ZyXEL Introduces Cheaper UTM Gateway

[YeOldeStonecat]

Yeah, unfortunately, with Untangle we're looking at the 51-150 band, really since we have about 45 web-facing devices, with about half running dual-stack so really about 60 "devices". I suppose we can probably, with some judicious work, create a unblocked network filled with devices that are safe to directly access the internet, but even then, the full package for 11-50 is over $1K a year. Fine for a business, but not really home-oriented. Even dual-WAN is $100 a year. Untangle is just not competitive for home use unless you're willing to use their free setup with a single ISP.

Now that I'm back from a longish trip, I'll finish the research and buy a device pretty soon. Just sad there are no FOSS efforts any longer.

Try a new up and coming UTM...called SimpleWall
http://www.simplewallsoftware.com/

95 bucks a year for the paid version. And a free version available.

 

[thiggins]

Try a new up and coming UTM...called SimpleWall
http://www.simplewallsoftware.com/

95 bucks a year for the paid version. And a free version available.

Have you used it? How does it compare to Untangle?

 

[vnangia]

Try a new up and coming UTM...called SimpleWall
http://www.simplewallsoftware.com/

95 bucks a year for the paid version. And a free version available.

OK, that's totally reasonable. Any experience?

(I have the USG60 in my cart at Newegg, was about to checkout when I looked in here).

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Tim, VNangia, I started a thread in the security forum.....only just begun playing with it yesterday (installed it on a test desktop).

 

[abailey]

I just want to say I purchased a ZyXel USG40 and have been blown away by its features, performance and price (yes I think the price is good too). I think the ZyXel products are priced well for what they are. There are a couple of exceptions like the $65 per client for L2TP VPN, but I think it will fall in line as soon as there is any serious competition in the market place. I really like the ability to only pay for what you need. One of the things I really want is a hardware solution for content filtering. What I had prior to my purchasing the ZyXel was a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite for firewall/routing and an iBoss Pro for content filtering. This combination worked okay but not great. The Ubiquiti ERL is a great device but hard to set up if you use it for anything other than a straight firewall. I was using it for VPN and DDNS and it was a royal pain to set up. I had to use the command line, and even had to go into the operating system file structure and modify some files manually. The iBoss Pro has good filters and is easy to set up but the hardware it sits on is garbage (slow) and the yearly price is steep for content filtering only. The ZyXel does it all from the GUI interface. I have it doing a WAN, 2 Lan networks and a DMZ. I also have it doing a port redirect to a transparent proxy. I have it doing DDNS entries and an SSL VPN. I also have it doing content filtering, IDP, and Antivirus. I have not had to reboot it yet!
Here is the cost comparison for me:

Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite = $100
iBoss Pro = $170
iBoss Pro yearly subscription fee (for content filtering) = $250
So $270 for the hardware and $250 per year fees

ZyXel USG40 (Bundle with 1 year of IDP, Antivirus, Antispam, and content filtering) = $270
Yearly bundle cost (IDP, Antivirus, Antispam, and content filtering) = $230

So as you can see I come out with better hardware (for my needs) and more features for the same upfront cost and less yearly cost. If you really want to compare apples to apples on the yearly cost then I would just compare the cost of the content filtering license (since my ERL/iBoss setup did not have antivirus, antispam, or IDP capability). So the yearly cost of the ZyXel USG40 content filter service is $110 versus the iBoss pro content filter service at $250/year.

I will say I am not a ZyXel fanboy as this is the first piece of ZyXel equipment I have owned, but so far I am just amazed. Note, I am using this in a home environment, not a business.

 

[coxhaus]

Abailey, Are you saying the ZyXel USG40 is as fast as the EdgeRouter Lite?

 

[abailey]

Abailey, Are you saying the ZyXel USG40 is as fast as the EdgeRouter Lite?

For what I am doing it is just as fast as the ERL. In fact it is doing much more and is still as fast. Now I only have 50mb down. If you have 100mb down or if you needed to route at gigabit speeds my bet is the ERL would be faster. One would probably have to purchase a higher level Zyxel USG device to keep up with the ERL at higher speeds.

 

[vnangia]

For what I am doing it is just as fast as the ERL. In fact it is doing much more and is still as fast. Now I only have 50mb down. If you have 100mb down or if you needed to route at gigabit speeds my bet is the ERL would be faster. One would probably have to purchase a higher level Zyxel USG device to keep up with the ERL at higher speeds.

I did consider an ERPoE for the routing speed, but even Tim, who's a guru, had some trouble configuring it a few years ago, though I'm told it's now improved. Moreover, I'm less than convinced that there's a significant security advantage with using the ERL or ERPoE versus a Zyxel. However, I am in your boat budget-wise, and need to figure out what to do before I go much further. One day, work will let me focus on this ...

