here<\/a><\/b>).\u00a0 You\u00a0do<\/i>\u00a0have to register, however, in order to gain access to the\u00a0Help<\/b>,\u00a0Support<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Live Security<\/b>\u00a0pages of the router admin screens.<\/p>\nThe SOHO has browser based administration, and sets up easily.\u00a0 You just power up the SOHO, plug a computer with its TCP\/IP set to obtain an address automatically (or from a DHCP server) into one of the WAN ports, boot the computer, launch your web browser, and enter\u00a0192.168.111.1<\/b>\u00a0into your browser Location box.<\/p>\n
If everything is working, you’ll get the Admin page opening screen.\u00a0NOTE<\/b>: The Admin pages are not password protected by default, but you can set a password on the\u00a0User Information<\/b>\u00a0Admin page.<\/p>\n
When I opened my router’s admin page,\u00a0 the page included a clickable link telling me that a software update was available.\u00a0 Even nicer was the fact that\u00a0all I had to do to update the router firmware was to click on the link!<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 No searching for a firmware updater. No inability to update because I’m using a non-Windows computer. No futzing with selecting a router and selecting a firmware code update file.\u00a0 All routers should be this easy to update! (Hey, you other guys!\u00a0 Are you listening?!)<\/p>\n
Although there’s a System Status page that summarizes your SOHO’s setup (and contains the\u00a0WAN port MAC address<\/b>\u00a0that you’ll need for some MediaOne affiliates’ setup and the router\u00a0Reboot<\/b>\u00a0button), you’ll have to visit the Public Network, Private Network and Firewall pages to complete your router setup.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Public Network screen<\/b>\u00a0lets you set the WAN port to either have its IP address info set manually or pick it up from your ISP’s DHCP server.\u00a0 You can input a computer name and Domain name (which @Home users will need) and specify a primary and secondary DNS server.\u00a0 There isn’t any provision for the\u00a0TAS<\/b>\u00a0login that some RoadRunner users need, however, and\u00a0PPPoE<\/b>\u00a0isn’t supported, although a firmware upgrade is scheduled for April.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Private Network (LAN) screen<\/b>\u00a0lets you Enable\/Disable the DHCP server and set the server’s base address, subnet mask and first address that the server will issue.\u00a0 The base SOHO will hand out only 10 addresses.\u00a0 You can upgrade it to handle either 25 or 50 users, however.<\/p>\n
Fun with the Firewall<\/big><\/big><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/b>Since security is WatchGuard’s business, they did a good job of clearly describing Firewall settings.\u00a0 There are two views into the Firewall settings, Basic and Advanced.<\/p>\n
The router default is to deny all incoming data.\u00a0 The Basic settings use drop down boxes to select common services to map to the IP addresses in the SOHO’s DHCP server range.\u00a0 You can specify up to 5 port mappings.\u00a0 The only other thing that the Basic screen lets you do is to enable “Web Activity Tracking”.\u00a0 However, this feature isn’t yet implemented.<\/p>\n
If you click on the Advanced screen (no password protection to access it), the dropdown boxes disappear in the port mapping section and you enter the port number and IP addresses directly.\u00a0 You still only get 5\u00a0single port<\/b>\u00a0to IP mappings.\u00a0 You can’t specify TCP or UDP and you\u00a0can’t forward port ranges<\/b>.\u00a0 Although this keeps things simple, it’s limited, especially considering the price of the SOHO.
\nUpdate 9\/4\/00\u00a0<\/b><\/span>Version 2.1 firmware adds port range mapping & Socks5 proxy for ICQ and IRC.<\/b><\/p>\nFurther features available in Advanced mode are:<\/p>\n
\n- \n
You can set one IP to have “DMZ pass through”, which places it outside the SOHO firewall.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Remote logging (sent over an encrypted channel to a WatchGuard log host only)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Allow temporary WAN access to the SOHO’s admin HTTP server.
