ZoneAlarm z100g security router

frankienyc123

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Sep 14, 2006
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Has anyone heard about this router that ZoneAlarm is coming out with?? Its got a ton of nice security features such as built in virus protection and a hig end firewall. Im betting it will be great on thesecurity side of things but iI wonder how its performance will be? Anyone know what chips it uses??
 

jono2u

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Nov 15, 2006
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All:

I'm trying to get info on the specific chipset in the device, right now I can tell you it's "MIPS Based".

It also comes with 64MB of RAM and 32 of Flash. This prevents "bricking" the device or power outage corruption. It can store two firmware versions and can restore from a previous firmware if the currently active one is corrupted.

The device also needs lot's of RAM because it supports 4K concurrent stateful firewall connections and does on-the-fly scanning of incoming files looking for malware. This is the VStream technology and there is a screen shot showing some logs from it at the link below.

I wrote a blog post that might have more details you guys are looking for here:
http://blog.zonelabs.com/blog/2006/11/the_new_z100g_z.html

Feel free to post questions in the blog comments and I'll try to reply.

Thanks,
Jon

Technical Product Manager
Zone Labs
 

blankoboy

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Nov 28, 2006
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Hey Jon,

I realize the z100g is just fresh out of the gate but I have a suggestion that I hope might be taken under consideration for a future firmware release.

This router has 2 USB 2.0 ports for print server functionality, which is great, but for the many users will not be using the 2nd USB port...could we not find additional uses for it?


1. WebCam support
: this would make the z100g great as a remote monitoring device. You could monitor your home from anywhere via browser for example.

The hardware seems as though it would be sufficient for this so it could be implemented via firmware. The ASUS WL500gP, for example, supports this type of functionality (among some others).


2. USB key for log storage
: as it stands now, I believe you need to specify a connected (and running) system to store the z100g's logs. This is not very convenient as you won't necessarily have the specified system running 24/7.

It would be great if one could simply plug a USB memory key into one of the USB ports and specify it as the target for backup storage of any/all firewall/router logs and snmp events.


I hope you find these suggestions to be of some value and pass them along to the folks in development. :wink: Thanks.


ps - also, will it be getting a dedicated subforum over at: forums.zonelabs.com/zonelabs ?
 

jono2u

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@blankoboy:

Good suggestions, we do have a place to send these (usually they come internally, but I find our users often have the best ideas since they are using the products in ways that are hard to test).

Also, I actually saw a Z100G in a box on our General Manager's desk Friday and decided I better inspect the device ;). This is the first one I've seen that wasn't a factory mock-up on a computer screen.

Sorry for the low-res/blur, I took them with my cell phone and it doesn't do macro focus.

12012006.jpg

12012006001.jpg

12012006002_1.jpg
 

blankoboy

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Looking good! I ordered one to my address back in Canada but sadly it was somehow shipped to a Florida address. Having a real blast watching it bounce around on UPS's tracking log Sigh... :(

I notice one point about the router though, I don't see any ventilation ports. I am assuming that there is a fan on one of the sides with a vent. Or are we getting passive cooling? :wink:
 

jono2u

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@blankoboy:

The chassis is metal so I think it tends to act as a big heatsink (but I'm not a hardware designer). The ventilation is on both sides of the chassis and runs the length of the device on the sides.
 

wchp

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Jan 23, 2007
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Hmmm, so what is the difference between this unit (Z100G) and the Check Point Sfe@Office 500W other than the 500W is yellow and appears to be limited to 5 users ? and costs twice as much ?
 

chakotay2

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Hmmm, so what is the difference between this unit (Z100G) and the Check Point Sfe@Office 500W other than the 500W is yellow and appears to be limited to 5 users ? and costs twice as much ?
Don't know all the differences but the 500W supports syslog and snmp. The Z100G does not have these two features (which I think is a huge hangup).
 

h161161

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HI

I do not forsee any problems with this wireless router working with Ubuntu (Linux) - however for the sake of peace of mind - does any one know if there are issues with the printing ?

Does the OEM give out Linux drivers ?

Or I should wait a while to see how things develop ??

 

vliscony

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the device is configured via a web browser.

the printersharing talks only about supporting Win2K/XP (4 machines) or Mac OS (1 machine), and nothing about Linux.

but, having said that there are sofar severe limitations re what features it can support... so I would not count on it for anything serious, for most likely it won't support your printer fully anyway, otherwise it is a great machine.
 

jsps999

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Dec 11, 2008
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So far, unless I overlooked this, no one has posted THIS sometimes crucial query:
"How much does this device SLOW DOWN your EFFECTIVE Internet connection speeds?"

Some anti-(fill in the blank) softwares/hardwares will introduce various levels of delayed responses from momentary to quite noticable, to and during Internet downlinks.

"ultra-fast response" PCs that use multiple cores CPUs will mostly overcome anti-(fill in the blank) softwares, but such hardwares are still limited by their (by today's standards) internal relatively slow CPU's.
 

rdhensley

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I purchased the Z100G and find it does a good job of filtering virus etc.. I'm disappointed by the wireless power though. I have it installed 7 feet in the air on a shelf, and can barely get a signal from it 35 feet away. Does anyone know of a way to increase the radio output? I'm buying a range extender, but it shouldn't be needed.

I have not noticed any slowdown of my DSL connection while using the Z100G. I know that this was a concern for some people here.

Thanks
Randy