Netgear ProSecure UTM150

Netgear is better known for its network routers and switches than its security appliances. Karl Wright takes a look under the hood of the ProSecure UTM150 to see if the new unified threat management appliance is right for you.

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The UTM handles https communications by inserting itself between the secure site and the client on your network, checking whe

The UTM handles https communications by inserting itself between the secure site and the client on your network, checking whe

Managing access to SSL sites can be time consuming.

Thankfully, the web interface itself is fairly well organised, so even when you can't remember where something is, you tend to find it fairly quickly because it's in the place you'd logically expect it to be. For larger networks there's also LDAP integration particularly useful for creating VPN users. You can also use the device's own database, but you need to make sure that you don't try and associate the same account with more than one function. For instance, if you have an IT admin who's also a VPN user, that person will need two user accounts.

Compared to a conventional router, the UTM150 is expensive. But for that price, you get the built-in switch, the firewall and the web and email filtering capabilities. Of course, you don't get integrated wireless. We used a Netgear WNAP320 wireless access point during our test. Given, however, the free bundling of the filtering services for the first year and the good price thereafter (a subscription to the Spamhaus spam blacklist alone costs around $370 a year) the UTM150 is still good value.

So what's our verdict?

Verdict

It's not perfect, but the Netgear ProSecure UTM150 provides comprehensive cover against the security threats faced by most small business networks, giving you the tools you need to manage both your users and the risk that comes with exposing your systems to the internet.

Chassis: Desktop Performance: 400Mb/s firewall; 130Mb/s UTM Memory: 1GB RAM Network: 8 x Gigabit Ethernet (4 x WAN, 4 x LAN) Wireless: None Ports: 1 x USB2 Management: Web browser

Karl Wright