Netgear ProSecure UTM5 review

i have to try this

we use watchguards but i don't like their "user license policy" and awful management console of the top models...
for SMB on tight budget i can suggest draytek products.

Peter
www.mx-record.co.uk

By Peter_IT on 19 May 2010

Ongoing Costs

It's a shame the ongoing costs aren't mentioned. I bought one to find that it only comes with 30 day trial software. After that it's £138 a year.

By AnnieCov on 21 Sep 2010

Price includes subscription

In the review I've stated that the price includes the first year subscription to all services - see second paragraph. I've checked the eBuyer site and the price is correct.

I’ve also spoken to Netgear and it said that you can buy the UTM5 with only the basic firewall enabled but this model costs less. If you paid a similar price to one we’ve shown you should have received a registration card in the box with a serial number to activate your subscription.

By DaveMitchell on 21 Sep 2010

TimAllen

Hi there
Do you know what is included with each of NETGEAR's Service packs? I guess what I'm really trying to find out is which one, if any, includes updates for the basic anti-virus on the firewall. This information isn't contained in the sales material and I can't find it in the user manual either.

By TimAllen on 9 Nov 2010

TimAllen

I passed your query on to Netgear and this is its reply:

"The simple answer is that when you buy a UTM5 it will have either a one year or three year email and web filtering subscription, so it automatically updates itself during that time, outside of a service pack. The UTM5 comes with a two year hardware warranty as standard so the service pack extends this to 3 years (this includes 24x7 priority technical support)."

By DaveMitchell on 10 Nov 2010

Licenses

Ok I'm a bit confused reading the review here and on other sites with specifications. My understanding is this device offers 5 site to site VPNS tunnels and 2 simultaneous SSL VPN's, not the actual amount of users who can logged in at once. Because the specs clearly state it can support 8000 simultaneous sessions. So I'm very confused.
Please can you help me understand what I'm missing, thank you.

By FrozenPixel on 10 Sep 2011

Licenses

The 8,000 concurrent connections refers to the firewall performance of the UTM5 and the maximum amount of traffic it can handle.

By DaveMitchell on 12 Sep 2011

Using UTM5 without license

There is a question which I couldn't answer. Since what we want to do is only :
- firewall
- web control
which does not include content filtering, is it possible to use it without subscription ? I understand that in this case there will be no antispam antivirus and so on. But what I critically need is to allow particular users to go on particular sites (I define manually), or to allow only email. And I think this does not require any subscription, but I would be happy if someone competent could confirm (or recommend another device). I am presently using Endian firewall which does a good job without subscription.

By Averell on 28 Sep 2011

Using UTM5 without license

You can buy a basic UTM5 with only the firewall enabled. If you only have a small user base why not get a basic, cheap firewall/router with options to create black and white URL lists?

By DaveMitchell on 28 Sep 2011

Using UTM5 without license

Thanks for the answer.
As for your question : I didn't find a router with sufficiently flexible options, allowing separate configurations for each of our 6 users. I tried a Cisco WAG 160N which featured options for web filtering, but the number of lines allowed was much too small. From the documentation, I hope the NetGear UTM5 should be OK.

By Averell on 29 Sep 2011

@RedCitrus

Regarding your comment posted on the UTM150 review, Netgear has said that you will be able to purchase a new license for your UTM5 via your reseller.

By DaveMitchell on 30 Sep 2011

Would never buy Netgear again

I bought one of these in October 2010. After a month it started blocking all internet traffic. After going through diagnostics, the CPU was maxing out and the unit was found to be faulty. It took over a month for Netgear to replace the device.

The replacement was OK for a while, then it developed the same issue. 1 month after buying a 3 year license (£450) the second UTM5 developed the same fault.

The second replacement refused to boot up at all. I can't believe Netgear have no QC at all.

Long term, this item is a nightmare. Apart from all the faulty units we've had, Netgear licensing is terrible in the UK. All of their supposed resellers show no stock of an electronic license key. Misco was the only one showing stock and even then it's 10 days delivery on something that should be instant. Then they charge £3.99 for delivery!

Netgear in the USA has a website you can buy the key from. It's no cheaper but at least you don't have to wait 10 days for the darn thing. Why Netgear don't offer this to UK customers is beyond me!

By AnnieCov on 1 Jan 2012

@AnnieCov

I have passed your concerns on to Netgear and it would like to contact you directly to resolve these issues. Do you have a number Netgear can call you on?

By DaveMitchell on 5 Jan 2012

Device reliable, license renewal isn't!

I have used a Netgear UTM5 for 13 months; exactly! I utilized their 30 day 'free trial' which is difficult to arrange, to say the least, outside USA. One needs to buy the device and license and the reseller has to agree to take it back, contrary to their usual policy, if it does not fit the bill. I was happy, kept it and ran the full 12 month subscription time without issue.

Now, however, the trouble starts. How does one renew the license? If you reside in USA or Canada then you can renew the license through the Netgear online store. But the ROTW? You must contact the original reseller for a license renewal, and they have not the faintest idea what the are doing! Two phone calls to 'Harris Technology' (Australia) with promises to retun my call not fulfilled. So, in the 21st century, I hopped in my car, travelled to the reseller and paid for the license renewal. What did I get? A receipt! No license, no 38 digit alphanumeric I could use in the device. It would be delivered, possibly by snail mail! "We're not sure", possibly by email.

When 4 days had elapsed without the promised delivery I contacted them again. Now I had to fill in a spreadsheet they sent me, which I duly did. It was Excel, I run a Microsoft-free machine, so I imported it into Numbers, filled in the fields, and returned it to them.

They couldn't read it, nor coil hey convert it to a readable format. So I sent a JPEG screen dump. Holding my breath…

The crux of the matter is what troglodyte IT company, selling threat management equipment, is so US focussed that the ROTFW can't purchase a 38 digit alphanumeric license over the net? Are they still burning dung to power their servers? It certainly seems so!

Netgear has been so backward in this simple issue that I am now actively replacing all Netgear hardware at all our sites. It seems from other comments above that I am not alone in this ridiculous licensing issue.

By Ozdoc on 18 Feb 2012