms to 70ms with no custom rules, services, or blocking.

Other Thoughts: For the money, this thing is fantastic.
If I had a few thousand to throw at a home device, there are other things I would rather have.

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Coppernicus
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
1/3/2008 8:11:40 AM

Rating + 4 Back to the Drawing Board


Pros: It has worked for me (version 1)with few glitches for over 4 years now. I like the fact that the lights are on the front panel and the RJ-45 connectors are on the real panel; makes for a very presentable unit.

Cons: Rarely I have to reboot.

Other Thoughts: Netgear really needs to update this thing. The LAN ports should be gigabit and the WAN to LAN throughput should be much higher than the 12 Mbit specified for version 3. With FTTH, 20 Mbits is common today with 50 Mbits possible and 100 Mbits soon around the corner. It would also be nice to have 12-16 LAN ports.

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Trouser Muppet
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/13/2007 10:46:48 PM

Rating + 5 I have all 3


Pros: Excellent stability with recent firmware. I own 6 of these units (mix of v1, v2, and v3) and they all work together flawlessly. The first two I bought years ago had to be replaced within months, but all others since then have been fine. Point to Point VPN and software VPN all worked as advertised. Their support website has an EXCELLENT walk through for various configuration scenarios (hardware and software VPN connections). Also, no fans!

Cons: Not gigabit, no SFP for fiber, but you knew that. You actually have to read the manual to get VPN working. Restoring a saved configuration file often does not restore the VPN shared secret password correctly. Simply type it in again. The VPN logs are often less than helpful when debugging connection issues.

Other Thoughts: Outstanding value.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/10/2007 7:48:51 PM

Rating + 5 Just Intsalled, works good for me


Pros: Works as intended, no problems. VPN connectivity is good and it does the job well. No hiccups for me. Netgear will also replace units with versions 1 and 2 with 3 for free. (Well shipping) and it comes with a lifetime warranty. They have a VPN client utility that you have to purchase separately, but it isn't necessary with Linux boxes that I use if you know what your doing. Point to Point VPN works well with other devices when configured properly too. DSL occasionally drops but doesn't cause any issues, replaced that DSL modem and it works good now.

Cons: None, bigger then it looks but that is what the physical dimensions descriptions are for...

Other Thoughts: Was a little nervous about it since the price and reviews were a little low, but it works good. Replaced a bunch of Linksys stuff at work with Netgear and everyone is happy.

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HeyBill
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
11/9/2007 9:29:26 AM

Rating + 3 Gets the job done


Pros: You get what you pay for. I have the version 1.0 of this which has a slower proc and can not use the latest firmware. Still, it will certainly accomplish a simple p2p vpn if need be.

Cons: I think the interface could be more robust. And apparantly the VPN policy wizard is not exactly flawless. If you are trying to setup something for a semi-large business, you are probably looking in the wrong place.

Other Thoughts: Juniper SSG5 might do you better in the corporate environment.

Oh and VISTA !== Work with VPN anything. If you are using Vista and trying to use a VPN, setup p2p w/ a hardware endpoint

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

ValentinoENT
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
10/21/2007 2:46:08 PM

Rating + 5 More Bang for the Buck


Pros: No connection licensing of any kind. Consistent, not tempermental, no reboots required.

Cons: The router doesn't conk the user on the head to make them understand that this $100 router provides services that you would normally have to pay 5x more for, ie sonicwall.

Other Thoughts: If you want the vpn client ability, purchase the netgear vpn server appliance. Its easier to manage and easier on the users. Stop complaining that its software client is tempermental. Its not completely perfect because of this but the vpn appliance is the solution if you are running a business.
This model made my business grow because it worked and was affordable. If you complain, you don't know what you're talking about in regards to competitors.

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Mr IT
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
10/17/2007 10:37:49 AM

Rating + 1 NFG and Poor Support


Pros: NONE

Cons: We are rebooting our VPN routers daily. We are scrapping them as soon as we can get a replacement recommendation. Also NETGEAR does not have VISTA VPN software.

