I have been using the NETGEAR FVS328 for about 6 months now. It connects a small and simple home network (a few Windows based PCs) to the Internet.
I updated its firmware as soon as a stable version was released (first
1.0_09 and now I have 1.0_14).Yeah, we have no problem connecting to the internet, but the question is... is it safe enough? Does it really do the job of firewalling by being hack-proof or is it as reliable as Microsoft Windows itself... ?
Points in question:
- Every once in a while, the logs email ceases to function - until I reboot the unit. I don't mind rebooting every 6 months, but rebooting once a week is really annoying. Previously I used to have a Linux RedHat 6.2 based firewall (ipchains) and I rarely had to reboot it.
- The DNS lookup function using the web interface simply doesn't work.
- Every once in a while (frequency not yet determined) I get an "Administrator Interface Connecting" message logged, despite the fact that no one in my home as attempted to connect to this router via the web interface.
There are a few more problems that leave a lot to be desired (comparing to my old Linux RedHat 6.2 based firewall), but the most troubling problem is the feeling that my NETGEAR FVS328 has been compromised/hacked by some external hacker, but I have no way of knowing that since the logs of this thing are useless... (first, some of them never being emailed, but even if I received all of them, the logs are simply filled with irrelevant data witouth any way to filter out unnecessary entries). I never had this problem with my no-cost Linux RedHat 6.2 based firewall.
So, the obvious question is: did I buy a lemon?
If not, then how do I verify that this thing is not used to attack my LAN from inside?
BTW, I contacted NETGEAR tech support back then when I first learned about the scary "Administrator Interface Connecting" messages, but it was completely useless as the only thing they were able to suggest was upgrade my firmware from 1.0_09 to 1.0_13 BETA.
Any thoughts? Ideas? Similar experience?
Thanks, Lynn
P.S. For those who are curious why I bought this firewall/router if my Linux-based firewall was so good: I was simply trying to get rid of the noise (HDD and other fans) and wasteful power consumption.