[geeks] Forwarded router question

[Phil Brutsche]

Phil Stracchino wrote:
> I believe this question was discussed not too long back, but not from
> the perspective of "I want it to be an appliance".  Anyone have any
> advice regarding an off-the-shelf appliance to do what he wants, or are
> they all going to be pretty much lowest-common-denominator consumer devices?

How much is he willing to spend? This is a "you get what you pay for"
situation.

IMO pretty much all the consumer devices are steaming piles of fecal
matter, one $30 POS isn't all that much different than another.

To get a *good* quality small firewall he'll have to spend $250+: a
Cisco 851 is $250-ish US, and the entry level SonicWALLs - the TZ 150
and the TZ 170 - are $250-ish US and $320-ish US.

If that's too rich for his blood I would point him to a low-end
business-class model (LinkSys RVL200, Netgear FVS318, etc), but those
aren't necessarily any better (the user reviews on NewEgg are...
revealing). The cost on those starts in the $60 (Netgear FVS318) to $165
(Linksys RVL200) range.

-- 

Phil Brutsche
phil at tux.obix.com