( 14 reviews )
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Posted: Apr 11 2009
I have used two of these for about 6 months now, and for the most part I am very satisfied. I use them to tie two offices together via full-time VPN tunnel, which is easy to set up, using the VPN setup wizard. I am not using the 2nd WAN on either, but I may in the future based on bandwidth needs. The (essentially unlimited) SSL VPN is a great cost-saving measure - no need to buy individual client licenses like with a SonicWALL. The SSL VPN works well with Windows and OS X, and presumably Linux, although I haven't tried it. The only caveat is that the SSL VPN is not currently compatible with 64-bit Windows OSs, and Netgear hasn't said if they plan to make it compatible. (Not sure why one of the reviewers was having problems with Firefox - Firefox 3.0.8 connects well on both Win XP and OS X 10.5 for me.) The initial configuration of the SSL VPN gave me some grief, but through the Netgear forums and some trial and error, I got it working (it seemed like there was some hidden limit on the login page message which caused the VPN not to work, if the message is too long?) The phone tech support for the ProSafe line is pretty good. I was having problems with one of the FVS336G's dropping the WAN connection, and the latest beta firmware cleared up the problem. I was able to install an SSL cert on one for tunnel access with a few hitches (line endings seem to be an issue), but it is working well now (previous firmwares made this feature all but useless, from what I read on the discussion boards.) And Netgear has a very good replacement policy, and next-day turn around if you buy that service option. So bottom line: a little on the tricky side to get set up, depending on how many of the features you use, but after that it's been working well. I would buy more.
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Posted: Jan 19 2009
Normally, I'm a big fan of Netgear products. However, the FVS336G did not work as advertised. The SSL VPN feature and IPSEC VPN client software do NOT support 64-bit operating systems, and according to Netgear tech support, there are currently no plans to support it in the future. The only workaround offered was to purchase SafeNet's IPSEC VPN client at $150 per user. What a letdown... the primary feature that led us to purchase this device (i.e. the SSL VPN) doesn't work for us. :-(
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Posted: Nov 2 2008
It was difficult to configure even with 8 hours of phone support and a unnecessary RMA. It lacks key features of a competitors product, like load balancing, web control via Firefox (a number of javascript break), DHCP list and Load balancing configuration while cable active. When Comcast reset line and modem/router connects, load balancing is no longer selectable and will no longer list DHCP addresses discovered or handed out.