Other Thoughts: My ex boss swears by them, and he is no longer with our company. Now I swear at them. -r

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
10/12/2007 9:59:22 AM

Rating + 5 Had it for 5 years, love it.


Pros: Bought it 5 years ago when it first came out. Amazingly, it has stood the test of time and Netgear still makes it. I have had no issues with it, though have not implemented the VPN features. If I were buying today, I'd buy the FVG318, the wireless version. 8 ports is great, the firewall features are adequate. It doesn't drop connection, most people don't understand their DSL is the issue, not their router.

Cons: Can't think of any.

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Rob
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
9/24/2007 7:22:05 AM

Rating + 4 Good Box


Pros: Small form factor. Silent - no fans. Stable VPN connections. Remote management. Port translation through firewall.

Cons: Not more ports? Not gigabit. Web interface a bit cluttered in the beginning, could be considered daunting at first.

Other Thoughts: I've been using this unit for over a year, and only had one temporary outage that required a reset. Has been supporting 25 to 30 desktops and 1 site-to-site VPN with a Netgear FVX538 (which currently is supporting close to 70 desktops). Have thoroughly enjoyed using this unit! I don't give any products 5 eggs, because there's always room for improvement.

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ITGeek
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
9/20/2007 12:44:47 PM

Rating + 1 Don't buy it


Pros: Reasonable web interface. Pretty good feature set.

Cons: The unit breaks, often! Will suddently lose internet and all network traffic will cease on your LAN. I've had 2 units over the last 3 years and they were both junked eventually from the same problem. Stay clear.

Other Thoughts: Netgear now has a lifetime guarantee on these because they "know they make the best product". Come on, if they knew that they wouldn't need to offer a lifetime guarantee to attract customers. Think about it, $90 for this product - when it breaks you will spend $30 shipping it back to them (and it will break) plus you'll be without a router for a few weeks. Repeat cycle until you get frustrated and buy from another manufacturer. Start there...buy from another manufacturer.

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ochbad
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: less than 1 day
8/6/2007 5:03:10 AM

Rating + 2 Vista woes


Pros: Cheap VPN box.

Cons: VPN requires purchase of client software for each client.

VPN client software is NOT compatible with Vista

Other Thoughts: Don't make the mistake I did: If you want a cheap router/firewall, get a cheap router/firewall for half the price. If you want a VPN box, pony up and buy a decent one that doesn't require a proprietary client and works with Vista

2 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

VirtualPanther
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
6/11/2007 5:03:41 PM

Rating + 2 Can't browse LAN


Pros: Solid firewall for the money, good web GUI, sturdy construction, 8 ports.

Cons: ***Can't browse home LAN***
Can't ping any computer on network. All I have is internet access on all of them.

Also, no Gigabit port(s), slowed downloads, no useful Netgear tech support to benefit from: they're very polite but clueless.

Other Thoughts: I bought this to replace Linksys' BFR81, so I essentially was replacing a cheap 8-port router with an 8port router with firewall. I have no use for VPN so no experience or comments on that. First impression and installation were both good. I have not done extensive testing of the firewall but considering that my past experience was having no hardware firewall, I was pleasantly impressed with features. I understand from other posts that for some users, upon intense probing (i.e. Gibson's site) this firewall did not stand up to heat. Well, I have not done that. I do use Norton so FVS318 was meant to supplement security by adding features not available in software firewall.

So, why 2 stars? Easy. I can't claim solid networking experience but mine should be sufficient for basic setup. I have 2 PCs, 2 TiVos, and one NAS. After installing FVS318 I can't browse LAN at home. Can't ping, nothing. Works with old Linksys, but not with FVS318. Support...uhh, what support?

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freetech
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/4/2007 11:03:46 PM

Rating + 4 Good router, with limitations


Pros: This was the first router that I bought. Fairly easy for a newbie to set up. Consistent Netgear interface. Improved hardware specs over previous revisions. Lot of features for the money. Very stable, unless it is clogged with excess traffic.

Cons: VPN client costs extra. Limited bandwidth compared to other models in the price range. Can get flaky if it is pushed beyond its published limits.

