NETGEAR FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall 8 with 8-Port 10/100 Switch

The NETGEAR FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall 8 with 8-Port 10/100 Switch offers: Eight auto-sensing 10/100 Mbps ports. Stateful Packet Inspection firewall and NAT for security. Eight dedicated VPN tunnels for secure remote links

NAT and an SPI firewall protects your network from most common attacks. View larger.

High-class Security
For businesses that require more than just a simple NAT router, the FVS318 offers significantly more protection. It provides: a Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall to prevent Denial of Service attacks, an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), the ability to block Java/URL/ActiveX based on extension, and FTP/SMTP/RPC program filtering.

The FVS318 has eight dedicated VPN tunnels to protect links between remote locations, encrypting the data between them. IPSec-based encryption up to 256 bit is also supported. This lets you easily create secure connections to branch offices or mobile workforces.

Easy Setup
Even with all the functionality the FVS318 provides, NETGEAR makes setup a breeze with the intuitive Smart Wizard that connects you to your ISP quickly. The web-based configuration screen is easy-to-use and requires no additional software. DHCP and PPPoE support makes widespread deployment simple.

The NETGEAR FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall 8 with 8-Port 10/100 Switch is backed by a 3-year warranty.

What's in the Box
FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall, power adapter, category 5 ethernet cable, installation guide, resource CD, warranty/support information card.

We had it up and running in less than fifteen minutes. My son configured two ipsec vpn tunnels with his friends networks using Linksys VPN routers in short order and I have one configured to my Windows 2000 computer at work that is behind a nat router using Windows 2000 built in ipsec capabilities. All three of our ipsec tunnels have proven to be reliable. I also have no problems using remote desktop through port 3389 or going to my pptp Windows 2000 vpn server through port 1723 behind the FVS318.

We have not experienced any of the problems that other reviewers have, but we have experience configuring these kinds of devices. The FVS318 has fairly extensive built in logging though it does not store much information itself but it can be configured to transfer log information to another computer and can even send you an email alert if certain attacks are detected. It has configurable services based on ports and protocols that are used to create port forwarding to inbound services and block outbound services. However you are limited to 16 services. It can control outbound traffic which is very important to defend against undetected trojans or users [and kids] running things like file swapping or other unapproved applications that access the internet. Internet access can be even controlled by a day/time schedule. If your network is fairly simple, a default block all rule could be created [which must be at the end of the list] and then you can specify what outbound services are allowed. It is also possible to deny a computer or address range of computers from having internet access while allowing others full access. Though the block services is a great addition to this device, it is somewhat limited if you have more than a few variations of configurations compared to a more sophisticated [and much more expensive] soho firewall, and the services can not be configured to use certain ip address/subnet destinations for outbound control which should not be a big deal for most home/small office users. However inbound services/port mapping can be configure to come from specific ip address/subnet. That is an important security feature. For instance if you open an internal computer for remote managment, you can configure the FVS318 to accept connections from only one ip address, which will keep everyone else on the internet from trying to connect and guess your password!

I am very impressed with the Netgear FVS318. Being a true SPI firewall and ipsec VPN endpoint with all the other feaures it has in a quality package, I can highly recommend it to anyone that wants a bargain priced internet device that is a big step up from the consumer grade nat routers.


Still a beta box   August 27, 2002
31 out of 36 found this review helpful

As of today(8/26/02 @ 22:00 UCT), The KVS318 production firmware on their website is still at 1.00 . My FVS318 routers consistently drop sessions in SSH, TELNET; many SSL logins fail, many JHTML pages fail to load. HTML pages intermittently load slowly, partially or not at all. I had to remove them from our network to resume business.

Their support is unresponsive. If I am able to get through on the phone the support reps are difficult to understand. Their technical support people have, in my experience, misenterpreted questions or problems even when I sent them TCP dumps, traps and logs to support the incident report. It appears English is a second language to their support people, a fact evident in their e-mail and web site support replies. Their answers are unreliable and often recommend disabling a feature like site keyword blocking or forwarding ports to non-existent computers. On their support web site they have closed some of my cases without answers, fixes or workarounds provided.

As of 8/26/02 @ 22:00 UCT, their U.S. support is presently on firmware beta N1.01 with no date available for the production firmware to be available. It fixes a lot of problems but in my opinion is not yet production quality.

For those who have a requirement for a product with features that work as advertised, I recommend against the FVS318. I recommend the DSLREPORTS web site for more information, support topics and user experiences with the FVS318.


A great product for an advanced home user!   April 13, 2004
Eric J. Fridman (Baltimore, MD United States)
28 out of 31 found this review helpful

Hello -

I see that there are a mix of reviews, so I'll try to put my angle in perspective.

