Wireless LAN, cable modem, or VPN Prosafe - pick any two, you can't have all three Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
Pros: It allows multiple VPN connections, and once I gave up on using it with my wireless LAN, it has been reliable. The first one lasted three years. The second one is a year old and still going strong.
Cons: If you attach a wireless access point to a Netgear ProSafe, it soon drops connection to the cable internet. (Local network continues to work fine.) I've owned two Netgear ProS...
[Read elizilla's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | elizilla | | Review Date: | 06/27/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review |  |
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Great for the money Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
Pros: I bought one of these here years ago, and it's still kickin just fine. Has only needed to be cycled a few times, and my whole network was funky at those times. Dollar for dollar this prosafe stuff was definately the way to go a few years ago, and the stuff is still nice today. There are definately more advanced options with newer equip, but like I said, for the money, this line of gear is among the best you can g...
[Read Eric Pulliam's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | Eric Pulliam | | Review Date: | 05/22/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
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Does the job Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg.com
Pros: Very easy VPN setup, good firewall, email options, etc..
Cons: WAN speeds are slow.
Other Thoughts: After returning the Linksys BEFVP41 for failing to create a VPN Gateway to Gateway connection, these are heaven sent. I have three of these with VPN enabled, have a rock solid connection from the start. Yes, the WAN sp...
[Read Leibtek's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | Leibtek | | Review Date: | 05/12/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
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Unreliable Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
Pros: The management interface was very well done. The logging and firewall rule editing was extremely useful.
Cons: The router drops my cable connection several times a day, as someone stated above. I replaced the unit with another one from my local Staples and it does the same thing. I updated it to the newest firmware and this is still occurring. I plug it in every once in a while and se...
[Read Dan's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | Dan | | Review Date: | 05/08/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
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A very good product, but the VPN is difficult for those with no patience. I have 4 FVS318 (2) v.1, (1) v.2, (1)v.3. I have never had any problem with these routers ever. I use PPPOE and static IP address. They are very stable and are physically durable. My connection is below 5MB, so I cannot attest to any speed problem.
The VPN can be difficult, but Netgear has documentation to solve this. The problem, is rushing through the set-up. I find that you need be calm and completely forget what you know (or think you know) and follow line-by-line, like an idiot (VPN ...
[Read 's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Amazon.com] | | Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 05/03/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review |  |
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Do not buy if you have a high speed connection This router is nothing but slow. If you look at Netgears website and the technical specifications, which aren't listed on the box. This router supports a maximum LAN to WAN throughput of 12.5Mbps and 1.2Mbps with 3DES (VPN). I never got far enough to test the VPN, but I was only able to get about 8Mbps on the WAN. Removing this router and going straight to my cable modem I get 15Mpbs.
This router has no place in today's high speed broadband connection world. If you're desperate for...
[Read 's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Amazon.com] | | Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 03/01/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
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Flaws, Unreliable Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
Pros: Affordable.
Cons: Port forwarding/virtual server is limited to only 15 ports. The entire router/switch resets and drops connection to all devices about several times a week!
Other Thoughts: Updated firmware to latest. Port forwarding is not as simple as it could be, requiring first a Port configuration and then a Service configuration using that port, on two differe...
[Read Will's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | Will | | Review Date: | 02/28/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
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Ho Hum This thing works okay as a hub/switch, but I can't connect to my ISP through the external modem. I was deceived by the product description because it guaranteed this device could handle "analog" phone service, which is all I have. Therefore I bought this product under the pretense of false advertising, and I'm stuck with a gadget that doesn't work. At least I bought it before the price went up $20. Now I have to have a network guru come in and see if there is any hope of salvaging my investm...
[Read 's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Amazon.com] | | Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 02/23/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
0% (0 of 1) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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DOA and horrid customer support We are a small company with 6 employees and 4 workstations. We needed a hardware firewall and from the reviews this seemed like a good product. After 8 hours of trouble shooting with 3 different OS, the internet connection was still unreliable. This was a few days after getting the shipment. Finally we resorted to calling Netgear customer support. After a total of 1 hour on hold it was finally determined that A: the unit was malfunctioning and should be replaced. and B: we would have to pay for ...
