Enterprise Firewall?

A

AP2

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
1,570
Quick questions…. I’m sitting at a friend’s office and I noticed that they are using a Comcast modem/router straight to a switch and access points. Would they benefit from a enterprise firewall vs the Comcast modem/router? Currently they are experiencing connectivity drops.
 
I doubt it will help with the connectivity drops. How many users do they have?
 
100 wifi users and 48hard connections. Comcast is here now saying that he needs to upgrade the network appliance, because they are maxing the Comcast hardware. Apparently the tech says the Comcast hardware is rated for 45 streams, but they have 100 on the network now.
 
After some digging around. Looks like they have 5 wifi routers acting as access points. Combination of linksys and asus.
 
sounds like amateur hour...

that said, i never run cable/dsl equipment in route mode... just don't get the control i want...
 
Yeah they definitely need an enterprise firewall. Not only will handle the traffic much better but they will also have much better security. And like goodcooper said, better hands on traffic control overall.
 
Its all about future growth, needs and what is the actual situation. You generally want to plan for future growth as bandwidth management is an issue or will be. Security need is a concern, do you need a straith up firewall or IDS with filtering, proxy, website hosting, vpn etc etc. What about the actual situation ? Check the hardware to see if there is decent load for the cpu/memory. Are the users complaining ? What is the budget ? Is there any security policies in place ?
 
Yes, and with that many users on a single line you need something that can provide QOS. Nothing like a single user downloading a very large file slowing down everyone elses connection.

Are individual users experiencing the connection drops, or is the whole line dropping? If it's individual users getting sporatic drops, I'd bet it's the router not able to keep up with that many users. Definately get better hardware.
 
Chimay said:
+1 I'm surprised that comcast router hasn't exploded yet. :D
Click to expand...

+1 as well. This is the first time I have ever seen a setup like this. I usually deploy a fortinet or juniper.

thanks for all that replied! i direct him to this link :) currently there IT guy is a 20 year old that doesnt know much about networking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top