Other Thoughts: I still like this router for the ease of use and features, but don't use it is an environment where it is pushed hard. I use it in my house, but i wouldn't use it in a situation with more than 5-8 users.

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/8/2007 5:11:52 AM

Rating + 5 I am very happy with the device


Pros: The firewall is very easy to setup throught HTTP GUI. For example the setup of the firewall rules is very easy to do. The firewall runs stable since 1 month. No reset so far. I had another netgear product before where the firewall hung up twice a day.

Cons: None so far

Other Thoughts: Haven't setup the VPN because I only tunnel PPTP traffic throught the firewall.
Firewall is perfect for people which have a basic understanding of a NAT device and do not want to become firewall experts while setting up this device.

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Rob
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
3/27/2007 7:53:48 AM

Rating + 5 Good Cheap Business Router


Pros: 0% downtime in 3 years. Support for multiple VPN connections. Currently supporting 24 users. Remote management via https protocol.

Cons: ...

Other Thoughts: While the client VPN connections can be a bit sketchy, I use this router to connect to two remote networks: one powered by a FVS538, and one a cheap little Linksys. I've had less than 5% downtime on the VPN's due to hardware issues (though the ISP on the other hand...) and has supported our internal network of 24 workstations non-stop for just over 3 years. I've had a FVS 538 supporting 50 workstations and 2 VPN's with under 5% downtime over the last two years.

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Outsiders
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/20/2007 1:52:38 PM

Rating + 5 Router Doing It's Job


Pros: I got the new router cause I got a new computer and hooking it up was as simple as disconnecting my previous router and plugging in the new router. Took a total of 5 minutes and I was up and running again...

Cons: Port forwarding is a little different to set up but gets easy once you get the hang of it...

Other Thoughts: Added a new computer to the family and have 5 computers running off of one connection and have not noticed any downgrade of connection. Router is pulling big time and keeping up with the connection speeds I need...

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
2/12/2007 2:44:57 PM

Rating + 2 Junk


Pros: cheep, works ok as a router/firewall

Cons: VPN sucks. Very un-intuitive setup for those unfamiliar with VPN .. heck setting up VPN on a cisco PIX is easier! POOR VPN PERFORMANCE once you do get it setup, the troughput SUCKS. no pptp either. Must buy (awfull) netgear VPN client to even use the VPN ... for even more $$ ..

Other Thoughts: Bottom line is if you just want a cheep office firewall .. get it, if you need VPN functionality, spend the extra $ and go with a cisco product, or a sonic wall for very easy setup and good performance.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
2/9/2007 5:31:10 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Full featured, powerful, very secure, runs my network with two web servers well.

Cons: Advertised as having a wan-lan throughput of 12.5 Mbps my experience is much lower between 1.7 and 3. This is with the router running under very little load, and no services on.

Other Thoughts: An awesome router for dsl. Not so good for todays super high speed broadband.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Big Bear
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/30/2007 12:33:52 PM

Rating + 5 NetGear FVS318


Pros: Great filtering
Faster Conectivity
Excellent Management
Very Secure

Cons: have to restart it every pnce in a blue moon because the filter log fills up and the traffic time the internet connection out

Other Thoughts: I have a mail personal domain mail mail server and it sends my internet logs to my server. I am also running active directory also so far no attacks and never had any popups

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

ptsdon
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/21/2007 8:58:47 PM

Rating + 5 VPN Tunnel a success


Pros: I purchased this device with the express purpose of setting up a VPN tunnel to a Netgear ProSafe model FVS114. It works! It handles AES as well as 3DES.

Cons: It appears that when you have all the parameters set for both sides of the VPN in each VPN router, you need to cold boot them. I couldn't get the settings to work after the refresh (warm boot).

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jpr85635
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/13/2007 2:27:48 PM

Rating + 5 8-Port Wonder


Pros: 8-Port switch, DHCP Reservations, SPI Firewall, Faster CPU

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I had to replace my NetGear RO318 and this was an upgrade as well as a replacement. Even though this is not truly a Netgear manufactured product, the product is solid.

