Draytek Vigor 2600W

Draytek Vigor 2600W ... a router in this price range. Just compare the feature set!

The Vigor2600 router has direct ADSL support - it plugs directly into an ADSL-enabled line with the supplied cable (normally via splitter/microfilter). No additional modem is required and the Vigor2600 will automatically adjust for regular ADSL, RADSL and downstream rates up to 8Mb/s. The Vigor2600 is suitable for both self-install ADSL (also known as 'wires only') and original-style BT-installed ADSL lines. The ISDN models are also ideal if you have ISDN now but expect to get ADSL at a later date - the same router will work on both types of lines.

The Vigor2600 includes full packet-level firewall facilities, not just the inherent 'NAT' security and port-blocking of other routers. This includes 'keep state' packet methods; put simply, this means that when a packet is sent out, a reciprocal record is kept to allow a packet coming back in the opposite direction, but a default 'deny' policy means that any packet arriving which appears unsolicited won't get through. The Vigor2600 series also features automatic protection from DoS/DDoS (Denial of Service/Distributed Denial of Service) attacks and IP anti-spoofing. User-definable filters also allow you to add additional protection to your connection. For added confidence, potential or foiled attacks are logged and can be reported via the router's syslog facility.

UPnP Device Status The Vigor2600 support Microsoft's uPnP technology. This is a protocol to enable applications behind the firewall to open ports necessary to communicate with remote users. This is of particular use with Peer-to-Peer (P2P) applications such as MSN Messenger. This enables users to make full use of user-to-user audio and video teleconferencing and application/screen sharing without having to manually set up 'open ports' or port redirections for each application and each user.

The Vigor2600 comes with its Syslog tool; one or more PCs can run this syslog tool so that route status and activity is continuously logged. This includes information about individual PC/User activity as well as firewall rule matching and general router operation. Syslog programs are available from 3rd parties for other Operating Systems too. The Vigor2600 series also supports SNMP, allowing an SNMP client to monitor the router's LAN activity, again locally or remotely.

The Vigor2600's VPN facility enables you to connect your network (LAN) to another private network, via the public Internet, or for remote teleworkers to access your LAN securely via the Internet. A secure 'tunnel' is established and as you are making use of an existing Internet connection, there are no long distance phone charges or huge leased line costs typical of LAN links. The Vigor2600 supports industry standard PPTP and IPSec VPN protocols, with DES/3DES encryption. Each VPN tunnel can route to multiple private subnets at the remote site.

The Vigor2600 has a plethora of diagnostic and logging tools to help you monitor your router, line and keep it all running at top performance. The internal logs of the Vigor can be viewed at any time (via the telnet interface) as well as real-time reporting of NAT/DHCP allocations/mappings and line quality from the web interface.

The Vigor2600 has a built-in four-port Ethernet switch to connect to your PCs. It is auto-sensing (10/100BaseT) and can run full or half-duplex. Additionally, any of the ports will automatically detect a crossover cable, or uplink to another switch/hub and switch to 'uplink' mode when required - no need for crossover cables or special ports. If you have more than four PCs, you can easily uplink into a larger switch or hub. The Wireless models (W/We) have two aerials on the rear panel.

The Vigor2600W variant adds an ISDN interface to the impressive feature list; this plugs directly into your ISDN digital line. If you do not have ADSL, the ISDN connection can be used as the router's primary Internet connection; ideal if you have ISDN now but expect to get ADSL at a later late.