Switch-Router-Broadband Appliances for Wired Networks

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For system builders who must counsel their clients to upgrade old or purchase new networking gear, a special breed of network appliances is now available that offers fabulous functionality at surprisingly low prices. For prices that range from less than $50 to just over $150, some amazing deals are available for those who want to help their customers link a small Ethernet network to a cable modem or DSL Internet connection. Because this kind of solution meets the needs of many, if not most, small office/home office (SOHO) operations, it's well worth digging into and learning more about. For ease of reference, I call this type of device an SRB, short for Switch-Router-Broadband. I'll use this abbreviation to focus on the primary characteristics that qualify appliances for this designation.

The list of features and functions that come with this gear is equally compelling. This list should make them worth purchasing for clients with networks that contain aging components, as well as those in the market for new equipment.

This type of network appliance is best described as a combination switch, router and broadband access box. These SRB attributes sum up those three primary characteristics for such devices:

• Switch: These devices include anywhere from four to eight switched Ethernet ports. Most support 10/100 interfaces. A smaller number add Gigabit Ethernet to their bags of tricks, for 10/100/1000 support.

• Router: These devices are designed to create a connection between the switched network links they support and at least one RJ-45 connection into a cable or DSL modem for Internet access. Because this creates a network boundary between the "inside" switched ports and the "outside" link to the Internet, these devices all offer typical additional router/Internet Gateway amenities, as well. This includes firewalls, network address translation (NAT), DHCP, and various security features. Most also include some level of virtual private network support. That way, VPN users on the inside can communicate with outside networks using one or more types of virtual private networking software.

• Broadband Access: The devices "assume" they will establish a link to a cable or DSL modem through an RJ-45 port. Some of the devices include two RJ-45 ports and can load-balance across both of them simultaneously to increase available bandwidth for Internet access. They can also fail over from one Internet link to another should one of these links go down.

The following table lists and compares the SRB solutions from the best-known suppliers. Like any list of technical specs, these details are highly subject to change as suppliers update and upgrade their products.

Note: Careful attention to the devices included reveals a total lack of wireless-networking capabilities. For $50 to $75 more than the prices shown for the wired-only SRB appliances listed, you can find devices with similar features that also include wireless access points in their circuitry. Typically, it's for 802.11 a/b/g networks (or some subset thereof). Increasingly, suppliers are adding support for 802.11n (not yet finalized) as well as for proprietary, multichannel, higher-speed wireless alternatives. (I omitted these devices to keep the length of this recipe manageable.) All vendors listed in the table offer SRB appliances that add wireless-networking support to their capabilities.

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