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peanut_butter
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/2/2007 6:17:58 PM

Rating + 5 Great product


Pros: I originally had a version 1 FVS318 and bought a new one for the faster processor and new features. This has so many more features than the original one (blocking outbound services etc). I setup a vpn between my new one and the old one it replaced that I gave to my parents 300 miles away. I like Netgear products for their simplicity and reliability.

Cons: NONE

Other Thoughts: If you are thinking about getting one, do it.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

ash
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/22/2006 6:11:14 AM

Rating + 5 Netgear firewall


Pros: I can put keeywords in poped up web sites in and they will not pop up again. MY network performance improved alot web sites pop up right away . I have clean connections and filtered aand a logger that is very accurate, tracing routes and ping

Cons: Havent figured out how to put trusted web sites yet so far it looks like you can only block web sites and not tell the fire wall whixch ones you all ways would like to allow

Other Thoughts: So far i like it alot

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OSU Cowboy
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/2/2006 6:30:37 PM

Rating + 5 8 VPN Tunnels is what I needed


Pros: FVS318 version 3 is better. Lots of useful features.

Cons: None so far

Other Thoughts: Make sure you update the firmware.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Michael
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/18/2006 7:10:00 AM

Rating + 4 Solid IPSec VPN


Pros: Solid and secure connection, decent transfer rates, fairly easy to set up with Netgear's software.

Cons: Netgear VPN client costs $50 per license (or $150 for 5), so that sort of negates the bargain price of the router.

Other Thoughts: If you just love Netgear and you need IPSec, this is a good router. Otherwise, I would recommend a Linksys RV0 series router for pure ease of setup and configuration. RV0 works with WinXP's built-in PPTP client, but you might need 3rd party software to make IPSec work.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
9/12/2006 11:48:45 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: It is a very good firewall router. Very easy to use.

Cons: None.

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tdstim
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/12/2006 6:46:41 PM

Rating + 5 Great value and dependability


Pros: 8 port switch, built in VPN, good configurability, and they have been very reliable. can't beat the price.

Cons: For the first VPN setup I had to call tech support. They were quick to get me up and running. VPN through put is not fast but is very affordable.

Other Thoughts: I have been using these routers for years for many of my clients (30 plus routers)
They are great for SBS servers and networks. Some of my configurations have had VPNs running for 6 months with 10 users connecting through the router from a remote office

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photomeister
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/7/2006 7:10:33 PM

Rating + 5 Great firewall for the price


Pros: VPN and an excellent firewall. It stealths all ports, including the mysterious port 1!

With two of these I suspect you could split your network into two locations.

Four ports saves you the cost of a hub for most small offices.

Cons: Remote connection software for "on the road" access to your network is pricey. Would that it was offered as part of the package! But you can't have everything.

Other Thoughts: Very good price. Very good firewall. You need two of them if you have two locations, but you need a firewall/router at each location anyway, so for the price this is a great deal!

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robert
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/19/2006 6:30:32 PM

Rating + 5 THIS IS V.3


Pros: it works great!!! it is V.3 *go to netger website... no problems so far passed all sheilds up tests

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: none maybe a builtin modem and dialup backup more ports

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amic
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/13/2006 11:35:14 AM

Rating + 5 Works as advertised


Pros: Works as advertisied. Good documentation - lots of guides on their web site. Metal case. Better/cleaner operation than other similiar priced products. Will buy again.

Cons: Only allows for 8 VPN tunnel setups - I know it advertises 8 VPN tunnels (at one time) but I have more than 8 to use (just never at one time).

Other Thoughts: I've owned or placed 9 of these. Version 3 of this router is MUCH better than older versions. I had one of these get a glitch that limits the key length to 15 characters - still works, but I don't like the problem. Tried other routers and nothing has worked as well.

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Ace56
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/4/2006 7:23:05 PM

Rating + 5 Great VPN Router


Pros: Have used as a VPN for over two years linking 3 locations with over 125 users. Great performance and rock solid.

Cons: Took a good deal of time to set up properly with some trial and error to gain maximum performance.

