Cisco RV042 4-port Fast Ethernet VPN Router-Dual WAN

Great product - going to purchase for other customers

Strengths: Installed in a snap once I figured out how to get past the 1st router (for VPN connection).

Weakness: None that I can think of.

This is a great product as long as you know something about networking. Amatures, don't expect to set this up easily. This product provides a great way to connect to remote offices with excellent firewall capability.

By mlginsbe - Aug 1, 2006

Great product

Strengths: Very solid product that performs very well. It has excellent speed and is very configurable. In addition it includes an extremely flexible web based GUI. With extensive firewall and expansive logging options. This unit would work well in a high tech home,

Weakness: This product is not for those unfamiliar with networking nor is any VPN product. The VPN is extremely robust which can make connecting to it complicated. Therefore it is not recommended for someone new to networking. Also the documentation is relatively p

This unit is great for a small business or home power user. Also has some great NAT, PAT, and firewall options. The great thing about this device is that it can be used as a gateway or it can be used as a regular router It is very easy to add ports forwarding as well as other firewall rules. There is even an extra port that will function as a second WAN port or it can be converted to a true DMZ...
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This unit is great for a small business or home power user. Also has some great NAT, PAT, and firewall options.

The great thing about this device is that it can be used as a gateway or it can be used as a regular router

It is very easy to add ports forwarding as well as other firewall rules.

There is even an extra port that will function as a second WAN port or it can be converted to a true DMZ port.

By Troglodyte - Dec 27, 2005

This unit is great for the Small...

Strengths: Great little unit for the high tech home. Load balanced Internet connection options are great. Decent firewall great logging capability.

Weakness: VPN is a little complicated to connect to from xp/2000 Client. Have to tweak IPSec settings.

This unit is great for the Small business or Home PowerUser. I am load balancing a 3Mb/256Kb Comcast Cable modem and a Qwest 1.5Mb/1Mb DSL for home. It has the ability to upload thru the DSL and download thru the Cable. Also has some great NAT, PAT, and firewall options.

This is not for someone new to networking.

By jlmsquared - Sep 9, 2004

This device was bought to provide...

Strengths: Price

Weakness: No support, strange log file entries, blocks some web sites

This device was bought to provide NAT - firewall for a medical office of 25 users. Set up was typical Linksys, not too complicated. When firewall logging was enabled, the log file filled up within just a couple of minutes. The device was logging the "Open Shortest Path First" - OSPF from the Cisco 2600 that sits between the RV042 and the T1. I contacted tech support to stop the logging, but...
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This device was bought to provide NAT - firewall for a medical office of 25 users. Set up was typical Linksys, not too complicated. When firewall logging was enabled, the log file filled up within just a couple of minutes. The device was logging the "Open Shortest Path First" - OSPF from the Cisco 2600 that sits between the RV042 and the T1. I contacted tech support to stop the logging, but support did not even know what OSPF is or what its purpose is. One tech support personal thought OSPF was a hacker trying to get into our network. Finally I figured the answer outon my own, and created a rule to ignore all events coming from the 2600. Not a very secure set up but it works. The log file was also filled with an "interface307" enrty that is a hyperlink. When you click on the hyperlink a popup opens saying "the program you are launching may be malious, are you sure you want to launch it?" When I contacted Linksys tech support they didnt know what the "interface307" entry might be, or what this program is. I was finally handed over to Cisco tech support, that was a little over 2 months ago and still no answer. The divice also blocks some web page at hotmail, msn, USGS mapping web site with entries in the log file "access denied policy violation." If the images come from a caching server the firewall blocks them. So I had to create firewall rules for different web sites and networks so the users can view them correctly. There are so many rules now, the firewall is more like a siff. Do yourself a favor consider something else.

By 21kev - Jun 11, 2005

Very, very good product!

Strengths: Prodcut performs very well, extreamly flexable, great GUI front end (web based) would work well as home, small business, or even as a router in an enterprise.

Weakness: Not for the Network un-aware. This is for an advanced user.

This is an awesome piece of hardware. There are a lot of problems with the older firmware, the first thing you have to do when getting this product is update to the newest firmware. The Dynamic DNS does not work with DynDns.org, I don't think that Linksys will ever get it working with them. A beautiful thing about this router is that it can be used as a Gateway Device (like your other Linksys...
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This is an awesome piece of hardware. There are a lot of problems with the older firmware, the first thing you have to do when getting this product is update to the newest firmware.

The Dynamic DNS does not work with DynDns.org, I don't think that Linksys will ever get it working with them.

A beautiful thing about this router is that it can be used as a Gateway Device (like your other Linksys home products) or it can be used as a router (like a low end Cisco router, not protection but the ability to route packets between networks).

I currently am using these in installs where small businesses are segmenting their network and need routers. This under $300 solution works much better than the over $800 (lowest cost) solution for a low end Cisco router.

The VPN is extreamly robust, this can make set up a hassle if you are not using a RV042RV082RV016 at each end.

The Firewall is extensive and is ready for normal operation out of box. It is very easy to add ports to forward (a wizard is even available) as well as other firewall rules (again, another wizard is available).

There is an extra port that will function as a second WAN port (allowing load balencing between 2 internet connections, or rollover backup) or it can be converted to a true DMZ port.

Very solid, can utilize a syslog server so logs do not have to be stored on the router itself. New firmware allows for more configuration options.

Tech support is horrible! They offshore their support to India. I had 3 open tickets tha were not resolved for 3 months. Their answer was to wait for the new firmware... so I did. The new firmware fixed ALL my issues, but service was really bad. Please do not get this product if you are not familiar with networking.

Customer support for VPNs is extreamly hard to work with. They consistantly told me to change the settings on the other end. The other end was my corporate network and eventhough I could change the settings, it would disrupt everyone else so that was not an option. I explained that this was not an option and they asked if they could call me back. No call backs up to 1 week after so I complained to my Linksys Rep, and my Cisco Rep, and low and behold while I was out on Vacation, they called me 33 times, over 4 times a day. Very Very bad support.

Great product, be prepared for research if you have a problem. I highly reccommend to Small Businesses with a good IT guy. Is extreamly flexable and will serve you well.

By duomenox - Sep 8, 2005