NetGear SRXN3205

[iconeater]

MAC USERS--- USE IPSecuritas

http://www.lobotomo.com/products/IPSecuritas/

This client has an awesome doc for setting up your routers IPsec VPN and a wizard for the client with the router setting already preset.

OMG IT IS SO FAST!!!
The SSL VPN is super slow.

Netgear tech support has been rock solid with their support on this router I give them an A+.

Now that I have this client and it's super fast I am recommending this router to all who are thinking about getting it. The LAN to WAN throughput is fast, it's reliable, and the VPN is a breeze with this third party client for the MAC.

Windows user get a client sent with the router but I bet there is a third party client out there that will work just as well.

The Logging and Firewall are Extremely customizable and work great. For all you telnet or terminal users- via the LAN you can send commands to the router and even edit settings.

So to recap:
wireless range = awesome
SSL VPN = Easy but super slow
IPsec VPN = SUPER FAST (Mac OS X users need IPsecuritas)
LAN to WAN throughput = Very Fast (for me out performs the D-Link4500)
Firewall = Very secure and very customizable
Logging = As thorough as you'd like it to be (by default most of it is off)
Netgear ProSafe Support = In my case Excellent (Use your 90 free support while you can)

 

[jgrove]

Thanks for the updates.

 

[jgrove]

http://www.lobotomo.com/products/IPSecuritas/

This client has an awesome doc for setting up your routers IPsec VPN and a wizard for the client with the router setting already preset.

OMG IT IS SO FAST!!!
The SSL VPN is super slow. (snip..)

How did you set the router up for use with your mac, i am using ivpn to act as vpn server on my macpro, i have set that up and have installed IPSecuritas on my laptop as a client, do i need to adjust anything in the router?

Cheers

 

[iconeater]

How did you set the router up for use with your mac, i am using ivpn to act as vpn server on my macpro, i have set that up and have installed IPSecuritas on my laptop as a client, do i need to adjust anything in the router?

Cheers

In IPsecuritas click the wizard on the client and select the Netgear SRXN3205 from the drop downs, then when asked to view documents open it. (must be connected to the internet)

Or you can just get it here
http://www.lobotomo.com/products/IPSecuritas/howto/Netgear SRXN3205 HOWTO.pdf

The PDF tells you step by step how to set up th IPsec VPN on the SRXN3205, then what to put into the client.

FYI The Graphics in the PDF do not match the text. Follow the Text. Images are just for navigation.

You don't need any software running on your mac, just setup your sharing and your security as normal, add sharing accounts for those connecting via the VPN, and permissions to files or folders.

Cheers,

 

[iconeater]

It Just never ends

So as you can see from my previous post, I really like this router.

Well here's an update for you:

Today for no reason at all, no storms, no power surges, nothing! This router is now DEAD.
wont power on at all, it's just a hunk of metal and plastic now.

I am currently processing my RMA which looks like it will take 2 weeks to complete. WOW that's so not Built for Business. Oh and I have to shell out 15 bucks to ship it.

It just never ends. As soon as you think you have a good quality well supported product something like this happens and your right back where you started.

I'm just so ticked off right now.

 

[beisser]

hmmstrange.. must be a duff unit then.. i have a pretty old srxn3205 here which still runs just fine like on the first day.

one little suggestion from me:

buy a hwxpress support contract for this thing.. it costs like 30 bucks and gives you free advanced replacements (you get a fresh unit next business day) for 3 years.. definitely worth it if you ask me.

 

[iconeater]

hmmstrange.. must be a duff unit then.. i have a pretty old srxn3205 here which still runs just fine like on the first day.

one little suggestion from me:

buy a hwxpress support contract for this thing.. it costs like 30 bucks and gives you free advanced replacements (you get a fresh unit next business day) for 3 years.. definitely worth it if you ask me.

Thanks for the Tip!


This model came out at the end of 2008
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30591/97/

 

[beisser]

Thanks for the Tip!


This model came out at the end of 2008
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30591/97/

i had it for a while longer and it still runs like on day one.

the hwxpress contracts are definitely worth it for every netgear prosafe device if you want next business day replacements for free

 

[iconeater]

FYI i got my router RMA completed and I am happy happy once again. Damn this VPN is fast.

 

[barfly711]

Hope you guys don't mind if I hop on this thread. I've had the SRXN3205 for about 6-8 months now and can't find anyone discussing the features or woes with this router anywhere on the internet. First of all, this thing is a beast of a router, but once you start to dig deeper, the many features start to feel poorly implemented.

I feel like it's missing basic features for configuring Wifi that even alot of sub-$100 consumer class routers offer. Such as frame size and signal strength options.

