ZyXEL Adds Entry-Level VPN Routers

[thiggins]

Updated - ZyXEL's new VPN firewalls come in wired-only and wireless models.

Read on SmallNetBuilder

 

[System Error Message]

interesting vpn features, question is what hardware does it use? It looks like a standard switched LAN port with WAN port and SFP port. As long as its not using the same MIPS CPU used by many VPN routers as many of those were just unstable firmware wise and had such low frequencies.

 

[sfx2000]

interesting vpn features, question is what hardware does it use? It looks like a standard switched LAN port with WAN port and SFP port. As long as its not using the same MIPS CPU used by many VPN routers as many of those were just unstable firmware wise and had such low frequencies.

Yes, and no... there's a few edge routers that run pretty stout MIPS based processors - mostly from Cavium... They're not that bad - and in a purpose filled world - they're pretty good at tasks...Not much different than black-box options from UBNT or MicroTick, and perhaps low end x86 on pfSense or other open sources...

Turn-Key solution however - always good for customers...

And a carefully optimized software stack, esp. with regards to VPN, MIPS arch does pretty well...

 

[System Error Message]

If you look carefully at what i said is that most VPN routers had unstable firmware with that platform and even ubiquiti also did have unstable firmware up to a point. However even the ERL is clocked almost twice as much as the higher end cisco RV. So for a router that isnt usb powered/portable having that extra frequency helps a lot. Although ubiquiti has gone far to improve their firmware that it is so far the only stable firmware i've seen for that platform, cheaper than the cisco RV while offering more but also higher clocked.

There are also 8 and 16 core variants of the Cavium but i havent seen them used anywhere yet and UBNT has no interest in software NAT performance, they're very reliant on hardware acceleration when most of their customers get an edgerouter for the very reason that it is a cheap configurable router expecting it to perform well in their environment, usually involving multiple users, organisations, businesses, etc. I like that you can install debian software on edgerouters as long as its compiled for MIPS but the lack of CPU is a concern. The Cavium MIPS CPUs are good but a lot of it badly implemented. If a router manufacturer wishes to reduce the power and heat usage than dynamic clock scaling would really help so theres no reason not to use higher core counts and higher frequencies.

While a dual core Cavium MIPS at 1Ghz can do about 160Mb/s of squid im not sure how well broadcom's ARM A9 actually stacks against it.

 

[wiredup72]

And I just asked last week why Zyxel didn't have AC on their wireless firewalls yet. I look forward to seeing the actual specs. Looks like I will hold off on my new AC implementation for a few more weeks.

 

[LoneWolf]

And I just asked last week why Zyxel didn't have AC on their wireless firewalls yet. I look forward to seeing the actual specs. Looks like I will hold off on my new AC implementation for a few more weeks.

802.11AC is relatively uncommon on UTM firewalls still, whose development lags behind enthusiast routers. This is often because in this environment, clients prefer "stable" over "new", and while 802.11AC is really coming into its own, a lot of SMB environments do just fine on 2.4/5GHz 802.11N. Most don't have the Internet bandwidth to utilize such a fast connection anyway, so a theoretical 300Mbps/450Mbps of 2x2 or 3x3 N-wireless exceeds their needs, and as long as the range and robustness against interference is good, it's what they need.

I am interested in knowing how well Zyxel's subscription services (Gateway AV, spam blocking, intrusion prevention, etc.) work compared to others like them. I have set up a branch-office VPN tunnel once on them once, which was an easy experience compared to some other firewalls I've worked with. I work mainly with Watchguard (which I like) and a bit with Dell/Sonicwall (which is tolerable), so I like seeing UTM devices reviewed and compared.

 

[thiggins]

The USG40 review has some information on ZyXEL's UTM features.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanw...-security-gateway-performance-series-reviewed