[Read 's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Amazon.com] | | Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 02/22/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
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What version is Amazon Selling now? V3 is good, and V1 is Bad. Hopefully by now they are only selling V3 and have not updated the product description...
[Read 's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Amazon.com] | | Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 02/14/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
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HATE IT Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
Pros: Easy to set up.
Cons: When I connected it to my 10meg connection I could only get 8 megs, the loss in speed is not so bad if you can use the features but they Netgear wants you to pay for VPN accounts. When I upgraded my connection to 20megs I still could only get 8megs through the netgear router. Turns out that although they claim the WAN port is a 10/100 tech support claims th...
[Read N/A's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | N/A | | Review Date: | 02/05/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
100% (2 of 2) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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great Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg.com
Pros: Does what it says, intuitive admin page.
Cons: n/a
Other Thoughts: Using it mainly for DHCP, firewall, and routing. Not employing VPN just yet.
[Read abarenbo's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | abarenbo | | Review Date: | 02/04/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
50% (1 of 2) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Too bad it doesn't work Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg.com
Pros: It has a nice, professional look & feel, and 8 ports. Once you figure out how to skip the wizard the menu system feels like home to anyone who's used Netgear products before.
Cons: Doesn't actually connect to the internet.
Other Thoughts: I wanted to upgrade from my old FR114P that has served me reliably...
[Read N/A's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | N/A | | Review Date: | 02/02/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
33% (1 of 3) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Mostly okay Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
Pros: Easy to set up. Having eight ports is great. Also, and I know it's a little thing, it has a power switch so I don't have to unplug it if I need to power cycle it.
Cons: Recently had to reset it to factory defaults after it repeatedly dropped its connection to my cable modem. Also, the stateful firewall adds significant latency. Ping times went from 1ms to 70ms with no custom ru...
[Read Jason's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | Jason | | Review Date: | 01/29/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
100% (1 of 1) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Back to the Drawing Board Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
Pros: It has worked for me (version 1)with few glitches for over 4 years now. I like the fact that the lights are on the front panel and the RJ-45 connectors are on the real panel; makes for a very presentable unit.
Cons: Rarely I have to reboot.
Other Thoughts: Netgear really needs to update this thing. The LAN ports should be gigabit and the WAN to LAN throug...
[Read Coppernicus's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | Coppernicus | | Review Date: | 01/03/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
100% (2 of 2) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Good for its designed use. I have been using and selling FVS318's for several years now and they have been uniformaly superb. Only later did I learn that these boxes have a few limitations.
They are supremely easy to set up, plenty of internet-searchable support, and easy to VPN. The price is fantastic and they are rock-solid.
However, they are very limited by their throughput and bandwidth. The older v1's and v2's are even more limited. If you need these things, get an FVS338. You get what you pay for....
[Read 's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Amazon.com] | | Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 01/01/2008 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
100% (1 of 1) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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STAY AWAY FROM THIS MODEL! I purchased two of these to use between home and office. The performance is terrible. I spent lots of time with Tech Support. My Internet bandwidth speed was cut in half at both locations. Tech support says the reason is because every packet is examined. Thats fine but the processor in this model is not strong enough to keep up with my network. Now for the good news...Spend a little more and get the FVS338. What a difference...no loss of bandwidth at all. Also they just opened a US Clear...
[Read Don's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at buy.com] | | Reviewed by: | Don | | Review Date: | 12/20/2007 | | User Location: | Augusta, GA | | Review From: | User Review |  |
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Moderate functinality but good value - Intellimatic Inc A little background, my experience level it over 20 year in software development, LAN's and WAN's. I do software development for a living. With that said, I purchased this router as a secondary appliance for a central VPN location. This VPN connection is IPsec not PPTP as you are normally used to with Microsoft's VPN RAS connection. If you use the VPN WAN miniport drivers provided by MS with XP you will find it will not work to connect to the device due to the lack of protocals that come with MS...
