Virtual Private Networking (VPN) used to be very complex to understand and to setup. But companies like Linksys are providing products to allow home consumers add VPNs on their home network so they can link back to the office in a secure fashion. VPNs provide an encrypted data channel that "tunnels" underneath firewalls to interact with systems on the LAN as if the external computer was on the LAN itself. VPN implementation is becoming more widespread in the home as consumers get broadband and wish to extend their work day by working from home. Linksys provides an affordable VPN Router product to allow home consumers to use VPN tunnels from any computer connected to the home network.

The BEFVP41 supports VPN, Firewall and Router functionality to provide the home user the biggest bang for their buck. It can either connect directly to broadband connectivity devices like cable or DSL modems to provide the frontend gateway to the Internet or it can reside within the LAN itself and establish a sub network, i.e. a virtual private network. It is limited in only supporting IPSec VPN tunneling protocols, but can support up to 70 simultaneous tunnels. For establishing VPN tunnels it uses MDA5 and SHA authentication and in data encryption it uses DES (56 bit) or 3DES (168 bit). It provides Internet Key Exchange (IKE) but only supports pre-share key values and not the more secure but much more expensive RSA key exchange.

Acting as a gateway device requires it to provide additional network security. The BEFVP41 provides Firewall capabilities through NAT and networking filters. NAT shields the internal network from the Internet by not exposing public addresses of devices on the internal network. It allows servers to act behind the NAT by using Port Forwarding to map a port on a computer in the LAN (ex. Web Server port 80) through the firewall so that it is exposed through a public IP address. It also supports Static IP Routing and DMZ to expose out computers that need to be accessed publicly. In addition to NAT the VPN Router offers additional security by using IP and MAC filters. These filters will only allow computers with matching IP or MAC addresses to send data to the protected LAN.

As the name says, the VPN Router also supports routing functionality. It contains a 4 port Ethernet switch (10/100 Mbps) to allow computers to connect up it protected network side. On its public access side (WAN) it has a 10 Mbps Ethernet port. The device acts as a router by redirecting IP packets onto the Internet or to computers on its internal network. It provides a DHCP server that can automatically assign IP addresses to computers on its internal LAN. The VPN Router itself can be assigned static IP addresses or dynamic IP addresses through DHCP or PPPoE.

The BEFVP41 is easily managed by any type of computer that supports a Level 5 DOM browser. Whether its a Windows, Unix, MAC or Linux computer it can access the VPN Router through web pages to configure the device. There is an option that is disabled by default to allow remote web configuration. It can also be remotely configured through PPPoE by an ISP.

Pricing and Availability

Linksys' BEFVP41 VPN Router is available at retail outlets with a price tag of $149.99.

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