I am an advanced home user in the respect that I am pretty knowledgeable about basic networking and have a basic lab at home with three PCs.

Anyway, my needs are strictly limited to (1) providing the most security for my PCs and (2) allowing the networked PCs to see each other when needed.

The FVS318 is one of the few Netgear products that passes the GRC.COM and symantec.com security scans. No ports open and no responses - total stealth according to those scans. That is important because I have a cable connection and leave my machines running 24x7.

The router has been very stable. I don't think I've ever had to reboot it in the past year.

Most of the newer Netgear products are very poor but this one is still great.


Easy interface and set up, lots of features, little price.   July 31, 2002
21 out of 30 found this review helpful

I got this router to replace a reliable Linksys router that lacked the Netgear FVS318NA's VPN feature and 8 port built in switch.

The VPN feature and the 8 port integrated switch are the best selling points for this Netgear router over other brands and models. The built in Virtual Public Network (VPN) feature let's you use the FVS318NA with a wide variety of VPN Clients and Hosts (not all of course, but many.) Netgear has a 25 page online document that tells you how to VPN your FVS318NA to a Windows 2000 Server for example. Easiest of course is to buy two FVS318NA's and create a point to point VPN between two offices, friends and family with DSL, a cable modem, etc. The built in 10/100 switch and Internet connection sharing means most people with small networks won't need to purchase a separate switch in order to plug in all of their computers, game systems and other Ethernet\Internet using devices.

The built in Firewall offers more than the usual NAT invisibility (it does stateful inspection of packets) and logging is adequate but could be better (more information than is currently available in the router's logs would be helpful for troubleshooting problems and or security.)

All in all you will not be disappointed with the money spent on this little "network cabinet" in a box. Netgear seems to have thought of most everything your power home or small to medium office user would want.


Certainly the best near $100-$150 firewall/VPN router available.   June 23, 2005
ZT3000 (New York, NY USA)
18 out of 21 found this review helpful

I'm well acquainted with all three hardware versions (1,2,3) of this router. This, also, is my top recommendation to anyone wanting an easy to install, no maintenance security device for home or small business use (under 25 users).

No other product I sell in the under $100 category can even come close to this router. In fact, the next step upgrade would be an over $300 router which all home and most small businesses would not buy, when you have all the performance and features you need in this product at a reduced price level.

I'm not going to rehash the obvious features, like SPI firewall and inbound Intrusion Detection, VPN, etc.., but rather, I'd like to address some acrimonious remarks/reviews with answers below.

1.] There are three firmware versions successively created (1, 2, 3). Netgear didn't plaster the words version 1 on the original boxes. So? Version 2 wasn't marked either, but version 3 is marked no less than 6 times on the box and the box has a green and white front, not the older blue and orange. Netgear is NOT selling version 1 or version 2 as others note, but some hardware dealers still might be so it's not Netgear's fault if you get otherwise. Here's a tip: Version 1 firmware has a serial numbers starting: FVS8..., Version 2 firmware has a serial number starting: FVS1..., Version 3 firmware has a serial number starting: FVS9....,
AND the serial number IS listed outside the box.

2.] My version 1 has been running a DHCP lease on a Motorola Comcast Surfboard3100 cable router for the last 3 or so years. I've shut down the cable modem and FVS318 more than once for furniture rearranging or to take to someone's home to diagnose their network problems and EACH time, the DHCP lease works without any interference or problems. Here's a tip: Power your cable modem up first and let the lights stablize (2-3 minutes), then power up your FVS318 and let those lights stablize (1-2 minutes), then power up your computer. Also if you've been thru a lightning storm and your gear is acting up, just push and hold the factory default reset button (on the backside) for 30 seconds, while the power is on.

3.] The VPN client software is included in the box. In every box! Look for the included CD. If your box doesn't have it, it's probably a used box resold as new.

4.] Multiple subnet routing in an enterprise network (not an enterprise product) over VPN does work. Here's a tip: Enable RIP2 routing on both the receiving VPN and the distant subnet router, could try RIP1 but it doesn't route among a subnetted network. RIP2 is a subnet routing protocol for inter-router communications (among other things).

5.] If your router is rebooting all the time or acting very strangely, use the factory default reset button previously mentioned. If that doesn't fix it, look for the firmware upgrade for your version of router (see serial number data above) and install it (also very easy). If your router is still defective, Netgear will do an exchange. (Not sure if level 1 support IS India).

Only thing I wish it had was ability to forward syslog port data from other syslog reporting FVS318's across a multiple VPN WAN setup.

For under or near $100 to $150 (depending on where you buy it), this router cannot be beat.