Mac Friendly Router (DHCP) & firewall?

What routers/firewalls support Macintosh? I know that most of them are now
web-browser configurable, but I'd also like to know what companies that
manufacture these products *officially* support Macs.

Also, what's your experience regarding how well you're treated by support
departments when you call (regardless if you're using a Mac...)

Thanks,

 

The Belkin router; it has Mac instructions in the box and is sold at
the Apple stores.

I've never had to call them; I've had the router since Jan 2002.

 

FWIW, I've used:

Hawking Technologies, worked good for a few years but died, never
claimed to work with Mac, but I always used a network of Mac OS X,
Windows, and BSD. Support was very poor, and techs had trouble with
English language (unfortunately that's the only one I'm fluent in).
Only problem was firmware update, which support said had to be done via
Windows; actually I think I could have done it w/TFTP.

D-Link (DI-604), no problems at all, they specify Mac support. Retired
in favor of wireless below. Never used support services. Firmware
update went ok.

Linksys (WRT54G), no problems at all, no Mac support claimed. Using it
now and I'm satisfied. Haven't used support services. Firmware update
went ok.

 

Asante.

 

[GR] I've been using a D-Link DI704P and it's jim dandy with Mac OS 9
and OS X. It's configurable via your browser, but make sure your browser
will allow pop-up windows. This router has a built-in firewall. very
nice and inexpensive, but not wireless.

 

If you want a real Mac solution: build your own, using a used Mac and
IPNetRouter and IPNetSentry. (I like PowerMac 7300 systems for this)
That combo makes for a kick-ass fast reliable router and full function
firewall... AND there's enuf umph left on the Mac to also use it as a
home file/ftp/web server.

Details at http://www.sustworks.com/
ObDisclaimer: I'm a Sustworks reseller. Good prices!


Of the off-the-shelf boxed NAT routers, I'm not sure if any officially
support Macs, except Apple's Airport. They all work tho, but some are
better than others. Note that the "firewall" included in these routers
are actually just simple/minimalistic iprotocol based packet filters.

If your connection is faster than 2 Mbps, stay away from LinkSys.
They're grossly underpowered; too easy to swamp out if you have more
than one computer cranking away.

And currently, I'm not fond of Netgear routers. Netgear released some
buggy "firmware" a while back - then didn't make any real effort to
announce the bugs or that a fix was available. I've seen a lot of
people on Comcast's support forums screwed by this.

FWIW,
- Dan.

 

Asante's do, for one.

 

I haven't used it.

Customer Support didn't seem to even read my email to them.

However, the interface for configuration -- and especially the log --
will help diagnose and solve problems if you pay attention to it.

Highly recommended, especially over LinkSys and NetGear.

Customer Support is insane. Oh, they try, and they try hard, and
sometimes they even have suggestions for you. But they don't seem to
really understand what they're doing.

NetGear: No Mac support claimed (that I ever saw). Very poor
performance, with lots of dropped packets. On the plus side, had a RS232
interface for configuring *in addition to* the web interface. Very handy
when you configure yourself into a corner. Customer support's only
suggestion was "try a different firmware revision."

Neither the NetGear nor Linksys ever died, I just got tired of dealing
with them and their technical support.

 

Actually, Safari will work; you have to explicitly add the port number
to get it to work. I.e., <http://192.168.2.1:88>

--Michelle

 

IPNetRouter is an excellent piece of software and served me quite well
but I don't know that I'd recommend it as a solution at this time. It's
almost necessarily less stable than a dedicated router and more
expensive to run if it's not also a machine that sees regular use. Even
without anything resembling Mac support, I don't regret moving from IPNR
to a LinkSys device for a second.

This has very distinctly not been my experience.

G

 

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.sys.mac.comm.]

Probably true, but then routers should be platform independent
anyway.

Which Netgear model are you referring to? The RT314 I've been using
for quite some time is very robust and easily a good enough performer
for my 1.7Mbps cable modem. Maybe it wouldn't hold up at faster
speeds, I don't know. This is an old model, I don't think they sell
it anymore. It's still running the firmware it shipped with.

And, yes, the rs232 jack _is_ pretty handy in some circumstances
But I had a to buy a usb->serial converter to access it.

 

Which particular model? I haven't seen this with the RT314 or the
MR314.

Bev

 

Echo the sentiments. This is a well-constructed unit, that is also
very competitively priced.

Bev

 

Its been almost 3 years for my Asante FR300x router with a print server
and modem port and I've never had any problems with it. Instead of
getting a new wireless router when I upgraded to an ibook with an
airport card I got a wireless access point and added that onto the
Asante. It simply works.

larry

 

I would wait a bit.

I expect to appear some Rendezvous enabled router,
which my simplify configuration.

Am 25.10.2003 15:47 Uhr schrieb "Larry C. Lyons" unter

 

RT314. I did a few searches at the time and found it was a fairly common
problem with outgoing UDP.

The RT314 had similiar problems with TCP, but since TCP has error
correction it's never noticed.

It may have been a firmware problem rather than a hardware one. I gave
up on it after a while.

 

I'll second that emotion. My Linksys was cheap, and it has worked well
since I got it. You have to learn a little networking to make it go,
because there is no support.

They might be kind of weak, I think I might be overloading it right
now, but who cares? I don't need a huge contraption to hook a few
computers together. A linux box or a Mac with two ethernet cards would
work, but how easy would it be to put wireless on one?

 

Linux - very easy -- there are HOWTOs available on the subject. Mac - I
imagine fairly easy as well, especially with OS X, although I haven't done
it.

Bev

 

Don't get me wrong, it's a good idea for some configurations, but a
computer that has two slots for ethernet cards and another for wireless
is going to draw a lot more power than a router, and have fan noise,
etc.

--

 

Oh, I completely agree with you. But there are some situations
where a computer with a wireless card, and two ethernet cards is more
useful than a wireless router .....

beverly