Cisxo PIX vs Other Type of VPN / Firewall / Router

[userice]

We have a 50-user Network. Right now, we are thinking about getting a VPN/Firewall/Router. We will have about 10 users using VPN (not at the same time). I want to get a Cisco 506E PIX. However, my manager asked me about some other VPN/Firewall/Router from D-Link, Linksys, Trendware.... I know that he wants to save money. Is there some type of comparsion chart out there? They all said they have SPI firewall. Well, if someone can point out the benefit of getting Cisco PIX 506E or even website links, that will be great. Because I only know how to config Cisco PIX.....and I don't want to learn how to setup other products.
Thank you

 

[david902]

The 3 most popular corporate firewalls are Cisco, Symantec, and CheckPoint, not necessarily in that order.

yes they all do the same thing, and it really depends on personal preference. The firewalls have the same functionality, to stop unwanted traffic.

price is an issue, support is the key, how good is the support for LinkSys, Trendware, etc. my guess is that if you are in a crunch, firewall down, and a pissed off boss. you are not going to get the support that you quickly need.

I don't have any experience with Symantec nor Checkpoint support, but I've always had very good response and solutions from the Cisco support team.

I do have experience with a workgroup firewall (3com)
in an enterprise environment with 800 users, no support,
and it ain't a pretty picture.

last company I was with, wanted to replace the 3com with something cheap, there really are no easy comparisons
spreadsheets, or other documents avialable, you can buy some, but they are not cheap. it's really a do it yourself homework project and comparable information is hard to come by.

remember, you get what you pay for,

p.s. also look at updates avaialability, there are aways new threats being discovered you are not going to get the protection you need if you only get a firmware update once a year.

 

[flauret]

ok in my mind the cisco pix 506 is not so much expensive. also you can obtain smartnet contract support like 4h-7d-24h type support that mean in 4 hour every day and 24/24h the support can bring you a new hardware.
not so much support are ready to give you this quality.

for sure if you will use this firewall for sensitive business, you should really take somethin really strong with a dynamic support.

also dlink, linksys and other like netgear are not completely designed to work in middle business size but more for small with 10 max users.

checkpoint is another great solution but really expensive.

regards,

frederic