Cisco 881 Router

J

jmack_3

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 31, 2000
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Anybody here have any experience with the Cisco 8xx series of routers? I am thinking about using one instead of a ASA5505 at a client's location.

Joe...
 
Mainly how do they compare to a ASA5505? They seem to be a cross between the ASA and a 18xx series router, is this assumption correct? The SSL VPN licensing seems way cheap, is it the same as Cisco's other SSL offerings?

Thanks!

Joe...
 
They're really just a SOHO router. They're similar to ASAs in that they have the VPN capabilities, but that's about it. ASAs are a different OS, and they do things differently.

It depends on your goals. I'm not a fan of ASAs, mainly cause I'm so used to IOS and I don't like how difficult some simple things can be with firewalls. Both devices should be more than enough for a small office.
 
do you already have the hardware? if not, have you looked into anything else? any particular reason you're set on cisco?
 
Those two devices are apples and oranges really.

An ASA is inherently more secure than a router even if it was running the firewall feature set.
 
jmack_3 said:
Mainly how do they compare to a ASA5505? They seem to be a cross between the ASA and a 18xx series router, is this assumption correct?
Click to expand...
They dont compare. The ASA5505 can push ~150Mbps of throughput while the 871 will push around 10-20Mbps depending on what features you have configured. Vito called it correct with different OS's, while the ASA does run an "IOS shell" its NOT IOS(finessOS) and things are done differently. You need to weight to benefits to the cost, the 871 is a fraction of the price the 5505 will be w/ full security licenses.

mattjw916 said:
An ASA is inherently more secure than a router even if it was running the firewall feature set.
Click to expand...
Inherently more secure, yes, but only due to the default inspection set... with basic stateful inspection on both devices they would yeild identical security benefits. Realize that, the ASA can be implement more security mechanisms but YOU need to configure them. Out of the box its only slightly more secure than a routing device.
 
xphil3 - Thanks for the information, the added bandwidth provided by the ASA isn't really a concern in these installations, only using T1's for connectivity. The lower cost of the SSL VPN licenses is whats pushing me towards the 881. Is it the same SSL implementation that Cisco uses elsewhere?

berky - Not really stuck on Cisco aside from the obvious, reliability & name recognition, what other equipment are you thinking?

Thanks guys!

Joe...
 
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