CISCO ADSL Routers

oldbag · 20 May 2006 at 14:54

Does anyone know if the CISCO adsl routers are limited in anyway? For example, do they limit the number of firewall rules and services you can specify? I was looking at the cisco 107 adsl router.

Thanks.

tolien · 20 May 2006 at 20:30

It'll depend on the specific router, feature set, but more importantly how much RAM/flash/CPU it has.

The 107 looks pretty cut down, but you should be able to stick in as many rules as you want, except if you go too nuts, it'll slow to a crawl.

oldbag · 20 May 2006 at 21:51

Yeah, but would be good for home adsl? Good as, say a draytec?

tolien · 20 May 2006 at 21:53

Should be, though if it's using the same chipset as the 850 and 870 series (and it looks like it does), it seems to have a few...issues.

Edit: For what it's worth, the official data sheet is here.

oldbag · 20 May 2006 at 21:55

Like what?

tolien · 20 May 2006 at 21:56

Like without a firmware change, it wouldn't stay in sync.

oldbag · 20 May 2006 at 21:57

I guess there is a 'fixed' copy?

Is it worth shelling the extra pounds on a cisco, or is it just a name thing? Would you go for that model?

tolien · 20 May 2006 at 22:06

Triad2000 said:
I guess there is a 'fixed' copy?

I'm running the altered ADSL firmware, yes.
Whether every retailer would give you the firmware, I dunno. There was a spate of a lot of retailers shifting B grade/returned/"ex-display" 877s at silly prices...

Is it worth shelling the extra pounds on a cisco, or is it just a name thing?

Debatable. At that level, it's quite possibly a name thing, though you'd have to compare the feature set to the Draytek or whatever. I'd suggest looking at the 857 for another £40, since it blows the SB 107 away on feature set (but if you aren't going to use the features it's irrelevant).
Bear in mind you don't get IOS upgrades free from Cisco either.

Would you go for that model?

Given I've got an 877 sitting here, no.

oldbag · 20 May 2006 at 22:40

The main difference seems to be the 107 has 12mb flash memory (is that used to store the firewall rules? Is 12mb a small amount?) and no VPN support.

tolien · 20 May 2006 at 23:02

The IOS image will live in flash. The config doesn't.

128K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
28672K bytes of processor board System flash (Intel Strataflash)

Burbleflop · 20 May 2006 at 23:05

Triad2000 said:
The main difference seems to be the 107 has 12mb flash memory (is that used to store the firewall rules? Is 12mb a small amount?) and no VPN support.

Firewall rules and so on are stored in the config which is stored in NVRAM, not flash. Flash is used for storing the IOS, SDM and all that sort of stuff.

oldbag · 20 May 2006 at 23:48

Hrmmmm, choices, choices...

mike1210 · 21 May 2006 at 15:17

Toilen

where did you get the firmware upgrade from, I havent had any problems with mine but just curious if there is a newer firmware out there

tolien · 21 May 2006 at 15:21

mike1210 said:
where did you get the firmware upgrade from, I havent had any problems with mine but just curious if there is a newer firmware out there

The folks I bought it from.

Burbleflop · 21 May 2006 at 15:58

mike1210 said:
Toilen

where did you get the firmware upgrade from, I havent had any problems with mine but just curious if there is a newer firmware out there

IOS's, bootstrap upgrades and the like are all on Cisco.com but you need a valid CCO login to be able to download IOS images.

mike1210 · 21 May 2006 at 16:18

thanks