Other Thoughts: Replaced a Linksys VPN router when it failed, and liked this Netgear so well I replaced all the VPN routers with it. DHCP server also is excellent.

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Datajockeys
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
5/28/2006 4:02:08 PM

Rating + 2 Not as advertised...


Pros: Excellent construction and port placement. Unit built like a Sherman tank. Long product run making adding VPN sites easier.

Cons: Unit passes data at 1/10 the advertised rate! I had three of theese routers in my lab for testing. I had contacted Netgear several times to reolve the problem before a rollout to several states but could not get a competent person to assist.

Other Thoughts: I refered theese problems to our legal department for follow up since Netgear was unwilling to upgrade the routers to those meeting advertised specifications. Netgear blew off the court sumons and I now have a default judgement against them. I wil lbe happy to share any information I have on this matter.

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JC
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
5/12/2006 8:11:34 AM

Rating + 2 Solid security, bad w/ fast connections and gaming


Pros: -8 Ports
-Very tight security

Cons: -Issues with blocking servers
-Issues with game browsers (no more than 100 games)
-Does NOT play nice with Xbox Live
-If your internet is faster than 3mbps, you will lose speed

Other Thoughts: Many of these issues stem from my insane connection, not typical of home connections. My entire house is CAT5e wired, and I needed a router to do it all. This one disappointed due to my internet connection (15mbps down/2mbps up). It never went above 3mbps. Direct connection got 14mbps and DI-604 4 port router got 13mbps.

Bottom line, this is a great buisness class router, but for gaming or high bandwidth activities, look elsewhere.

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xxcrowleyxx
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
4/3/2006 11:13:43 AM

Rating + 4 Rock Solid for Security!!!!


Pros: Great protection for a gateway to the net. Very reliable, configurable, rock solid security.

Cons: MUST BE configured properly!!! Default settings just don't cut it. a bit slow from one pc to another though. like 1 sec waiting for a transfer. From DSL or CABLE is the same speed. Since they only top out at 768+Kbps i don't see how people complain not to get more speed since they only go as high as up to 1 mbps max. if u want cisco 100+mbps quality Don't look here. Other wise 20+MBPs or 80+MBps is great with a awesome Firewall is the best. i bought mine in 2001/2 ($xxx)

Other Thoughts: Every body is complaining about how cra*py, or cheap this is. Cuz no one is configuration it properly. I have set up a log forwarding all hack attempts & access attempts. Everyone of'em this netgear stops & drops. Security is ROCK SOLID!! BUT it MUST BE CONFIGURED!! U Will get cra*py performance when set to Default settings. For the advanced user it's quite simple. for a high core net admin WAN/MAN best put in for a high end cisco brand($500+). I had two (2) sucessful hacks & thats when my netgear was rebooted. Obviously it was them. Since i was too lazy to configure my netgear with my server properly, corruption of files is what they left me. Then u learn. ;)

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
3/24/2006 3:33:04 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Good firewall/router
VPN works well
DMZ zone is usefull
8 ports :)

Cons: 8mbps download MAX!!

Other Thoughts: Bandwidth tests report 8mbps down maximum when connected to router... when connected straight to cable modem i get 10mbps down (comcast cable 8000/756)

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

David Smith
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
3/17/2006 6:04:04 AM

Rating + 1 2 bad routers in 6 months


Pros: Works well at first, has alot of good features for custom services and rules

Cons: Have owned 2 of these. first one died 6 months after i got it, couldnt wait so i bought another, also from newegg, 5 months later that one died. think netgear is selling garbage now or something. I know im not over taxing it with my big 10 user network.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

ratickle
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/14/2006 11:36:58 AM

Rating + 4 Good But Slow


Pros: This router has great features and high reliability. I loved it until Optonline upgraded our cable service to 15 mbit/sec downloads / 2 mbit/sec uploads.

Cons: This router limits my downloads to 8 mbits/sec, but supports the 2 mbits/sec upload. I connected a computer directly to the cable modem and clocked 14.9 mbits/sec download.

