Ugly
Fishy Cool Bird
join:2001-12-12
The Meadow | thank you justin
this is a Good "News Link" redirect |
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Network Guy
join:2000-08-25
New York
 ·PHONE POWER
·Broadvox Direct
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| That was fun
I took part of that test roundup. It was fun to play around with all the routers, though exhausting when running the same test script 24 or more times. Was amazed to see how several routers were almost identical to each other, even on the firmware, despite competing vendors.
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Posting sig removed by system administrator. Sig cannot exceed 30GB in size. |
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Loh
join:2000-12-20
Placentia, CA | Not Working
I cant get any of those links to work. Down? |
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Skipdawg
The Original
Premium,ExMod 2001-03
join:2001-04-19
The Void |  Links are fine. May have just been very busy at the moment you tried Loh. Just keep trying. 
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What? |
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rchandra
Stargate S G-1 And Atlantis Fan
Premium
join:2000-11-09
14225-2105
clubs:
| SPI feature
FWIW, I own the Linksys BEFSR41, and it supports SPI. Their assertion is that the Netgear products are the only ones in their survey that support this.
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English is a difficult enough language to interpret correctly when its rules are followed, let alone when a writer doesn't follow those rules. |
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Daniel
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-26
Pleasanton, CA
clubs:
|  Linksys vs. Netgear...
Hmm.
I have been a Netgear guy since day 1 but this is forcing me to think about some things.
How did Netgear get TROUNCED like that?
I wonder if any of these speed differences are even visible to a broadband user because I have used both Linksys and Netgear routers and as far as the speed is concerned I never saw a difference.
Thoughts?
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"While we are postponing, life speeds by." - Seneca (3BC - 65AD) |
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Clangeddin
Milkman Dan
join:2000-09-11
Kirkland, WA
clubs: |  Same here. I can't believe those stats against Linksys... |
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Network Guy
join:2000-08-25
New York
·PHONE POWER
·Broadvox Direct
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to Daniel
You better believe it. On the LAN side all routers performed identical, no packet loss while using 64 and 1518 bit layer 1 frames. The big difference was seen on the way the backplane handled layer 3 traffic between the WAN and LAN ports. Surprisingly, all Linksys routers performed admirably. Was thinking to get a Linksys router myself when I saw the stats before they made print.
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Posting sig removed by system administrator. Sig cannot exceed 30GB in size. |
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g0nepostal
I Am The One Her Mom Warned Her About
join:2001-03-23
Concord, CA
clubs:
·DSL EXTREME
 ·Astound Broadband
·magicjack.com
|  Simply put...
Linky routers kick ass. 
SPI was supported from firmware version 1.39 and on. That is the version of the firmware installed on my BEFSR41.
Nice to know that the Linky's backplane performance is so great. I enthusiastically recommend the wired Linksys routers to anybody.
(Can't recommend the 802.11b-capable routers as enthusiastically, since it has been proven conclusively that WEP is too easily cracked.)
gp
[text was edited by author 2002-02-05 00:47:04] |
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mikepd
Discovery
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-26
New Port Richey, FL
clubs:
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Verizon Online DSL
·RoadRunner Cable
|  Flawed review as they left out Zyxel
I consider the review to be flawed as they left out Zyxel's Zywall 10 router. Zyxel OEMs Netgear routers. Netgear simply re-badges them and removes some of the advanced features from the firmware, probably due to licensing issues. The Zywall 10 is a true SPI firewall, very easy to configure and is an excellent unit.
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Always Reach Beyond Your Grasp |
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mattman
join:1999-10-25
Lafayette Hill, PA
| reply to Daniel
Re: Linksys vs. Netgear...
Yeah me too. I tried 3 differant Linksys (same model) routers/switches and they all kept on locking up here. i went and bought a rp114 (netgear) and its been up 24/7 since. i know lots of ppl don't have problems with linksys, but i sure did. one thing though, i love my rp114, its tiny, and its metal ! |
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Daniel
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-26
Pleasanton, CA
clubs:
| Let's get something straight...
Are these speed differences even noticeable to a broadband user?
I am wondering if the speeds of the Netgear are way above what a broadband connection can push through it. If that is the case, and since the LAN side is equal, then it is almost a moot point.
Well, it would have been moot if it wasn't for the damage to my pride as a Netgear user.
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"While we are postponing, life speeds by." - Seneca (3BC - 65AD) |
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Bobcat
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to Daniel
Re: Linksys vs. Netgear...