\n(This allows WatchGuard support to see and\/or fix problems in your setup.\u00a0 It times out after 10 minutes.\u00a0 If you want constant WAN access to the server, you’ll have to map a port. If you do this\u00a0be sure to set a password on the User Information page!<\/i><\/b>)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Disable Microsoft Networking from LAN to WAN.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Other Features<\/span><\/big><\/big><\/b><\/p>\nWatchGuard has given the SOHO very flexible\u00a0VPN<\/b>\u00a0capability.\u00a0 You can have multiple\u00a0PPTP<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0IPsec<\/b>\u00a0clients<\/b>\u00a0on the LAN and you can also\u00a0host<\/b>\u00a0one each of a LAN-side PPTP and IPsec server.\u00a0 I didn’t check either of these capabilities.<\/p>\n
The SOHO doesn’t have detailed logging capabilities, but it does have a\u00a0Network Event log<\/b>\u00a0and a\u00a0Network Statistics<\/b>\u00a0feature.<\/p>\n
When you register the SOHO, you can also register for the WatchGuard’s\u00a0Live Security<\/b>\u00a0feature.\u00a0 Live Security alerts you to SOHO firmware updates (as I found out when I installed the SOHO and described above), allows you to easily update your firmware, and subscribes you to an email list that periodically delivers security related information including new Virus alerts.\u00a0 These Live Security emails are archived and you can access them by clicking on the Live Security link in the SOHO admin page Navigation bar.\u00a0 I was unable to access any of the archives after repeated attempts, however.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speedy!<\/big><\/big><\/span><\/b><\/p>\nThe SOHO passed my\u00a0download test<\/b>\u00a0with flying colors, clocking in between\u00a0
\n4.3 and 4.5Mbps<\/b>. The SOHO might be even faster than my measurements, because my baseline computer to computer measurement without the router was pretty close to what I measured with the SOHO in between.<\/p>\n
I also checked\u00a0LAN to WAN transfer speed<\/b>, since some users will be hosting FTP, HTTP, or other servers behind the SOHO.\u00a0 Some of the other products I’ve tested have had noticeably slower LAN to WAN vs. WAN to LAN routing speed, but not the SOHO.\u00a0 The LAN to WAN measurement was virtually the same as the WAN to LAN performance.\u00a0Impressive!<\/b>\u00a0 Note that I did not test simultaneous routing in both directions.\u00a0 I encountered no corruption, timeout or other problems during the tests.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The downside<\/big><\/big><\/span><\/b><\/p>\nLike its competitors, the SOHO doesn’t do everything. Here’s the list:<\/p>\n
\n- \n
No detailed traffic logging.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
No content filtering.
\nUpdate 9\/4\/00\u00a0<\/b><\/span>Version 2.1 firmware adds an optional Web blocking subscription service ($49\/year)<\/b><\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
No access control
\nUpdate 9\/4\/00\u00a0<\/b><\/span>Version 2.1 firmware adds port range blocking & protocol blocking.\u00a0<\/b>Blocking applies to all machine on the LAN, i.e. you can’t block specific ports\/protocols on specific machines.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
No support for the RoadRunner TAS login protocol<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Summary\u00a0<\/big><\/big><\/span><\/b>Updated 9\/4\/00\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\nThe SOHO has a lot going for it.\u00a0 It’s fast, includes a 4 port 10BaseT hub, supports PPTP and IPsec clients\u00a0and servers<\/i>, has the best software update process I’ve seen, and the Live Security feature supplies a steady stream of Internet security information.<\/p>\n
On the downside, although port forwarding has been improved, the SOHO doesn’t have the triggered maps that lower priced competitors now have. Also, its hub is 10BaseT vs. 100BaseT, and its price point is high, (although close to or below most other IPsec capable products).\u00a0 I also found its Web site-based-only documentation system inconvenient and somewhat frustrating at times. (In fact, during the course of preparing this review, the WatchGuard site was temporarily unreachable more than once.)\u00a0 I would prefer to see some sort of user documentation included with the SOHO, even if it is on CD-ROM rather than printed.<\/p>\n
On the whole, the SOHO’s a capable unit, and I’d expect WatchGuard’s toll-free 24\/7 support to be a cut above its competitors, given WatchGuard’s focus on the corporate market. But the competition’s catching up fast in features and pressing downward on price, so WatchGuard better keep their design team busy!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Author: Tim Higgins Review Date: 3\/23\/2000 Model: WG2500 Pros: – Supports\u00a0IPsec\u00a0and PPTP for VPN. – Fast – Built-in 4 port 10BaseT hub. Cons: – Limited port mapping. – On-line documentation only. 9\/4\/00\u00a0Version 2.1 firmware adds an optional Web blocking subscription service ($49\/year), port range mapping, port range blocking, protocol blocking, and a limited Socks5 proxy. 5\/3\/00\u00a0PPPoE support added\u00a0via Version 1.5.7 firmware update. The Basics The SOHO is packaged in a small, bright red box.\u00a0 All 10BaseT RJ45 jacks (one WAN, 4 LAN,\u00a0no\u00a0uplink) are on the rear panel of the unit, along with the power adapter input (the router is <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/wgsoho.gif\")
<\/p>\n