From: mike-newsgroup@-DELETETHISPART-.upcraft.com   
      
   Jeremy wrote:   
      
   > Greetings!   
   >   
   > Hi everyone Im new to this news group and I need some help selecting a   
   > VPN Appliance.   
   >   
   > My office network has two broadband connections (DSL and a fixed   
   > wireless connection.) The goal of the VPN is two-fold, 1. to allow   
   > employees access to the network from home. 2. to allow our off site   
   > warehouse computers to connect to our network.  Over the next year we   
   > are planning to expand our company and need a solution that can grow   
   > with the company.   
   >   
   > I have done some homework and narrowed my choices down to the Symantec   
   > 200R or the Linksys RV082. I have read some old reviews on both units   
   > and I am interested to see how they compare, and if I should look at a   
   > different unit altogether.   
   >   
   > Any help would be greatly appreciated.   
   >   
   > Thanks,   
   >   
   > Jeremy   
      
   I hear many complaints relating to Symantec devices and Symantec's   
   support of those devices.  I would leave that one out.   
   With low end devices you need to be careful to pick something with a   
   high enough throughput rate.  That linksys device has an encrypted   
   maximum throughput of 14Mbps.  If your fixed wireless link is faster   
   than this you should pick something faster.  Unfortunately faster means   
   more expensive because you are moving away from embedded processors to   
   faster desktop pc class of processors in the VPN equipment.  A good   
   example of this is the Nortel Contivity 1010.  It contains an Intel   
   Celeron 300A class processor or faster with a complete PC compatible   
   motherboard, memory, etc.  It uses a flash memory card instead of a hard   
   drive but is basically an integrated PC.   
      
   I personally like to use the Netopia 3386-ENT as my low end device.  It   
   supports IPSec and PPTP protocols which means you can easily setup a VPN   
   that allows the microsoft built in PPTP client for remote clients.  It   
   is not a simple device to setup since everything is through a telnet   
   interface but it has much more power than most devices of this price   
   range.   
      
   I have not personally used that Linksys device you mentioned.  I   
   wouldn't mind hearing from anyone who has used it to see what they think.   
      
   I usually recommend the Nortel Contivity line for higher end VPN needs   
   but it is optimized as a VPN only device, firewall features of the basic   
   unit is good but nothing spectacular since it is NAT based.  Watchguard   
   also makes a nice unit that integrates strong firewall functions with   
   VPN support.  The watchguard firebox X device has many built in   
   application level proxies to help you setup more complex security   
   policies.  (IE: Strip specific mail headers from leaving your internal   
   SMTP servers)   
      
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   Mike Drechsler (mike-newsgroup@-deletethispart-.upcraft.com)   
      
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