Re: Network security

i also think that whatever linksys router you have is probably good enough
as long as you are not hosting any services (you do not have a web server or
email server on your network) and assuming that when you say small business
you really mean small business (say up to 30 users)

i think that sonicwall firewall and watchguard firebox devices are absurdly
complicated. so complicated that they are often configured badly resulting
in them not actually helping or creating other network problems. also they
are expensive to purchase and expensive to keep running as they don't come
with support (you pay extra for support and which you will need with these
complicated devices).

a great solution for small business is a zyxel zywall 5 firewall appliance.
like the others it is a true firewall, fully configurable, and have vpn
services. unlike the others it is about a third the price and comes with
free telephone support. it is about $350 from provantage.com. it provides
much faster throughput than a inexpensive linksys or netgear router does so
is a better choice for that reason alone.

for a couple of hundred more there is a version of the zywall 5 that also
includes antivirus services. this is a service that has to be renewed
annually (aka $$).

but, again, if you are not hosting a web server, email server, ftp server,
or the like, and your business is indeed small (under 30 people), it is
likely that the linksys router is providing enough protection.

"Kevin M" <kmills334@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:n%%og.244$v36.17@xxxxxxxxxxx
I know this is a Dell group, but there seems to be some very knowlegable
people here about other issuse. I have a small office network (4 PC's) and
was wondering if I should purchase a hardware based firewall. At this time,
I have cable internet service, and I'm using a $50.00 Linksys router. I
have looked at some hardware firewalls (Cisco, Sonicwall), but I didn't
know if there was any real benefit.

Thanks

--
Kevin






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