Cisco 800 Series Routers?

M

McDeth

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 26, 2002
Messages
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I've been asked by my work to get a VPN up and working. When I first came here we had a Linksys BEFVP41 router. I tried and tried to get it to connect to VPN's, and although I could get the router to connect to a Linksys Support Tech's VPN, I could never get another computer to connect to it. 3 more support calls later, a different tech casually suggests that perhaps the reason I can't connect this routers VPN with a computer is because the series of router that I am using only supports Router-Router VPN connections. Gee, thanks for specifying this Linksys.

So I run down to CompUSA and buy another Linksys router, the WRV Series, which I KNEW supports Cline-Router CPN connections (The Linksys tech assured me that it did) Funny thing is, when I got the goddamn thing back to my work to try and get the network set up, there is a known firmware bug where the router is unable to access the Internet via the wired ethernet ports. I got on the phone with their crappy tech support again, where they suggested I do a reflash, and then upgrade the firmware. Not suprisingly, this didn't work, and I had to return that router as well. Now I'm back at square one.

I've decided to bite the bullet and invest in a decent Cisco router this time, not a cheap over the shelf peice of shit. I've been eyeing the Cisco 800 series of routers, and I think the 871 will suite myself and this buisness quite well. However, I do have some questions.

Does the 871 series of router use a web based interface to configure its settings, as opposed to cisco's terminal interface? I have never used a Cisco product before, and I don't know the first thing about using their non-web interface.

Does this router support a remote VPN client. As in, can I connect to these routers VPN via a remote client set up on a laptop in a hotel room?

Does anybody have experience using this series of router?

Are there any other VPN routers I should try before I go and buy this Cisco Router?
 
I own a Cisco 871w and while it does have a web based setup it isnt as easy as the Linksys Routers, I am still fighting with mine to get it working but granted i haven't spent too much time working on it.

and you said you tried the WRV line? is that the same as the Linksys RV line of routers? I have installed a few RV042 and it has a nice Linksys QuickVPN software that seems to get the job done. I use it to remote in incase our Windows Server that hosts the VPN goes down.

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...833192&pagename=Linksys/Common/VisitorWrapper
 
I've tried a RV04 VPN router. I couldn't even get the fucking thing to connect to the internet right out of the box, and frankly I am ass tired of dealing with Linksys's sub-par at best products, which is why am I seriously trying to avoid using one in this case.
 
odd Cisco is great but its not going to be as simple as you might think to set it up out of the box, Maybe try the RV04 again, sometimes you get a lemon.
 
an x86 computer running pfsense (www.pfsense.org) will accept vpn connections from road warrior clients, as well as make ipsec connections to any other ipsec compliant device (another router, a linux/bsd/unix box, or whatever you feel like making a tunnel to). will feature compete with cisco all day long, and has a really nice web interface to boot.

its remote client vpn subsystem is openvpn (www.openvpn.org), and i connect to it with windows or linux daily.

(and its free too)
 
Can you tell us a little bit about your network?

What features are you looking for?

What kind of future growth are you planning for?

What is your budget?

Yes the 871 will support VPN clients. Provided that the hotel is not blocking VPN connections, you would be able to connect back to it. Yes the 871 has a GUI.
 
takethesewords said:
try a cisco pix 501. probably cheaper than the 800 series too.
Click to expand...

Better off going with an ASA 5505, same price as the PIX 501 with far greater performance and features...
 
I have an 871 here at home, its a great little router. It does have a GUI known as Cisco SDM. I prefer to do everything via the command line myself, but I suppose that's because I'm very comfortable with it and I prefer to configure everything myself rather than letting the GUI do it.

As everyone mentioned you can do a client-router connection with. You can also do router-router connections if that's your thing. I was thinking of configuring the vpn here myself just to goof around with but I don't really have any reason for it so I'm not going to bother.

Make sure you get the Advanced IP Services feature set.
 
Arch said:
I have an 871 here at home, its a great little router. It does have a GUI known as Cisco SDM. I prefer to do everything via the command line myself, but I suppose that's because I'm very comfortable with it and I prefer to configure everything myself rather than letting the GUI do it.

As everyone mentioned you can do a client-router connection with. You can also do router-router connections if that's your thing. I was thinking of configuring the vpn here myself just to goof around with but I don't really have any reason for it so I'm not going to bother.

Make sure you get the Advanced IP Services feature set.
Click to expand...

How can i check to see if mine has the Advanced IP Services? If it doesn't how can i get it?
 
RiDDLeRThC said:
How can i check to see if mine has the Advanced IP Services? If it doesn't how can i get it?
Click to expand...

"show version" will tell you. The feature sets are licensed from Cisco. If you bought just an 871 with Advanced Security then that's what you can legally use. In order to get the Advanced IP Services you'd have to buy a license, get a Cisco.com account, and download the necessary IOS file.
 
Boscoh said:
Can you tell us a little bit about your network?

What features are you looking for?

What kind of future growth are you planning for?

What is your budget?

Yes the 871 will support VPN clients. Provided that the hotel is not blocking VPN connections, you would be able to connect back to it. Yes the 871 has a GUI.
Click to expand...


QFT. McDeth, how about some more background on what you are trying to do?
 
Ok, at this point I actually found a 3rd party client software that does exactly what I need, and I have connected to the VPN, so that part is a success. Now, I need to know how I can connect to the computers on the internal network via the VPN. I can't remember if they have to have the same subnet or different, its been a while since I've screwed around with VPN's. Can somebody point me to a good guide?

For those of you who want to know what I'm doing, I work for a small buisness that reviews the pre-emplyment physicals for counties and cities, as well as some major corporations, around the U.S. We have employee's that are out on the road doing job site analysis from remote locations that need to have access to internal files, as well as medical information and Job site info. This information is available via a central server we have, but when I just tried to connect to the server via the computer that was on the remote connection side of the VPN, I wasn't able to see it. I might add that this software that I found is for Macs, which is what the company uses most of the time, simply for ease of use as well as security. Before I came to this company nobody knew how to do anything with PC's, and now I've been forced to start using Macs. :(
 
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