Firewall Recommendations?

chugger93 · Post by **chugger93** » Tue May 15, 2007 12:02 pm

I'm on the prowl for a pretty good firewall. Please don't recommend products like Linksys, Netgear, Dlink. I'm what you would call a little "above that" in terms of my knowledge and experience. Im willing to pay in the $200-300 range as well which is doiable through places like ebay.

I'm really considering Sonicwall, more preferably the TZ170 model as I have used it before. Im gonna want content filter, and security services at the gateway.

Any other good companies or recommendations? This would be for home use. I also know theres like Zyxel, Checkpoint, etc, just havnt used em before. I would prefer web GUI like Sonicwall has.

twwabw · Post by **twwabw** » Tue May 15, 2007 12:43 pm

I use nothing but SonicWALL everywhere- have for almost 7 years. Never had one fail- ever. That's good I guess, 'cause I hear their Tier1 support (India of course

) is pretty poor. But then again.... never had to call them. Always found whatever I needed either in the documentation, or user forums. Rock solid, fast VPN throughput. Content filter service works great if you need it. Under $300 might be a little tight- other than used. Remember they are sized by the number of connected PCs, in 10/25/unlimited. TZ170 10-user can be found for a little over 300 at NewEgg.

chugger93 · Post by **chugger93** » Tue May 15, 2007 12:49 pm

right and that just means 10 concurrent users on at any time right? What if theres a webserver hooked up to it...that shouldnt matter right?

twwabw · Post by **twwabw** » Tue May 15, 2007 1:17 pm

Any device using it as a gateway- so webserver- yes. Remember too- you won't get content filter service for free- it's a subscription

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Tue May 15, 2007 1:59 pm

TWW got me into Sonicwall quite a few years ago. I've found the units themselves to be very solid, dependable, fast. I've found their support to be frustrating at times....mostly because I only dealt with Sonicwall on a "part time" basis. Meaning...I have only a handful of clients on them.....so I don't deal with them very often. For those who may use them more regularly, or have access to a "gold partner" for support...I'm sure it's all good.

I have recently been turned onto Juniper..skipping past Cisco..I went right to the top for a VPN solution that a quickly growing client needed...and from my experience so far....I'm VERY impressed. In addition to the hardware, their support so far has been absolutely fantastic. Fast, get to a live body in under a minute, and the primary 2x locations are in the US (Idaho and Californy)....so for those of us in the English speaking world..you get treated to your native tongue.

For my clients with the budget..it's what I'll use so far.

chugger93 · Post by **chugger93** » Tue May 15, 2007 2:10 pm

what about a cisco pix 501? Any experiences with those? Is it all CLI or is there a GUI? Security services? I keep seeing them on ebay for like 200-300 bucks.

I think Im torn between sonicwall or cisco. Of course I guess I should almost rule out the pix if I want a firewall/router. The pix is just a firewall. I kinda need both. Unless I figure out how to get my cisco 1721 router working I have laying around my house. hmm

I guess what I'm wondering is SETUP wise, is it better to get a router/firewall combo..or get the ASA 5505 or PIX, plug that into my broadband, then from the PIX over to my 2003 server which is my current router.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Tue May 15, 2007 2:51 pm

PIX is outdated (well, discontinued), it's ASA now. I've setup a few of those little 501 and a 515 unit. I have a 501 at home matter of fact...haven't used it in a long time (in a drawer with a ton of other routers I've dorked with).

Can be command, or it also has a Java based GUI that you kick off with your browser. If you pickup an old PIX from fleabay...you'll most likely have to use command, or use a PC with an older version of Java. For some reason the newer Java (even though supposed to be backwards compatible)..will never let you past the certificate. Or..renew the support and flash with newer version.

Curious..any interest in building a *nix distro router..business level one, such as Endian? The robust features of enterprise grade hardware costing tens of thousands....it's really cool stuff, and wonderfully easy. Antivirus/antispam/anti-ad/spyware scanning at the gateway via transparent proxy, deep SPI and Snort IDS, various VPN features, very cool stuff.

chugger93 · Post by **chugger93** » Tue May 15, 2007 3:09 pm

Probably not. I'm not very proficient in linux or anything of the sort. Windows guy

I'd rather just buy a hardware security appliance, briefly configure it and be done with it. I just want some of the cool features like antivirus, spam, IDS, etc at the gateway.

I heard Zywall products are pretty decent too. Never dealt with em though.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Tue May 15, 2007 4:07 pm

chugger93 wrote:Probably not. I'm not very proficient in linux or anything of the sort. Windows guy

Me too. But honestly...I've built a few...and they are wonderfully easy. Download file..burn to CD..boot from CD...install through an easy peasy wizard, and configure the router just like most traditional routers these days..through a web admin that you'll feel at home in.
http://www.endian.com/en/products/firewall/screenshots/

You really don't have to know that it's *nix...just like most of the "out of the box" routers you purchase off the shelf are really built in *nix.