Also, as a Comcast user worried about my monthly 250GB bandwidth limit, one of the main reasons I bought this router was for the bandwidth monitoring capabilities. I must say, this feature reeks of being tacked on at the last minute. Not only does it not support up to 250GB of monthly monitoring, if I watch in real-time, it doesn't appear to capture all packets coming through. Which gives a false readout, rendering the bandwidth monitoring even more useless.

I bought this router as a replacement for a WRT54G that had DD-WRT loaded on it which died on me. I should've just bought another WRT54G for $30 off eBay and loaded DD-WRT because I feel like I would be getting more of money's worth than with the SRXN3205. Even worse, I bought the SRXN3205 for $350+, now it can be had for $250 new on numerous websites. Which means if I was to unload my SRXN3205 on eBay, the most I could get for it would be $200 probably, essentially taking a $150 loss. Might as well just keep the router and hope Netgear releases a firmware update sometime this century. For now, I'm stuck using this freeware app that runs in my task tray that actually does a better job than the SRXN3205 at bandwidth monitoring.

Wow, I sound like such a complainer...sorry about unloading that here, but I've had that bottled up for a while.

If I were to request the beta firmware from Netgear, does anyone know if that will upgrade/fix some of the bandwidth monitoring features?

 

[thiggins]

Isn't this a ProSafe product? If so, there is a separate, more responsive support group. Have you tried asking your questions there?

 

[iconeater]

You have to actually own a Prosafe product to post question in the NETGEAR ProSecure Community. Which is where others in the main Netgear forum said I needed to post.

So as a pre-sales option it is really bad. Furthermore the Pre-Sales folks via the 1800# had No clue what this router could or could not do.

This is in part why I wanted to post my findings here, so others could actually get answers.

Basically, I took a leap and lucked out as I am 100% happy with this router, its speed, the VPN function on Macs and PCs, even though the first one I got died only 2 weeks in.

I hope this thread helps anyone looking to buy this router, if you have questions I'd be glad to Answer.

barfly711: I have the Beta firmware loaded, and although it says nothing about the bandwidth monitoring I can't say I am having the same issues as you. Mine seems accurate enough. I however have not tried to set it to any limits as I know I won't get to 250GB. Instead I just have it record and refresh each month. It breaks it down like this.

Latest news:

IPSecuritas VPN client for Macs does not work on Snow Leopard. (64bit mode)

IPSecuritas is a free VPN client that comes with a preset wizard and instructions for setting up a IPsec VPN Tunnel with the SRXN3205.

 

[barfly711]

My totals are just way off. If what you see above is correct, that would mean I uploaded 63GB and downloaded 57.4GB for today. That just not possible because according to my freeware app running in my tray I only had 6.02GB of traffic today.

Your totals seem much more reasonable.

Also, my meter is not resetting itself at 12:00AM on the 1st of the month like I've set it to.

I submitted a post on the Netgear forums and nobody responded. Some guy told me to submit a support ticket to Netgear which I've done. I requested the beta firmware in the support ticket.

 

[iconeater]

Firmware links

Barfly711

Look on the first page of this thread I have links to the firmware. No need to wait.

Make sure you download both the current and the beta so if you need to you can downgrade. Also make a back up of your setting prior to installing.

Cheers!

 

[javac]

Hello!

Sorry to bump this thread, but I have a few questions.
I am about to move to a new apartment where I can get a 100Mbit connection so I'm looking for a wireless firewall/router with good configuration abilities. This one seems good, but I have one concern about the throughput. On Netgears website they write:

"Throughput
LAN-to-WAN: 60 Mbps"

What does it mean in practic? Is it just the upload speed? I mean what's the real simultanous throughput both download and upload. If 60Mbit is the simultanous throughput I suppose it means that I can only download and upload in 30Mbit/s at the same time?

Or did I get this wrong?

Thanks in advance!
(and sorry if my english is bad)

 

[thiggins]

Since I haven't tested it, I can't say what the NETGEAR spec means.

There are many routers that can handle your 100 Mbps connection. Check the Router Charts.

 

[randfee]

I'm also interested in this one, I want a VPN Router. I now have a netgear WNDR3700, which is superfast (130Mbit/s over n-draft) and I also have a 100Mbit/s cable connection, so I basically have the same question.
I can't seem to find anything that does a good job of routing, VPN AND wireless.

Problem is, there is almost NO good combo of VPN and wireless there.
The Draytek 2130n would be nice if the VPN performance wouldn't be stuck at 1,5Mbit/s, that's just not gonna cut it.

@thiggins,
any idea when the 2920n review might be out?