Home Office Firewalls page 3
The advantage of choosing a hardware firewall is that unless you have a computer sitting around doing nothing, the hardware firewall can be less expensive and more secure than a software solution. Additionally, hardware firewalls are platform independent solutions until you start getting into the higher level functionality of VPN (Virtual Private Networks) where client software may or may not be available for certain operating systems.
The least expensive hardware solution I have found is the Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router. This device, in addition to providing NAT, Firewall, DHCP and access controls, also is a four-port 10/100 switch. All this at a cost of $169.95 at Cyberian Outpost (including shipping and tax). This does cost a bit more than your average software firewall, but there are a number of advantages. You don’t need to place a computer in the unprotected zone of your network or dedicate one as a firewall, support for up to 253 computers, does not run a standard operating system (making it less accessible to attack), and it includes a 4 port 10/100 switch (by itself worth over $100). This certainly isn’t the most technologically advanced firewall solution, but if you are on a budget, it will create some difficulty for even a determined cracker.
Two much more capable low-cost devices are the SonicWALL SOHO from SonicWALL, Inc. and the WebRamp 700s from Ramp Networks, Inc. Both of these devices provide higher levels of functionality upgradeability and security than the Linksys device, but cost quite a bit more money. The SonicWALL SOHO for ten connected computers is $402 at buy.com and the WebRamp 700s for 5 users is $352.95, also at buy.com.
These two products have a very similar feature set - Firewall, NAT, DHCP, content control. But what sets them truly apart from the Linksys product is the ability to add-on secure VPN networking using 56-bit DES or ARC4 encryption. Unfortunately, this does not come without additional cost. The WebRamp 700s VPN upgrade for the 5 user firewall is $349 (SRP) and the SonicWALL VPN upgrade is $406.95 from buy.com. However, these VPN upgrades are not equal. The WebRamp 700s allows both site-to-site VPN and remote client VPN through Windows only VPN software. The SonicWALL SOHO only supports site-to-site VPN unless you purchase the more expensive (and more capable) SonicWALL PRO for $2470.95 (buy.com again).