| At a glance | |
| Product | Zyxel Next-Gen Unified Security Gateway-Performance Series (USG40) [Website] |
| Summary | Dual WAN UTM router with Gigabit ports, IPsec and SSL gateways, one-to-one NAT, bandwidth management and more |
| Pros | • Big performance gain over USG20 • VPN solutions for IPSec, SSL, and L2TP • Powerful application management features |
| Cons | • L2TP configuration is challenging • More than 10 IPsec & 2 SSL tunnels cost extra • IPsec client not bundled • UTM bundle license renewal is very expensive |
Typical Price: $323 Buy From Amazon |
Introduction
Updated 12/11/14: Various updates & corrections
In June, ZyXEL introduced its new Performance and Advanced series Unified Threat Management (UTM) devices. The Performance series includes the USG40, USG40W, USG60, and USG60W. The Advanced series includes the USG110, USG210, and USG310.
The Performance series models with "W" indicate Wi-Fi. The USG40W has an integrated N300 class 2.4 GHz only access point and the USG60W has an integrated dual-band N600 class AP. ZyXEL recommends the USG40/USG40W for networks with 1-10 users, and the USG60/USG60W for networks with 10-25 users.
ZyXEL refers to the Performance series devices as "all-in-one Next Generation Firewalls." In this review, I'm going to take a look at the ZyXEL USG40, which is a significant update to the ZyXEL USG20 I reviewed awhile back.
Inside
The USG40 is housed in a gray metal case with red trim, similar to ZyXEL's styling for the USG20 and ZyWALL 110. The USG40 measures 9.53"W x 6.89"H x 1.42" H. The power supply is external. Unlike the USG20 and ZyWALL 110, the USG40 has passive cooling, thus it runs silent which is nice if the router is located near humans. The USG40 has adhesive rubber feet for desktop use.
The front of the USG40, as shown in the diagram below, presents the status and port LEDs.
Front
The rear of the USG40, as shown in the diagram below, is where you'll find the RJ45 ports and USB port.
Rear
Internally, the USG40 has a single-core Cavium CN6010 CPU, 1 GB DDR3 RAM, 4 GB Flash and a Qualcomm Atheros AR8327-BL1A 7 port Gigabit Ethernet switch. A shot of the USG40 mainboard is below. The USG60 has the same RAM and flash but swaps in a dual-core Cavium CN6020 and adds a Qualcomm Atheros AR8033-AL1A Gigabit Ethernet PHY.
USG 40 Main Board
Features
The USG40 is a feature-rich device as you can see in the below list compiled from ZyXEL's data sheet and website.
Hardware
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Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP)
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Buy This Product From AmazonRelated Articles
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ZyXEL Introduces Next-Gen UTMs
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