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Netgear RT314 Fast Internet Access Gateway Router
Page 2
Author: Tim Higgins Review Date: 8/2/2000
Routing
and SUA (Port Mapping)
The RT314 has a number of features that network-savvy users will appreciate.
It supports the RIP-1, RIP-2M, and RIP-2B routing
protocols and you can set the unit to send only, receive only or do both
with its routing information. You can also set up to 8 static routes
and set IGMP-V1 or V2 Multicast routing. These features make it
easy to incorporate the RT314 into larger networks with multiple routers.
NOTE:
Opening holes in your firewall can compromise your LAN's security if done
incorrectly.
You can open holes in the RT314's firewall so that servers on your LAN
can be accessed from the Internet, but you are limited to 12 port-number-to-LAN
IP mappings. You can't specify TCP or UDP protocol, and you can't
map port ranges, either. One of the twelve mappings
is dedicated to the Default Server mapping. This is
similar to the DMZ Host, or Exposed Computerfeature
on other routers. Any inbound service request that doesn't have
a defined IP address to handle it will be sent to the Default Server.
Another mapping is dedicated to Port 1026 "RR Reserved",
so this leaves ten single port mappings for users to set.
Update 6/11/01 V3.25 firmware
adds 10 sets of port range forwarding.
Filters
(Access Control) and Other Features
Filtering is very flexible, but the hardest to use feature of the RT314,
and the 3.20 firmware hasn't improved this. Filters allow you to
block or pass data that matches specific criteria from entering or leaving
your LAN. Netgear has provided powerful filtering capability, but
unfortunately, you need to configure it at a level that requires more
understanding of networking protocols than most users will have.
The RT314 comes by default with filters enabled
that block Telnet, FTP, and HTTP from the WAN side and keep Net BIOS (MS
File and Print sharing) traffic from being accessed from the WAN.
Update 6/11/01 V3.25 firmware
removes these filters.
Network Administrators will find a complete set of "Maintenance"
features, all accessible via Telnet. System status can be monitored,
the unit can be reset, and error logs can be examined, among other features.
If you have a system that supports the UNIX syslog feature, the
RT314 will even log activity to it. (Go
here for information on obtaining Windows and MacOs syslog clients.)
You also have the previously mentioned command line interface in case
you get bored!
The router contains a Dynamic DNS client that can be used with DYNDNS.ORG.
(This feature is part of the 3.20 firmware, so is also available on the
RT311.) You'll need to register for an account in order to use this
feature, which can be useful if you are hosting servers. (For more
about Dynamic DNS, read this page.)
Note that the RT314 can be used with other Dynamic DNS services, but you'll
need to run client software on a LAN-side computer.
VPN
The RT314 will allow PPTP clients on the LAN side to access PPTP servers
on the Internet. You can also set the unit to allow a PPTP server
on your LAN to be accessed from the Internet (go
here if you need help with this).
IPsec client passthru support has been added w/ 3.20 firmware, with
no special configuration or port forwarding required.
Hey!
You broke my test bed!!
I knew it would happen eventually, but the RT314 did it! It
exceeded the ability of my throughput test setup. After the
smoke from burning CAT5 cables cleared, I was able to record the following
results:
FW
Version
Wan-Lan
Lan-Wan
3.20
5.0+
5.0+
All numbers are in Mbits per second (Mbps).
(Details of how we tested can be found here.)
I'm sure some helpful readers with faster setups will help me out and
post their measurements via Review Opinions.
Missing
Links
Of course, no router is perfect...yet! So here's what the 314
doesn't do:
filter content
control user access by time period, password, or MAC
address
act as a VPN endpoint.
Summary
Netgear has won a lot of supporters (and former Linksys owners) by having
the RT311 be a solid performer and aggressively slugging it out in the
recent router price wars. It looks like the RT314 will continue
the tradition and be a very popular router, especially given its lack
of data corruption problems, reliable PPPoE operation, 4 port 10/100 switch,
and blazing speed!
If Netgear could just beef up the web administration features, add triggered
port range mapping (go check out the Asante, guys), and continue to price
aggressively, they could really do some damage to the competition!