NETGEAR FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall 8 with 8-Port 10/100 Switch

I am the sole IT person for a company that has several branch offices and they are all equipped with one of these routers. They are updated to the latest firmware which may play a key role in my success with these routers, but so far I couldn't be happier. Not one has had a problem that couldn't be resolved with a power cycle. I am not doing anything too complex with these as their DHCP/DNS functions are being handled by a windows server and there is no need for VPN yet, but the expandability is good to have. Port forwarding is in use and working fine and the internet access policy, although not the most robust I've seen, it does the job. Internet access is quick and the setup is relatively easy. I am A+,NET+, and CCNA certified, however I don't think the setup requires a professional touch as the web access GUI is pretty intuitive. Lastly the body is good at keeping the unit cool, is easy to mount, and has a pretty small footprint. To combine all of this with a price tag that any power user or SOHO can afford makes it 5 stars to me.

This model is past "end of life" according to Netgear, so don't expect any technical support. Even the Netgear webpage is not much use; however, the router is totally intuitive to set up and configure and works very well. This model does NOT have Wi-Fi LAN. After configuring the FVS318, I connected my old Wi-Fi modem in pass-through mode on the LAN side behind the firewall, so wired and wireless devices are now all behind the wall and all on the same LAN. Easy. Does a great job at a super low price.EDIT-A few more days later. Did not notice at first, but ethernet traffic has slowed down. Most noticed when streaming (Amazon Prime, Netflix etc....) the buffering is annoying.

As a security consultant, I consult people everyday on the need for a solid defense-in-depth strategy to protecting their network resources from potential attacks. The same applies to your home networks! Most broadband/HSI providers do not provide much in terms of securing "your assets", but rather, are interested in protecting their own. Often times, the perimeter equipment that is recommended (such as a typical wireless AP/router) does not really provide much in terms of security, and does nothing in terms of providing remote connectivity to resources on your home network when away.In comes the FVS318 Firewall with built-in IP Security (IPSec) Virtual Private Networking (VPN) capabilities. The appearances of this appliance seemed to meet almost all of my basic requirements ... with one key exception: NetGear does NOT provide support for remote Mac OS X clients in any of their VPN solutions and corresponding documentation. Most client OS's support VPN's (Windows XP/7, Mac OS X, Linux/Ubuntu, Android, iOS, etc.) that require a "login mechanism" for user authentication, and they utilize a secure tunnel to maintain communications. The FVS318 is really meant for a site-to-site typeo of VPN which utilizes the IPSec tunnel without any user authentication. This would be the case when two branch offices are connected together.Enough of the heavy technical details ... the problem is "how can I connect my Mac OS X computer to the FVS318 remotely?".After researching this for some time, I found two products that both work exceptionally well for the Mac environment. The first is freeware called IPSecuritas from Lobotomo Software. This comes with a preconfigured template for the FVS318. The other, which is available for a free, is called VPN Tracker. Like IPSecuritas, it also has preconfigured templates for the FVS318.So, if you are considering a security appliance to use at your home, and are concerned about the lack of Mac client software, do not worry any longer ... a solution is available to make your FVS318 work seaminglessly in your local and remote network.

I got this router to replace a reliable Linksys router that lacked the Netgear FVS318NA's VPN feature and 8 port built in switch.The VPN feature and the 8 port integrated switch are the best selling points for this Netgear router over other brands and models. The built in Virtual Public Network (VPN) feature let's you use the FVS318NA with a wide variety of VPN Clients and Hosts (not all of course, but many.) Netgear has a 25 page online document that tells you how to VPN your FVS318NA to a Windows 2000 Server for example. Easiest of course is to buy two FVS318NA's and create a point to point VPN between two offices, friends and family with DSL, a cable modem, etc. The built in 10/100 switch and Internet connection sharing means most people with small networks won't need to purchase a separate switch in order to plug in all of their computers, game systems and other Ethernet\Internet using devices.The built in Firewall offers more than the usual NAT invisibility (it does stateful inspection of packets) and logging is adequate but could be better (more information than is currently available in the router's logs would be helpful for troubleshooting problems and or security.)All in all you will not be disappointed with the money spent on this little "network cabinet" in a box. Netgear seems to have thought of most everything your power home or small to medium office user would want.