Other Thoughts: If your cable or dsl service is less than 8 mbits/sec download, then this is a fine router for you.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/8/2006 2:31:57 PM

Rating + 4 Good Product - Detailed Setup


Pros: Good Construction, and good feature set. Firewall is robust for home and SO users. VPN works well. For those new to VPN setup, or to those that need help setting up VPN with this router, visit this site for great setup instructions and specific case studies: http://vpncasestudy.com/document.html
Note: I did end up buying and using the VPN client software from NetGear.

Cons: Product should ship with VPN client software - Product should also ship with FREE tech support for VPN setup issues.

Other Thoughts: Netgear has a good product here but it gets a bad rap from many due to their lack of free support when setting up VPN.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

HappySoFar
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
2/28/2006 4:41:54 PM

Rating + 4 This is a Good Router


Pros: My router has run 3 months w/ no problems/resets/reboots at all. I have run numerous tests/port scans from mcaffe and such with 100% coverage reported. It has 8 ports. The price can't be beat. Very rugged construction. Ground strap. 8x100Mb LAN. DHCP. 10Mb WAN. Fairly good Port forwarding, DMZ, time, log. Supports DynDNS.com for hosting stuff on DSL and connections taht change a lot, Wall/cabinet mounting holes on bottom. Power switch. Reset switch. Software is easy to use. Actually pretty fast for the price.

Cons: I wish it had the link & 10/100 lights on both sides or at least on the side the connectors are on, but I mounted it with the lights facing up and the connectors facing down in my cabinet, no big deal.

Other Thoughts: Have not used the VPN yet, but will be soon, so can't comment on that.

Seems like every router review out there has people that either love or hate the thing. I'm a firmware engineer and I run into a lot of people that have a lot of mis-information on the way a products should work, especially networking products, i.e, haven't read the manual or don't have a clue as to what is going on, so take the reviews on any router you read with a grain of salt...

I have used a lot of different network products. I have used a lot of products from Netgear and have been pleased with them. In fact, I usually just plug the things in and forget about them, as is the case with this router to date.

Granted it's not a big enterprize grade router with a college degree needed to set up and program, but for < a Ulyssis, it's a pretty good router.

Also, I have cable and if you look at the log after a few weeks and see all the access attempts that were banned, you'll be pleased that you ha

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
2/2/2006 7:47:28 PM

Rating + 3 Disappointed


Pros: Rugged construction, 8 ports, attractive, has a power switch (most other routers do not), logical layout, IPsec-capable (among other protocols), fairly understandable web interface.

Cons: Not a true full duplex device for WAN/LAN. Rev 2 Cannot withstand a ShieldsUP test. Firmware updates are no longer forthcoming.

Other Thoughts: I was very disappointed when it failed Gibson's test- it simply rebooted. I am keeping it around until I complete building my own.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

ChemicalX
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/25/2006 12:09:29 AM

Rating + 2 Slowed Downloads


Pros: Attractive, rugged housing. 8 LAN ports. It's designed for good VPN throughput, although I replaced it with a model from another manufacturer before setting up a VPN.

Cons: Installed in my home with a Comcast cable modem, ordinary downloads became significantly slower. It also blocked video news feeds from MSN.com. A firmware update to v3.0.21 didn't improve things. It sits unused on a shelf.

Other Thoughts: Netgear's support page says the firmware update results in "Throughput greatly increased for firewall...". Still it slowed ordinary web browsing more than I would accept.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

brotherpenguin
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/23/2006 12:19:29 PM

Rating + 4 Searching game servers = bad


Pros: Very simple(if limited) configuration. Detected network and users quickly. VPN was easy to setup.

Cons: When scanning/refreshing servers for games, the routers thinks it is being DDOS'd, it detects "suspicious" activity based on the number of different ip's hitting it with similar packets and it cuts off all incoming. This allows you to scan MAYBE 200 counter-strike servers out of the thousands available.

Other Thoughts: Lots of ports, solid build, I bought this for LANs in my shop, but the game server thing really bothered me...Quake3/battlefield/counter-strike/Source - all same problem.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/22/2006 5:35:51 PM

Rating + 1 Meehhhh.......


Pros: Worked fine for a short amount of time, then sudenly started doing a poor job.