 

[sfx2000]

Maybe cynical, but from my experience with customers AV tales, it does seem realistic.

The most infected PC's I have seen are the ones with paid for AV software installed.

A lot of folks don't practice "safe hex"...

Keep the OS/Browser Plugins updated on local clients, keep a local firewall up, and have a current AV on the client... and don't click on email links/attachments

common sense

 

[L&LD]

"Safe hex". I like that.

Yes, the common sense recommendations you and I both preach to our customers seem to fall on deaf ears at least once in a while.

To all my customers that buy some level of service from me, I offer one free virus removal service from a single computer. I also may do a second freebie depending on the situation. The third though, is $200 on site and as I mention to them, getting rid of the virus is not the same thing as getting your computer back to where it was.

I have only had to do a complete format and re-install a few times for customers because of viruses. These same customers never needed reminding again to not click on unknown links, attachments or emails.

 

[sfx2000]

To all my customers that buy some level of service from me, I offer one free virus removal service from a single computer. I also may do a second freebie depending on the situation. The third though, is $200 on site and as I mention to them, getting rid of the virus is not the same thing as getting your computer back to where it was.

I have only had to do a complete format and re-install a few times for customers because of viruses. These same customers never needed reminding again to not click on unknown links, attachments or emails.

I do help out a few folks on the side - one thing that has helped out big-time is setting them up with Standard User account permissions (not as Admin) - this for both Macs and Windows - really cuts down the threat surface...

sfx

 

[L&LD]

I do help out a few folks on the side - one thing that has helped out big-time is setting them up with Standard User account permissions (not as Admin) - this for both Macs and Windows - really cuts down the threat surface...

sfx

That is a great point. But very hard to implement in my experience. Many think I want to be the sole person capable of having full reign on their systems. Even when I try to make them change the master passwords to the ones only the boss knows.

 

[tizigman]

I just want to say I purchased a ZyXel USG40 and have been blown away by its features, performance and price (yes I think the price is good too). I think the ZyXel products are priced well for what they are. There are a couple of exceptions like the $65 per client for L2TP VPN, but I think it will fall in line as soon as there is any serious competition in the market place. I really like the ability to only pay for what you need. One of the things I really want is a hardware solution for content filtering. What I had prior to my purchasing the ZyXel was a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite for firewall/routing and an iBoss Pro for content filtering. This combination worked okay but not great. The Ubiquiti ERL is a great device but hard to set up if you use it for anything other than a straight firewall. I was using it for VPN and DDNS and it was a royal pain to set up. I had to use the command line, and even had to go into the operating system file structure and modify some files manually. The iBoss Pro has good filters and is easy to set up but the hardware it sits on is garbage (slow) and the yearly price is steep for content filtering only. The ZyXel does it all from the GUI interface. I have it doing a WAN, 2 Lan networks and a DMZ. I also have it doing a port redirect to a transparent proxy. I have it doing DDNS entries and an SSL VPN. I also have it doing content filtering, IDP, and Antivirus. I have not had to reboot it yet!
Here is the cost comparison for me:

Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite = $100
iBoss Pro = $170
iBoss Pro yearly subscription fee (for content filtering) = $250
So $270 for the hardware and $250 per year fees

ZyXel USG40 (Bundle with 1 year of IDP, Antivirus, Antispam, and content filtering) = $270
Yearly bundle cost (IDP, Antivirus, Antispam, and content filtering) = $230

So as you can see I come out with better hardware (for my needs) and more features for the same upfront cost and less yearly cost. If you really want to compare apples to apples on the yearly cost then I would just compare the cost of the content filtering license (since my ERL/iBoss setup did not have antivirus, antispam, or IDP capability). So the yearly cost of the ZyXel USG40 content filter service is $110 versus the iBoss pro content filter service at $250/year.

I will say I am not a ZyXel fanboy as this is the first piece of ZyXel equipment I have owned, but so far I am just amazed. Note, I am using this in a home environment, not a business.

I'm looking at this unit to replace a Cisco ISA550 and was curious if you had any problems streaming netflix, amazon prime, etc? I've tried a couple of linux distros and had problems with streaming movies. Other then that are you still happy with this device?

 

[abailey]

I'm looking at this unit to replace a Cisco ISA550 and was curious if you had any problems streaming netflix, amazon prime, etc? I've tried a couple of linux distros and had problems with streaming movies. Other then that are you still happy with this device?

We stream both Netflix and Amazon Prime in my house and have had no issues. Even if we stream two Netflix devices while two of my children play online games, we have no problem. You can set up bandwidth priority for Netflix and such but we have not had to do that. I am still extremely happy with the device. The one major complaint I have is the lack of good examples and documentation. There are some examples and documentation but many things you kind of have to figure out on your own. This is one reason I don't recommend this unit for a general user. If you can configure a Cisco ISA then you should not have much problem.