Is Smoothwall any good?

[wasabi]

I'm about to try a demo of smoothwall out at work as we are looking into VPN using IPSEC. Our old NAT router isn't really up to the job as it will only let one VPN tunnel through, and even that is a bit of a bodge as it doesn't seem to udnerstand ipsec properly.

With all security things, you'll always get some smartar5e telling you they know better and pointing out the ficticious 'massive holes' in your system - mainly to show how much tcpip theory they know or sell you flashy uberpricey kit. IMO you need a solution that matches what you ar doing - most manager types rant about wanting' the best firewall' TM without understanding what its for. They're usually the same ones that bitch when it kills their MS messenger feed. For most small offices that just do a bit of browsing and have a mail server (no web servers, VPN etc etc) a simple quality NAT router is perfectly adequate if backed up by sensible anti-virus software and sensible software patching.l.

[pissedoffgamer]

well I have a smooth wall and I seem to have no problems with it at all besides the set up because I had to set it up for dile up but other than that it works fine.

[Agent]

Given that this is a 2003 thread, I'd think it has changed a fair bit since then

[dave87]

I think that may be a record - 6 year bump

[mycarsavw]

"dile up"

Welcome to HEXUS

[peterb]

I should add that the defficacy of any firewall/router combination is only as effective as the configuration applied to it - the most efficient system can be opened up by careless configuration. If you are not particularly familiar with networking, firewalls, then you should really concentrate on something that is easy to configure.

Another plug for Draytek, but that will probably achieve most of what you want to do on a small network that you have described, and while it won't necessarily do it out of the box, it will allow you to initially get set up safely and securley, and allow you to gain a little experience before going on to do more advanced things.