said by reharlan:
… is port forwarding hard to setup on this unit?….
Port forwarding can be set up easily through the CRWS (Cisco Router Web Setup tool), the Router’s GUI interface. See this picture above of the port-forwarding screen from the CRWS:
quote:
… have you tried a pix 501 and do you have opinions on it? …
I know of the pix (see »
www.cisco.com/en/US/prod ··· dex.html ) (costs around $450, same price range as the Cisco 831 router). When I called Cisco Customer support to ask about it vs. the 831 router, the sales person told me he thought the 831 rather than the pix would probably meet my needs (home user wanting quality stable product). The Pix does not use standard Cisco IOS router software, but something different, FWIW. I felt that a straight router would be adequate protection.
As one comparison, the IDS (intrusion detection system) of the 831 router has 100 signatures, but the Pix has many 100’s of signatures. But I believe the Pix would be added complexity to run it, and I didn’t think I needed the added security. Also, the Pix would probably tend to run a bit slower than a straight router as it examines the packets coming through the local network in much greater detail. (keep in mind there is a practical limit on how many PC's the Pix 501 can handle before you have to move up to a more powerful and expensive one, a limiting issue for the Pix 501). I would only get it if I needed absolute security (ex if I ran a web site with peoples private health info on it and it had to be absolutely hack proof).
Give Cisco Cust service a call (at »
www.cisco.com/en/US/abou ··· cts.html , they are very good), and search the Cisco forum for more info.
Note the SOHO 91 security-wise has SPI and IDS and thats good enough for most people. Review of SOHO 91 at »
www.epinions.com/content ··· 39562116 
