These compact routers from SonicWALL may be some of the best tools on the market to protect your personal and business computers from intrusions. They are hardware firewalls that do deep packet inspections and have other Unified Threat Management services available. Let’s look at them both to see which one is the best for you.
SonicWALL TZ 105 Wireless N 01-SSC-6944
The SonicWALL TZ 100 was released a few years ago as a small business router designed to provide encryption of transmissions, VPN services, and protection against intrusions. The router comes with the SonicOS operating system that offers a high amount of configurability, as long as the user has the knowledge to adjust the settings properly. This is not a plug and play device.
The TZ 100 offers protection to both wired and wireless devices. It has 5 Fast Ethernet ports and handles 802.11 b/g/n connections. This is not the fastest router on the market, but speed is sacrificed for security.
The hardware of this router allows up to 8000 connections at once with a total firewall throughput of 200 Mbps. If the connected clients are using IPSec or SSL VPN, their maximum throughput is 75 Mbps.
The SonicOS operating system onboard does deep packet inspection to keep out attackers and viruses. It shows real-time utilization, filters urls and Internet access, is manageable by remote access, provides VPN (Virtual Private Network) access, and a lot more. Many features are available when you purchase their licenses from SonicWall. VPN access should be available right out of the box without additional purchase.
More features of the SonicWALL TZ 105 router:
- SonicWALL offers a 12-month warranty on the hardware
- Comes with one Ethernet cable, power cord and adapter
- Requires registration online
- Antennas are only included with the 105W model
- This model has been retired by SonicWALL
SonicWALL TZ 205 Network Security Appliance
The SonicWALL TZ 205 is speedier than the TZ 105 described above. It also allows six times the number of active connections at one time. While it still has the same wireless standards for 802.11 b/g/n devices, it has faster Ethernet ports. If you have a larger business or just want a faster throughput, you may appreciate what the TZ 205 offers.
Specifically, the maximum throughput on the TZ 205 ranges up to 500 Mbps. It can handle up to 48,000 concurrent sessions with VPN throughput of up to 130 Mbps. The five Ethernet ports are all the Gigabit standard, ten times faster than the ports on the TZ 105.
The built-in diagnostic tools are many and varied so you can troubleshoot connections and maintain the top speeds possible for your users. While many home routers give owners the option to create a Guest Network for visitors, the TZ 205 offers something similar. You can setup a Public Network. Should your Internet connection fail, you can use one of the USB ports to attach a 3G/4G dongle as a failover.
Of course, the router uses the SonicOS operating system to protect against attackers, encrypt communications, filter access, maintain quality of service, and avoid bottlenecks. It works out of the box as a VPN server, but other Unified Threat Management services like anti-virus and anti-malware may require the purchase of separate software licenses.
More features of the SonicWALL TZ 205 router:
- SonicWALL offers a 12-month warranty on the hardware
- Comes with one Ethernet cable, power cord and adapter
- Requires registration online
- This model has been retired by SonicWALL
Recommendation
If you’re a homeowner who wants a secure connection to the Internet, you may be better served by a retail router with user-friendly software.
If you’re an IT professional or purchasing a router for a small business, these two models from SonicWALL may be just what you need. They do require a lot of configuration depending on which services you choose to use. But that’s their beauty. They are very customizable and powerful.
If you need to support less than 8,000 simultaneous connections, get the TZ 105.
If you need more than 8,000 connections but less than 48,000, get the TZ 205. You may also prefer the TZ 205 because it’s a faster router with higher throughput.
Click here to purchase SonicWALL TZ 105 on Amazon.com!
Click here to purchase Sonicwall TZ 205 on Amazon.com!