Router Selection (Small/Medium Business)

We (my company) are getting a T1 line in the next couple of months. I have been trying to decide what routing solution to use, and I thought I'd ask you helpful folks for suggestions. Until now, we have used over-the-counter router/firewall hardware solutions, but, because we're bringing in a faster connection, we figured that it wouldn't hurt to get a semi-beefy router in order to plan for the future. Here is what we need:

Some sort of VPN endpoint
Port mapping and forwarding
NAT
Decent firewall capabilities
(other suggestions?)


Here are some of the products we've been looking at so far:

Siemens 5940
Cisco 1700 series
Cisco 1841
Cisco 2610

The latter of the two choices seem like overkill, but I don't have that much experience in places with more than 50 users (we've grown to about 70 at this company).

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

I have been using Cisco 1720s to terminate T1s and placing Noika/Checkpoint firewall appliances behind them.

I still run a few PIX and Netscreen but for new adds I am now a huge Nokia/Checkpoint fan.

Technologies aside, with a current support contract, the Nokia support team is quite simply the very best I have ever been in contact with.

You might want to take a look..??

Nokia Security Platforms

I have installed several of the Cisco 2600's and they work very well. If you plan on using your router to also provide VPN and Firewall capabilities you might need to look at how many devices will be behind your router.

In addition keep in mind that an End of Life announcement has been made for the 2600 series. Last ship date was May, 2003, last support date is April, 2006, and end of life date is April 2008. It has been replaced by the 2600XM series witch has more memory and faster processor.

Hope this helps

:)

I think I would go with the 2600 for the router. It might seem like overkill, but this gives you plenty of room for expansion. I would also suggest the Netscreen 204 for my VPN and firewall. The larger organizations that I've worked with used this combination more for their smaller remote sites, much like the one you're describing in your post.

I have some pop-corn responses to all the posts....thanks for the replies

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Thanks for the heads up on the 2600XM!

In regards to the Netscreen 204: I would love to have an appliance like this, but we could hardly justify spending 8-10k on one hardware solution. It's going to be a stretch just to get approval to spend the 1-2k on the Cisco router.

The Nokia solutions look sweet too but, again, the small size and scope of our organization demands an all-in-one solution.


MMelby: Could you elaborate on this sentence?

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If you plan on using your router to also provide VPN and Firewall capabilities you might need to look at how many devices will be behind your router.

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Hey Hey,

I'm biased because I've been working with them for the last 3 years and the 2500 before.. but I'd say go with the 2610... it'll do everything you need it to do.... You don't need to worry about 1-2K on the router.. there are plenty of them on ebay for a couple hundred bucks.. http://search.ebay.com/cisco-2610_W0QQfsopZ1

Peace,
HT

first off let me introduce you to. http://www.networkhardware.com/


Id go with a cisco product. They are great, there is a HUGE database of information about them and the bugs you may come across, and a very large number of people who are compitent operators.

ive had Ts from both ATT and MCI and both of them supplied cisco routers. im assuming this is the norm, if it is why not just wait and see what they give you or contact your rep and ask

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Originally posted here by Tedob1
ive had Ts from both ATT and MCI and both of them supplied cisco routers. im assuming this is the norm, if it is why not just wait and see what they give you or contact your rep and ask

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Our company likes to support local businesses and, as such, decided to continue our service with a local ISP. We got a pretty good deal on the line, but it doesn't come with the router. The ISP wanted to sell a used 17XX or a 26XX, but I figured we could get a better deal elsewhere.

TYVM for the link to networkhardware.com, XTC; I can already tell that is going to be an extremely useful site.