Review: Netgear DGFV338 Wireless ADSL Modem Router with 8 Port 10/100 Switch and Firewall
Iain Laskey looks at Netgear's small business class ADSL Modem Router and is impressed
| Product | DGFV338 |
|---|---|
| Company | Netgear |
| Web | www.netgear.co.uk |
| Price | Around £130 |
| We like | Fast, reliable, well built. Huge range of features, very flexible. |
| We don't like | Constant hum, no gigabit ports, needs Netgear's own VPN client. |
| Rating | 9/10 |
| Requirements |
With the market awash with budget priced ADSL routers, it's all too easy to miss products that are just a little bit more expensive but offer a lot more functionality. The Netgear DGFV338 is aimed at the small business rather than home user but at around £130 or less is worth considering by the more sophisticated home user who might have several PCs, an XBox 360, network camera, printers and so on.
Finished in the familiar blue metal cases of Netgear's business class kit, it isn't as decor friendly as their products aimed squarely at home users. It's satisfyingly weighty though at just over 2 kilos and clearly in a different class to the £50 devices that fill the shelves in PC World. As is increasingly common, the firmware can be updated with version 2.1.1-38 being released whilst we were testing that added a new feature and fixed four minor bugs.
Facilities wise it offers an ADSL2+ compatible modem, router, 8 port 10/100 switch and a hardware firewall plus generous VPN support. Unusually at this price, it offers the ability to connect to both a phone line for ADSL and another service via a standard ethernet port which can then be configured to act as a fallback should the ADSL line go down or vice versa. Detection of a down connection is selectable but essentially done by checking for a ping failure.
Installation was very straight forward via either the supplied Smart Wizard or manually and within ten minutes we had two PCs connected via ethernet and two more via wireless. We opted to set specific IP addresses tied to each machine's MAC addresses but you can of course also just have the DNS dish out the addresses as it sees fit.
People used to more basic units will initially be floored by the wider range of flexible routing options over and above the usual port mapping configurations of 'send this sort of data to this IP address'.
One thing we did notice, especially when the PCs were shut off is that the DGFV338 we were sent did have a low level but constant hum emanating from it which whilst quiet, could be slightly annoying. The spec sheet claims 0db noise so this may just be an aberration. On the plus side, we were pleased to see is that unlike some cheaper Netgear devices, this one kept a solid ADSL connection 24/7. We've seen problems before with their budget range where the ADSL modems can have connection problems when the line quality drops - they don't seem to be able to retrain properly. The DGFV338 kept a solid connection at all times, lowering and increasing the speed throughout the day. Clearly Netgear have been doing their homework and it has paid off handsomely here.
Security, Capacity and Monitoring
The firewall offers both SPI (stateful Packet Inspection) and NAT which should keep things nice and secure. Specific support is included to combat DoS attacks such as SYN Flood, Ping of Death, LAND Attack and IP Spoofing. The 802.11g wireless networking is supplied via twin detachable 5dBi aerials and provides a good strong signal that we had no problems connecting to. Up to 20 users can connect via the wireless LAN and 253 via the wired LAN although more than 8 would naturally require additional switches or hubs to be added. Wireless security is good with all the current standards supported including WPA2. You can select the level of event logging and optionally have specific events or the whole log emailed to you at various intervals. Not so useful at home but in the business environment, a vital tool.
Interestingly, the DGFV338 can monitor the broadband usage and shut down the connection if you go over a chosen limit or optionally add some temporary extra capacity. If your ISP hammers you for additional bandwidth over your monthly limit, this could be a useful way to avoid unexpectedly high bills.
The device also includes keyword based web filtering which isn't as powerful as a proper subscription based site blocker but does allow a measure of control over the sort of sites people try to access. The rules apply to all users though which is a pity as we'd have much preferred a per-user level of control.
Remote Working
On the IP Sec VPN front, you can connect up to 50 people to the router with support for a wide range of protocols and security systems, however it needs Netgear's own ProSafe client at £80 for a further 5 seats which is rather poor, even more so considering it doesn't support Vista at the time of writing.You do get 1 license included in the price though which is useful for say a system administrator to check things from home. It would have been nice if you could use XP & Vista's own built in VPN clients and as such this is clearly a revenue generator for Netgear. However, if you are a small business with a mobile workforce, this sort of capacity plus security makes it a small price to pay. Usefully, setup is eased by a "VPN Wizard" to help configure the VPN deployment.
Interface
The familiar Netgear web based interface has had a revamp and if you're used to Netgear kit you may have to hunt around a bit the first few times to find things but after a while it becomes fairly clear and is actually laid out quite logically. We did find the port mapping screen a little daunting initially because of all the options but after a few minutes we were setting up entries quite happily.
Conclusion
Overall we were impressed with the Netgear DGFV338. It offers a lot of features for the price and is well built. The flexibility will allow it to work in pretty much any environment and our only real gripes, the hum, VPN clients and lack of Gigabit ports are fairly minor compared to what it does well. As such we are happy to recommend it for both home and small business users who want a secure yet flexible one box solution to their broadband and networking needs. The unit comes with a 3 year warranty which is a further bonus.