Cons: does not do a very fast job of routing. flaky reliblity.

Other Thoughts: Good job from newegg, as always, but i cant really recomend the product.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

guru
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
1/21/2006 9:48:23 AM

Rating + 1


Pros: Works OK when there is no reboot problem.

Cons: Constantly reboots itself. It can start within a day after you use it, or 3 years after you use it. Just google FVS318 reboot.

Other Thoughts: I've used mine since 2002 and it just started giving me problems a few months ago. It contantly reboots every day.
It's a gamble to buy this router. You may get a good one or a bad, even if you exhange it under warranty. Netgear knows about the problem.
I'm buying a new router from Newegg today to replace it, and of course it won't be a Netgear ProSafe FVS318 VPN Firewall.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Netman
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
1/17/2006 4:48:32 AM

Rating + 4 Great for VPN


Pros: Great VPN support! Very robust and does the job well!

Cons: Strange inplementation of some common features like port forwarding. Not really an issue once you see how it works though.

Other Thoughts: Very nice router. I would like to see this device available with a wireless-G capability.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

jb
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/4/2006 9:45:16 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: it works. New interface is better than older ones.V3 to V3 works well. Update firmware before you even start setting up. I have had trouble with keeping a VPN connection open for several days. It just stops passing data, even though both ends show 'established'. I just just unchecked the keep alive box to allow tunnel to timeout. This has been working well for me.

Cons: I already had 3 V2's setup, didn't realize that this was a different router. It is totally different from V1 and V2. The instructions on netgear's site was worthless and didn't work. I did find a topic on dslreports that had a solution for V2 to V3 and I was able to get mine working. V3 is different enough that Netgear should have just made it a new product. As for reviewer that noted that it is on box, You would only notice that if you knew to look for it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
12/22/2005 7:18:12 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: I have used this router now for about 5-6 years; it has always worked flawlessly in a variety of setups over the years. When I bought it new I purchased it wholesale for $xxx. At NewEggs current price it is a steal!

Cons: None to date.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/19/2005 1:57:46 PM

Rating + 4 VPN Tunnels...


Pros: FVS318 <-> FVS318 VPN tunnels work well and are easy to set up. Am using 30 & 32 character preshare keys between FVS318's.

8 port switch; metal case without odd shapes; easily stacked.

Will work (VPN) with TRENDnet TW100-BRV204 VPN router with up to 20 character preshare key.

Cons: Log files are not worth much.

Size - large if you don't need the 8 port switch.

Documentation is fair at best.

Other Thoughts: Great value for VPN router for SOHO use.

I have 4 running at different sites with 5 tunnels.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

KPMCSE
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/18/2005 6:25:09 AM

Rating + 5 Solid device


Pros: Many options in the web interface. Good solid case. Very reliable; I have only had to reboot it once in the 5 months I have had it on and that was because of the ISP flip-flopping subnets 3 times in 2 days.

Cons: You can only provide 1 IP address for the blocked site exception list. Having more would be handy. The only other thing that was an annoyance was that I can only reference some internally hosted applications using the internal NAT IP. Not a huge problem but something to be aware of if you are using FQDN's that reference your external IP and use port forwarding to access things that are internal.

Other Thoughts: In reading other reviews, I get the impression their's had problems. Mine has been running great for a few months now.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
12/17/2005 1:04:27 PM

Rating + 5 NetGear RockZ!


Pros: Best Value Around! Good solid Stateful Packet Inspection, filtering, 3 year warranty. I have used 4 different brands of routers. The FVS318 beats all the rest easilty. Best Waranty, metal case, ICSA certified firewall. Allows you to filter out specific domains using keywords, email alerts of intrusion attempts. This is a much better router than my Linksys BEFSX41 by far.

Cons: Customer service does not know anything about their product line whatsoever! This is the best firewall there is for under $xxx for users that Do NOT need hand holding customer support.

Other Thoughts: If you know networking basics this is the best deal for under $xxx. I have had mine for 6-7 months and NEVER had a single hiccup yet!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

NutherUnsatisfied
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
12/17/2005 8:36:30 AM

Rating + 1


Pros: Decent VPN.

