Business class router

[woodscomp]

I need help, I am a self admitted dumb butt when it comes to the intricacies of networks. I can setup and run a home network without issue... But

My wife is ready to move her business out of the house and into a actual office.

So here are the requirements, so will be starting out with 3 workstations and a laptop (4 in total).

Of these three of them will be used for video relay conferencing (deaf interpreting)

That will be there main purpose, there could be requirements of using VPN between them and hospitals etc..

Help on what hardware to pick out to get these all talking together correctly.

 

[claykin]

Zyxel USG router/endpoint. USG50 will probably be fine for your use. Supports IPSec and SSLVPN. Supposedly next month it will support L2TP as well. If you need L2TP tunneling today opt for the USG100 as Zyxel is often late with firmware updates.

This is a robust endpoint and will serve you well.

For wifi use a Netgear WNDR3700 or Apple Airport Extreme. These are two of the most stable consumer routers/access points I've used.

 

[Fwenk]

Hi Woods,

I've been using the TZ series from Sonicwall for some time and they work good. From what you said, the TZ100W would probably be enough but it all depends on what you will need in the near future and what you need right now. For example, if you need failover on a 3G modem (or a USB port) then you would need at least the TZ200W. Note that every model is available with or without wireless, just look for the W at the end if you want it. Anyway, here is what's important

The good:
- Multi WAN capabilities / WAN failover / failover on 3G modem
- Built in VPN
- Gateway anti-virus, intrusion prevention and content filtering
- Enforced client anti-virus
- etc (see Sonicwall's website for all the detail...)

The Bad...
- Money. It's not that it's that expensive, but nearly every option needs a license (yearly fee or one time, but still...), INCLUDING firmware updates.
- Config. It's not the easiest thing to configure, you have a lot of option, so a lot could go wrong.

You could also look at ZyXEL's USG series. I've never used them, but they look like equivalent, and someone on this forum probably has experience with them.

So, to answer you question, you would just need one of those firewall and a switch, and that's it, you plug it like any home network. And with something like the TZ210, you could do without the switch... I think there are enough ports on it to plug all what you need.

Also, you could just go with any home class router and plug it all like any home network... You will not get the same level of security (and I would probably not do that) but I'm sure there are a lot of small business out there running on a setup like that...

 

[claykin]

Zyxel does not charge for firmware upgrades or support. UTM features are for a fee much like Sonicwall. I don't bother with UTM features in most applications. Use free opendns for content filtering. Gateway AV is NOT a replacement for client AV.

USG features are on par with Sonicwall TZ series.

 

[woodscomp]

Thanks I will look into both of these options. My network guy lives in Kansas and I am in TN, so that proves to be a problem. He was suggesting a Cisco 4 port router. But I was wanting alternatives.

Not sure how much VPN she will need right away, or if it will be required, I know that it could though and need to be prepared for it.

I have not seen the actual property yet, I am crossing my fingers that the old tenants had it wired up and left the network behind. That would be almost too easy.