Cisco Equalivent of the Netopia R9100

First of all, what functionality of the Netopia R9100 router do you need? Do you need an ISDN Backup? Do you need a router-to-router VPN? Do you need a scheduled connection? Based on this you can select what Cisco router is more suitable to your needs. But be aware that you are talking about 3-5 times more expensive routers.

Here are a few examples which are comparable with Netopia R9100:

Cisco 871 ($649) Cisco 871W - Wireless ($849) Cisco 1811 ($1295) Cisco 1812 ($1295)

You can use the Cisco.com website and "build" the router you need.

Good luck,

Mike

Hello Mike,

Let me describe my network then I would appreciate any recommendations you might have.

We currently have ten offices.

6 branch offices use the Netopia 4541 ADSL router 2 branch offices use the Netopia 3347NWG-ENT ADSL2+ router 1 branch office uses the Netopia 4553 G.SHDSL router

All branch offices c>First of all, what functionality of the Netopia R9100

To answer your questions Mike, we do not need ISDN backup, we do need a router-to-router VPN and currently the branch offices are the ones who have a scheduled connection set to connect to the primary office.

The Netopia R9100 that we currently have has been crashing quite frequently. Even though Cisco is more expensive, I need something dependable for our main office. I am a network administrator, but VPNs are my weakest skill set so I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or recommendations anyone could give me.

Thank you, Ariel

Why do you want to replace your Netpia R9100? Do you have a performance issue? Do you need to rapidly increase a number of offices?

Yes, you can get a good scalable solution with the Cisco equipment. By my practcal advice will be - "If it works - don't touch it."

If you are looking to upgrade whole network infrastructure, then you could switch the vendor, but if you will have everything as is for a while - just keep the same equipment. Keep your routers firmware current, and it will work.

Good luck,

Mike

Since the Netopia R9100 has been put in, occassionally it kicks every VPN connection off and reboots. This causes all our remote offices e-mail to go down.

Sometimes it will stop functioning and require someone locally to give it a cold-boot.

Every now and then, I will log into it. Instead of going smoothly, it will start moving very slowly and shooting random ASCII charecters across the screen.

Often it will give EXCEPTION errors in the log and lockups.

My boss is getting frustrated and keeps yelling at me. To solve this I am looking for a replacment that is more reliable than the Netopia R9100.

I can't take getting yelled at anymore. I need to purchase something reliable to replace our Netopia R9100. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you,

Ariel

Hi Ariel,

I understand you. But again, before getting into the absolutely new world of Cisco devices I would recommend you to to check if all your units have the latest software, and upgrade if necessary.

R9100 4.11.3

4553 & 4541 5.4.1R0 3447NWG 7.5.1R4

If you still have a problem, I would recommend you to look at Cisco PIX firewall instead or Cisco router. It works better with VPN connections than the router (nothing wrong with a router either). Since you do not need to have a various WAN modules, PIX would be better choice.

I would suggest to look at Cisco PIX 506 Firewall. The list price is $1395, but if you will find a right Cisco distributor, you can get up to 35-37% discount. Netopia website has a few Configuration Guides how to establish a VPN tunnel between Netopia and Cisco PIX. As a future expansion I would recommend you to replace all your Netopia routers with a Cisco PIX firewalls. For a small office you can buy Cisco PIX 501 for $995 list price. Though you will need to have external DSL modems.

Theoretically you can get the same scenario using a Cisco routers (for example, Cisco 1800-series for your central office, and 800-series for youre remote offices).

Good luck,

Mike