Cons: Is VERY buggy. Has to reboot frequently. I have a small business and tried this model for 6 months. Contacted tech support on several occasions and all they said was to update the firmware. Did that and no improvement. Ultimately had to trash it for an older D-Link that works fine. I have several other NetGear products that work fine, but this firewall/router is terrible.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/11/2005 12:32:01 PM

Rating + 4 VPN Tunnels work...for SMB & HO


Pros: Fairly easy set up. Netgear documentation is pretty good and equipment has proven reliable. Flexible VPN security settings. Easy FVS318 to FVS318 tunnels. Metal case; 8 port switch.

Cons: Web interface cluttered with help frame. Web intf has three vertical frames, not well sized by default. Need easier way to check (view) tunnel status.

Other Thoughts: Wish log and/or VPN tunnel setup displayed more information during tunnel negotiation.

Wonder if it works with the TRENDnet VPN routers??? If so that may add the fifth star. :-)

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

Freeman
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/2/2005 10:08:01 PM

Rating + 1


Pros: Earlier VERSIONS of the FVS318 are rock solid and bullet-proof.

Cons: The FVS318v3 is garbage. It is a new device using the model name of proven hardware. It has serious issues that firmware will NOT correct, EVAR. The FVS318v3 is suitable for target practice, a doorstop, a paperweight, an anchor for a radio-controlled boat, and Newegg should be ashamed for continuing to offer this piece of dung for sale.

4 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Dave
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/2/2005 11:37:03 AM

Rating + 2 Problems


Pros: None.

Cons: Very buggy. Have to reboot often. Firmware upgrades didn't help. Technical support is AWEFUL.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Mollman
Tech Level:
Ownership:
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/14/2005 10:48:22 AM

Rating + 4 Multiple IPSec/L2TP VPN Support


Comments: I needed a firewall that would support pass-through of multiple, concurrent VPN connections using MS' IPSec/L2TP VPN protocol. It wasn't easy to determine whether any of the appliances in this class supported such a scenario, but the 318 seemed most likely to from what I could gather. Got it set up over the weekend and it does support this requirement. I replaced a dedicated ISA firewall with this appliance and am so far (3 days into it) quite satisfied. Throughput is somewhat slower but acceptable. Configuration was straightforward, including setting up port forwarding and custom service definitions to allow things like BitTorrent traffic through. No need so far to deal with NetGear's customer service (keeping fingers crossed I never need it), though the horror stories about it nearly scared me away. In general I'm pretty amazed that an appliance like this has such capabilities and performance at this price-point.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

NegaJim
Tech Level:
Ownership:
11/9/2005 9:51:06 AM

Rating + 1 Pass


Comments: I have a small business environment with a fractional T1. The VPN is very difficult to set up, even with their SafeNet software. Go to their forums and look. The performance doesn't seem good, and I've had a problem with it locking up at random times, which makes it worthless. Documentation is completely useless and out-of-date. Support is sub-par. I'm done with Netgear forever.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Draconis77
Tech Level:
Ownership:
10/12/2005 4:40:36 PM

Rating + 5 Finally


Comments: The business I work for uses Sprint Broadband Direct and had problems with the internet for months. I Found out that our Linksys router was not working well with SprintBBD. Switched it with an old SpeedStream router and had different problems with it. Bought the FVS318, set it up and now everything is working great. I have purchased many Netgear products and it is the only brand I have never had problems with!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level:
Ownership:
10/7/2005 6:39:54 PM

Rating + 4 Good Secure Router


Comments: Mine came with 3.2 firmware which caused lots of problems andinstability. Upgraded firmware to 3.3 and haven't had a problem since. Highly configurable for people wanting more control over their network traffic. Only 4 star because of the firmware issues.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level:
Ownership:
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/21/2005 3:08:40 PM

Rating + 5 No Brainer


Comments: My son the IT person in real life said this was the only way to surf. He was 1005 correct. No brainer setup. Follow the prompts. No brainer upgrading firmware. Follow the prompts.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

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