Draytek 2820N and VPN?

englishpremier · 17 Nov 2011 at 12:46

I looking at this router in order to allow employees with a mixture of Win XP pro and Win 7 home laptops to be able to VPN into shared drives on a Windows Server 2008 Foundation Edition machine.

Does that all sound reasonable?

I presume the router will handle VPN and Draytek will have downloadable VPN client software to install on the Windows machines?

BusError · 17 Nov 2011 at 13:15

I don't know about the draytech, when I looked it it it was fairly expensive. Here I use a Routerboard 750G (around <50 quid) and you can set it up as a variety of VPN server types, like PPTP and OpenVPN.
I assume the draytec can do at least PPTP which is pretty much a standard, even on windows...

That 750G model doesn't do wifi tho, also some other routerboards do...

englishpremier · 17 Nov 2011 at 13:27

Currently I use Cisco kit, but it doesn't belong to the business.

The Draytek does do PPTP

I've heard stories of Samba on Windows not being able to route shared drives, though i presume that is only a problem on consumer windows os not on there server os.

Blackbadger · 17 Nov 2011 at 14:55

I have had experience with the 2820, it will do all you mention, it does have a downloadable vpn client.

It is one of the most stable units I have used, reboots never needed over time, no crashing etc. The admin panel is a bit more in depth than consumer units, and thus initially a little harder to get your head around, due to the complexity of features available and syntax used.

englishpremier · 17 Nov 2011 at 15:04

always good to hear of someone using the same kit i'm thinking of getting.

This will only be for a small office of 3 to 4 people, accessing word and powerpoint documents etc.. so I presume the VPN part won't be taxed at all.

bremen1874 · 17 Nov 2011 at 16:03

I use the Drayteks for site-to-site IPSec VPNs. I've got 2820 and 2830 routers out on site, and an 2920 running here, and they've all been rock solid.

That said, have you considered using remote access software such as LogMeIn (possibly installed on a dedicated PC)?

Blackbadger · 17 Nov 2011 at 16:06

That's exactly what my experience of it was for. Small office with a few remote workers needing access to documents etc over vpn.

A device that once setup needs no further messing with is worth the extra £50 over a consumer router.

2820 supports
Up to 32 Concurrent VPN Tunnels (incoming or outgoing)
Tunnelling Protocols: PPTP, IPSec, L2TP, L2TP over IPSec

The 2820 is however has been superseded, so if buying new be aware that official support for the device may be more limited than the newer models.