[Read 's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Amazon.com] | | Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 12/18/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
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Slow..Slow..Slow.... The NETGEAR FVS318 is real nice heavy blue steel router, most impressive when you open the box. It goes down hill from there. I get 12 megabits per second when my cable modem is directly connected to my computer. Hook up the FVS318 and the speed is cut more than half. I called support, they backed up one version on the firmware, that did not help at all. They advised every packet is examined since its a firewall and hence the slow speed. I read several good things about the big brother FVS...
[Read Don's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at buy.com] | | Reviewed by: | Don | | Review Date: | 11/28/2007 | | User Location: | Augusta, GA | | Review From: | User Review | |
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Very Slow This is the first VPN Firewall I have tested. Its a big impressive metal case, it ends there. The first thing I noticed is a speed reduction over the internet. I get 8 megabits per second download from my ISP. That was verified on two separate websites with my computer hooked directly to my cable modem. After connecting the Netgear FVS318, my speed is cut over half (3.55megabits per second). Tech support told me this is the nature of a true hardware firewall as it inspects every packet hence...
[Read Don's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at buy.com] | | Reviewed by: | Don | | Review Date: | 11/23/2007 | | User Location: | Augusta, GA | | Review From: | User Review | |
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I have all 3 Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg.com
Pros: Excellent stability with recent firmware. I own 6 of these units (mix of v1, v2, and v3) and they all work together flawlessly. The first two I bought years ago had to be replaced within months, but all others since then have been fine. Point to Point VPN and software VPN all worked as advertised. Their support website has an EXCELLENT walk through for variou...
[Read Trouser Muppet's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | Trouser Muppet | | Review Date: | 11/13/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
100% (2 of 2) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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A great full featured firewall/router with no hassels I bought this router when, after switching modem's to a Motorola SurfBoard, my old SMC Barricade router/firewall would not communicate with it. SMC was worse than useless when I sought service help since the router was out of warranty (note to self -- avoid SMC products in the future). Anyway, I bought this Netgear router as it was the only one with 8 ports and firewall at a reasonable price. Oddly this market segment seems to have whitered as 3 years ago when I last shopped, I recall more op...
[Read 's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Amazon.com] | | Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 11/11/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
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Just Intsalled, works good for me Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg.com
Pros: Works as intended, no problems. VPN connectivity is good and it does the job well. No hiccups for me. Netgear will also replace units with versions 1 and 2 with 3 for free. (Well shipping) and it comes with a lifetime warranty. They have a VPN client utility that you have to purchase separately, but it isn't necessary with Linux boxes that I use if you know what y...
[Read N/A's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | N/A | | Review Date: | 11/10/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
100% (2 of 2) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Gets the job done Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
Pros: You get what you pay for. I have the version 1.0 of this which has a slower proc and can not use the latest firmware. Still, it will certainly accomplish a simple p2p vpn if need be.
Cons: I think the interface could be more robust. And apparantly the VPN policy wizard is not exactly flawless. If you are trying to setup something for a semi-large business, you are probably looking in ...
[Read HeyBill's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | HeyBill | | Review Date: | 11/09/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
100% (2 of 2) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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More Bang for the Buck Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
Pros: No connection licensing of any kind. Consistent, not tempermental, no reboots required.
Cons: The router doesn't conk the user on the head to make them understand that this $100 router provides services that you would normally have to pay 5x more for, ie sonicwall.
Other Thoughts: If you want the vpn client ability, purchase the netgear vpn server appliance. Its ea...
[Read ValentinoENT's Complete Review for Netgear Firewall - external - 8 port(s) - EN, Fast EN (FVS318) at Newegg.com] | | Reviewed by: | ValentinoENT | | Review Date: | 10/21/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | |
100% (3 of 3) Users Found This Review Helpful |
