VPN Router

VPN Router

By Anne Ahira

The term VPN Router might not be in your vocabulary. A lot of people have no clue what it is, what it does or why it might be important or beneficial to them.

The letters in the name VPN stand for Virtual Private Network, which is a special network designed by companies so that employees that they have who are not central to the main location can access the files on the main computer without actually being at the same physical location.

Before the introduction of the VPN the companies had to invest in expensive dedicated lines and Wide Area Networks or WANS to allow this to happen. Now the introduction of a VPN Router can allow the company to do virtually the same thing at a small fraction of what a dedicated T-1 line might cost.

Anyone that is familiar with a standard network already has a good idea of the theory behind what network is and what the various components do. In summation let’s just say that the VPN Router allows each and every computer that signs into the network to be able to access the same information as if they were actually in the building and hard wired into the main system.

The VPN uses an existing network in this case the Internet as the carrier. The VPN Router or more correctly the VPN optimized Router provides the routing and the security needed to allow this type of system to function both reliably, safely and with enough security so that only the people that are supposed to have access to it actually have access to it.

The VPN Router allows the use of firewalls that allow only the authorized computer users to gain access and it also limits the chance of virus threats and attacks being sent or spread from intrudes or even authorized computers that might be infected.

While the more expensive and dedicated high speed lines and systems are faster, more reliable and stable. The VPN Router and the VPN system that it links to has become a mainstay in the industry and more companies are using it because the cost savings far outweigh any risks that might be associated with a VPN Network.

A decent VPN Router is not going to necessarily be inexpensive but when you compare the features you can get against the cost of leasing a dedicated line to get the same results you can see why companies are opting to go the route of the VPN to save time, money and aggravation.

The LAN is great for small homes and single location offices but a VPN is a great way to set up your system if you have remote locations that need to get on line with your main office or location.

Here's VPN Router Selections:

Cisco WRVS4400N Wireless-N Gigabit Security Router...	Customer Review: I was a happy user for about two weeks, wondering at all the negative reviews here. Then this morning to my utter amazement I discovered that I had been running an open wireless network for the last few days!Let me repeat this. This piece of garbage ... Read More	(60)
Cisco WRV210 Wireless-G VPN Router - RangeBooster...	Customer Review: Even with the latest firmware available (2.0.0.11) I was not able to configure this router using Firefox 3.5.7 on a Mac with OS X 10.6.2. You can't set an IP address, can't upload new firmware, the pages don't refresh correctly. What a piece of garba... Read More	$138.16 (12)
Cisco RVS4000 4-port Gigabit Security Router - VPN...	Customer Review: We replaced our D-Link DIR-655 router with this router because this router is more stable (does not require reboot few times a day) and it can handle higher traffic/bandwidth. So far, we've used it for half a year. We love it.When we first setup this... Read More	$131.99 (48)
Cisco RV042 4-port 10/100 VPN Router - Dual WAN...	Customer Review: This is a waste of money - it will drop the line even with only one wan being used.0 stars ... Read More	$199.99 (50)
Linksys by Cisco BEFVP41 EtherFast Cable/DSL VPN R...	Customer Review: In typical Linksys fashion, the firmware is the achilles heal...they just don't seem to be able to release a stable, reliable firmware for any of their devices and seem to just give up on ever fixing some of them. I've been using a V1 release of this... Read More	(43)