If you're connecting users from home, the Sonicwall will do fine. If you're using site to site - there's an argument to put the sameĮquipment on either end. Interoperability between vendors is always a chore, though.Ĭonsider how you are using VPN. (TZ205W)įor a small network, I don't see a need for separate routers internally. The Sonicwall device integrates router, firewall, and optionally a wireless access point. The Engenius looks like a home wireless router. You can always move it to a different box, or stand up another instance, make one a router, make one a firewall, another a proxy - or let one box do it all it. Since it runs on most any x86 hardware, it's well suited for situations where you are somewhat lacking in direction. If you are considering rolling up your sleeves and learning a router os - you might want to take a look at it. Pfsense has come a long way in terms of what it can deliver both out of the box, and through adding packages. If this a site to site vpn, or client to site? If you are going to want a high bandwidth ipsec vpn, cisco has the worst price/performance ratio. Not a good choice now though, since they were discontinued some time ago. It was clunky, but worked fine, and was mostly reliable. I used the RV042 a few years ago for my first business vpn.

If you currently use voip, or think you might in the next few years, avoid Sonicwall - if you go that route anyway, be aware it has some arcane settings you'll have to address to pass sip traffic. Some devices just have weird designs that you can't get your head around. I'm tempted to say that if the Engenius was a challenge, avoid Cisco - but that's not entirely valid. Router vs firewall is typically a matter of performance at their respective tasks, as well as features to support those tasks. Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer. If I purchase a SonicWall or Cisco ASA, what router features am I losing? What features am I losing if I go with an RV042? I'm familiar with the difference between what routers do and what firewalls do, but packaged as actual devices, I'm not really sure where the differences come into play.

But while researching these devices, I'm reading that the Cisco and SonicWall devices are Firewalls and that the RV042 is a router.

In the past, I've worked with an RV042, which worked for setting up a VPN. Immediately recommended when I asked for help with this before was a SonicWall TZ 205, and at one of our other locations, we have a Cisco ASA 5505 set up (I just haven't worked with it, yet). The Engenius router, an ESR900, advertised VPN capabilities, but there just aren't many options for configuring the VPN, firewall, or routing settings. Having been unable to get our Engenius router's VPN to work, we've decided to replace it with a more robust device. Trying to clear up some confusion on my part.

Cisco asa 5505 spec