Is there anyone using the Netgear FVS338 VPN Firewall?
The reason I ask is I have two brand new boxes that both me and Netgear support can't seem to get working. They are running the latest firmware version and won't forward any ports.
Either I have two defective boxes or there is something wrong with the firmware.
Anyone have any success stories with these beasts?
Regards,
Richard
The FVS338 is a complete lemon. Netgear have released a router that mostly does not work, and their outsourced support remains silent on all the major issues. This is probably the death of another great company.
I'm beginning to agreee.
We purchased 3 FVS338's and each one of them had to be rejected. We were getting problems such as the outward internet connection would fail, when switching off one port forwarding rule another would switch off, and some ports would just not forward. The problems seemed to be consistant over the three boxes.
Having said all that, the Netgear U.K. Techinical Support have done everything they could to help abd we were offered refunds or different models.
I'm guessing that there is a few bugs still lurking in the firmware!
Richard
I had 2 primary reasons for purchasing the FVS338. The first, of course, was the VPN capability. But second--and just as important--was the dial-up failover. I have previously been using an SMC7004ABR, and except for the general geekiness of the thing (aren't they all), it worked fine. It also included dial-up failover. But I thought I would give the FVS338 a try because I occassionally access my home network while on the road (Starbucks, etc), and thought that some additional VPN security might be worth the investment.
Well, the FVS338 arrived today...and I am returning it tomorrow. Not only was a first attempt at establishing a VPN connection unsuccessful (I more or less expected that), I discovered that the dial-up failover is REALLY stupid!! Unlike the SMC router which switches over to dial-up when it detects a failure of the broadband connection...and then switches back to broadband when it detects that broadband has been restored, the FVS338 will NOT switch back to broadband...even if the dial-up connection fails!!! How stupid is that! :(
Bottom line: If you are like me and simply looking for VPN security in WiFi hotspots, etc...don't bother with a VPN router. Just sign up for a $5/mo VPN service, like WiTopia's personalVPN. I tried it...and had it up and running in 5 minutes.
For dial-up failover...SMC7004ABR. It does that job just fine (and is a nice router besides).
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