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Firewall Broadband vs more expensive

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5 replies

by davidbennett

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I have a client that is installing a T1 line and needs a Firewall/Router. What is the difference between and broadband firewall/router by LinkSys or 3Com and the least expensive firewall from Cisco such as the Cisco PIX 501. The office in question has 10 internal only users and an eCommerce connection to the store front provider for access to the accounting system. They also want VPN capability in the future.

5 replies

by cg it

configurability.
With comsumer products such as the linksys routers with built in firewall/switching, the level of configurability is far less sophisticated than with an enterprise level hardware firewall such as the Cisco PIX 500 series. For instance on the PIX 500 series hardware firewall from Cisco, you can configure security in weighted values for specific NIC cards e.g. by MAC address that will connect to the firewall in addition to giving weighted allow/disallow values in rules for processed traffic through that NIC. Configurability of ports to allow/disallow traffic or require authentication to pass through traffic on that port can be set. Not so with consumer level products.

The Cisco Pix 500 series firewalls require learning how to configure it which is not a relativily easy task compared to consumer level products. Unless your very familiar with Cisco firewall products, the learning curve can be hefty.

Consumer level routers with built in firewalls are not at that sophisticated level.

by cg it

As long as the modem used has an Ethernet port, yes. You may want to do some throughput tests to determine the actual data rate flow and whether the network can handle high speed uplinks and downlinks. The biggest question is why a T1 line? T1 really is fibre optic lines for voice having 24 digital voice channels and the cost is far more expensive than a business class DSL line [depending upon your DSL service provider]. In Los Angeles, California USA the local phone company offers a 768 kbps up / 768kbps down business class DSL line for about $150.00 a month with a static IP address where as a T1 line costs anywhere from $1500 to $3k. Depending upon user needs for data send/receive, even a residential DSL line with 1.5 mbps down 128kbps up at a cost of $35.00 monthly [more with a static IP address] would work for a SOHO.

by davidbennett

The company went with a T1 for cost saving reasons, they will get local and long distance phone service on the same T1 for the same price that they were paying for long distance only before. they will save $200-300 per month, when adding the costs of DSL and local phone service to it, and get greater bandwidth than DSL.
Thanks for you help on this one.

by davidbennett

Is it possible to use a broadband firewall/router on a T1 line or will I run into bandwidth issues.

Thanks
David

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