Firewall & Security Devices - Product Reviews

made71 - (August 07, 2006) The claim to fame for this product is, that it solves the nightmare of installing multiple security applications and to make your life easier. The truth is, that the product just isn't ready to be shipped, and worse, it's definitely not ready for the average Joe to install and use. I ordered multiple units of this product, as I frequently install networking equipment, these were supposed to solve issues with some of my small business customers, that just have a hard time with protection software. This being said, I know how quite well how to configure all kinds of equipment. This one though left me clueless, and that in a really simple network environment. Once installed the devi

SometimesFrustrated - (July 11, 2007) The perfect answer to protect your entire home network: Just connect it up, set desired parental controls to block the type of sites you don't want, and Presto! every computer in the house is instantly protected. It's magic. . Unfortunately, D-Link doesn't tell you how the magic can go wrong. The box doesn't know about bad web sites. Instead, every time your browser requests something, the box phones home to D-Link to check it. D-Link approves or blocks it based on your preferences. . It's not just once per page - every picture, every ad, every element from each URL address is checked with D-Link. . On a regular web site, the box phone home dozens of times. While checking a few web e-m

Reviewer234 - (December 03, 2006) I have been using this device for almost a year to connect my two computers to the Internet. Setup is effortless and the settings interface is relatively simple for the beginner. I can leave it "on" for a month and never drop a connection, with no glitches in download speed. It actually improved my cable modem's signal levels and speeded the throughput on my laptop. After removing the lid, I found that the main chip and all other electronics are virtually cool to the touch (chip is only 10 degrees F above ambient when measured with a digital thermometer). The log file is easy to read and blocks six outside port scans a minute with no problems. . I have, however, found three minor flaws. 1)

JaneK963 - (12/12/2008) I've never heard of HotBrick before buying and testing the VPN1400/2, but was very impressed with the unit. I read some reviews about the HotBrick Routers and even spoke to one of their Sales Rep before making a decision. The Sales Rep was very friendly and knowlegible, they even help me pick the right product I needed. Hotbrick had a 30-Day money back guaranteed if I was not satisfied , I could return it for a refund. No Questions Asked. I had nothing to lose but a lot to gain. I was able to thoroughly test the unit and it even exceeded my expectations. Overall my experience with HotBrick was great and I recommended anyone looking for a Router to check out HotBrick.

softbear - (07/09/2008) I recently upgraded to a 30 Mbps broadband connection, and found I had finally outpaced my Pentium-class Linux Gateway/Firewall that was drawing as much as 100 watts. Additionally, the low end switches I was connecting through had a nasty habit of dropping out irregularly. This unit is overkill for my current uses (rated throughput: "LAN-to-WAN: up to 75 Mbps. 3DES IPsec tunnel: Up to 19 Mbps"), while drawing a mere 12 watts of power. It also offers a roll-over to an external modem; useless for those of us on VoIP. While it is still true that some of the Firewall features have a noticeable impact on performance, the current firmware has improved significantly over what earlier reviews indicate, and with careful planning and testing it is barely noticeable in my environment. [The unit is currently running a 2.6.1x Linux Kernel with a variety of patches. Source is available for those who must...] In just over a month, I've yet to have a single hangup or dropout traceable to this product while handling over 250 Megabytes of traffic on an average day; wish I could say as much for the Microsoft Windows systems it tries to protect. YMMV: check the specifications carefully, this unit may not suit your environment.

swoods - (02/13/2008) The lack of documentation makes this firewall a bit of a pain to deal with at first, but for any SMB needing an inexpensive firewall, especially for providing remote access througha user-friendly (not admin-friendly) VPN, the feature set is top-notch.