We're often asked what products we recommend.  We someday hope to have a data-driven objective rating system, but until then, this list will have to do.

Much as we hate putting these "weasel words" here, we feel we must, since some people think that a recommendation is a guarantee!

Use these recommendations at your own risk, and don't blame us if a recommended product doesn't work in your application.  There's no substitute for doing your own homework.  If this stuff were easy to choose or use, we wouldn't be here!

• If you have only a few computers sharing the connection, and have a PC,   use Sygate, due to its low price, ease of setup, and ability to handle most new applications without having to reconfigure it.

• If you have a Mac based network, use Vicomsoft's SurfDoubler if you can deal with only two computers being able to share the connection simultaneously, otherwise you need to use Internet Gateway.

Tip: If you have both PCs and Macs in your network, set up the sharing on the PC, since there are more (and less expensive) options for it.

This is probably the toughest category to make a recommendation for.  Experience has shown that due to differences in BSP (Broadband Service Provider) network setups and other considerations, what works well in one situation may be a disaster for others.  Look at these recommendations, but do your own research!  Check the Opinions if we've reviewed the product you're interested in, and check the Forums, too!

• If price isn't a prime consideration, you can't do much better than the SonicWall2 product line. The SOHO2 will handle small LANs of 10 users and the Tele2 may be better if you have heavy VPN requirements.  A stateful inspection firewall, excellent logging and alarms, access controls, content filtering and flexible firewall policies are among the features that make this product well worth the money!

• A good choice on the inexpensive (around $100) end of the product spectrum is the SMC Barricade line, which comes in 4 port, 8 port and wireless (see below) models. The Asante FriendlyNet is essentially the same product, but is "officially" supported for the MacOs.  The built-in Windows (LPR based) printserver, and support for dialup modem WAN connections tends to tip the value scale over competitive products.  SMC also does a good job of quickly responding to problems with stable firmware updates that don't break existing features.  Logging features are pretty weak, however.