But who cares about 64 byte packets? Look at the stats for the 1500 byte packets, and you'll see that the Netgear RP114 is faster than the Linksys.
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Without software, life itself would be impossible.
Optimum Online; $29.95 per month; average speed 7200/900 kbps |
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Bobcat
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to rchandra
Re: SPI feature
Here's what the Linksys User's Manual says about SPI:
"SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) - This feature checks the state of of [sic] a packet to verify that the destination IP address matches the source IP of the original request. To use the firewall, click the Enable button; otherwise select Disable to use the NAT firewall."
Could you explain what this means and what practical purpose it serves?
--
Without software, life itself would be impossible.
Optimum Online; $29.95 per month; average speed 7200/900 kbps |
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lennya
join:2000-09-28
Windsor, NY | Where is the Dlink DI-804?
It's been out a while now. You would think it would be in the review. It seems no one likes to review it. Even practicallynetworked.com didn't review it. Strange. |
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rchandra
Stargate S G-1 And Atlantis Fan
Premium
join:2000-11-09
14225-2105
clubs:
| reply to Bobcat
Re: SPI feature
Well, as you can tell, whoever wrote the Linksys documentation doesn't exactly have a firm grasp on English. The quote out of the docs implies it's the state of the packet that matters, and thus the confusion. Packets don't really have a state; they have a header and contents/payload. The state being referenced is the state of a network connection. SPI not only looks at the source and destination addresses (as in IP addresses) and ports (if applicable), but also monitors other attributes of a packet, such as TCP sequence numbers or some timer attached by the router to recently passed packets (often for ICMP or UDP, which are connectionless protocols). It is an enhancement to security because more about a packet has to "match up" before it is allowed to be passed through. It's therefore more likely to be a legit communication and less likely to be someone trying to sneak something past your router.
[edit]oh, yeah...forgot practical application.
Let's say some random cracker is doing some packet sniffing and is waiting for the end of some mail sesssion you have going, and wants to inject some packets for whatever reason back behind your firewall. S/he waits for the connection to close, then sends packets that look like they might belong with that data stream, so the router passes them back. If the router does SPI, it realizes you've already sent the packets for TCP connection shutdown, so it says, "no way, Jose". Usually it just drops the additional packets on the floor, or it may return some ICMP message, or in addition to dropping, it might log internally or to some computer (syslog packet, SNMP trap, etc.).
Or let's take another, DoS example. BlAcKHaTCrAcKeR that I am, I want to cause constant TCP RST responses in your communication, so I just inject packets with invalid TCP sequence numbers, thus causing the connection to be reset and terminated. An SPI firewall would refuse to let these out-of-bounds packets through.
[text was edited by author 2002-02-04 23:35:30] |
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Darkflight
3G Stitch626
join:2001-03-03
Rowland Heights, CA
| reply to lennya
Re: Where is the Dlink DI-804?
Dlink in some circles are consider "Secondary" quality when it compares to the likes of Linksys or NetGear. The Dlinks have good prices, but aren't considered as realiable in overall performance. Kinda like comparing a Dell to an Emachine.
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Darkflight |
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lennya
join:2000-09-28
Windsor, NY | Yeh, I got my 804 for something like $45 after rebates a while back from Amazon. The firmware is just getting good. Overall it's working well for me but sometimes I wish I had bought the Linksys. Maybe I will someday. |
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Daniel
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-26
Pleasanton, CA
clubs:
| Guess what? Netgear wins...
Someone above pointed out the packet size and then I went back and looked at the numbers.
Netgear blew Linksys out of the water when you look at packet sizes that are used on the Internet. The ones that Linksys won in aren't even an issue when it comes to anything the router is used for. Once again you have Linksys excelling at something that isn't important I guess, i.e. packaging...
Weird how they highlighted the other packet sizes.
Kind of makes you wonder.
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"While we are postponing, life speeds by." - Seneca (3BC - 65AD) |
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youngmoore
join:2001-03-16
Marietta, GA
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| PC Mag on Crack
I have to wonder what they where really on when these test were done. I would use "and do" a linksys any day before ever buying a netgear. I spent 6 months testing the the netgear and the linksys for a large Telcom for our telecommuters and was very disappointed in its performace. I also wonder why in the world they didn't test a Nexland router which is pretty much the best router out there just alittle pricey. Oh and just so you netgear guys don't get to whinny I highly reccomend netgears switches over the linksys or any other non managed hub/switch. FYI if you guys haven't heard of Nexland »www.nexland.com/products/product.cfm?id=4
Later
ym |
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