Zyxel Products - Opinions Wanted

[uprighttech]

Anyone here have much experience with Zyxel products? I have been hearing pretty good things about them for quite a while, especially the ZyWall UTM appliances. I just ordered a Zyxel GS1910-24 managed switch for a new law firm client to give them a shot. I also need to quote a switch and router/firewall to another new client with about 10 computers plus printers, Linux server, etc. Was looking at quoting them the same switch and a ZyWall USG50. Would love to hear good or bad experiences others have had with this brand.

Edit: I'm most interested to hear opinions/experiences regarding Zyxel's business-grade products, particularly their switches and router/firewall/UTMs. I've been told by a few folks that they have had a bit of a renaissance of late and really improved their products, so if anyone has used their newer series of products I'd love to know what you think.

 

[OfficeTechs]

ive used their NAS products and a couple of their basic adsl/modem boxes. Never had a problem. Same with TP-LINK stuff.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

They're OK....sorta tied in with Netgear in some way. You'll find lots of their appliances are basically the same...just different color and labels on them. Used to always have identical twin models years ago when Bay Networks made Netgears routers.

 

[uprighttech]

They're OK....sorta tied in with Netgear in some way. You'll find lots of their appliances are basically the same...just different color and labels on them. Used to always have identical twin models years ago when Bay Networks made Netgears routers.

I can find no evidence for this being the case anymore. Their equipment seems to be unique to their brand. The software/firmware looks to be completely different from Netgear products. A couple of people have told me that Zyxel has really come into their own in the past couple of years and improved their offerings substantially. Do you have any experience with their more recent products? Ever used any of their ZyWall UTMs?

 

[Bubbajoe]

They're OK....sorta tied in with Netgear in some way. You'll find lots of their appliances are basically the same...just different color and labels on them. Used to always have identical twin models years ago when Bay Networks made Netgears routers.

Bad or very old info....

I can find no evidence for this being the case anymore. Their equipment seems to be unique to their brand. The software/firmware looks to be completely different from Netgear products. A couple of people have told me that Zyxel has really come into their own in the past couple of years and improved their offerings substantially. Do you have any experience with their more recent products? Ever used any of their ZyWall UTMs?

Agreed. Very happy with my Zyxel NBG-419N wireless router and the current Zyxel routers share nothing in common with Netgear from what I have seen.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Bad or very old info....

Nope...not "bad" info...I've been in the industry a very very long time.
Back in the day when Netgear had the Bay Networks logo on their blue metal cases, ZyXel made a lot of similar early Prestige models. They were more expensive and had more features...so people used to buy Netgears and flash with Zyxel firmware to get those features. Same hardware.

proof that I'm not babbling lies...
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r405395-Zyxel-vs.-Netgear-firmware.-Why-

Lotta hardware review sites used to claim that ZyXel even made the routers for Netgear for a while as Netgear peeled away from baynetworks and went through their identity change. I'm not sure about that, but back when Netgear made a lot of metal cased routers, ZyXel had lots of similar models and I could easily agree with that.

 

[Bubbajoe]

^^^ Like I said, bad or very old info... and not applicable to the OP's question.

 

[nonchalant]

Had a very good reliable Zykxel ADSL modem a few years ago which I was told used a Billion chipset.

 

[Altster]

"Sometimes" you can pick up info on a particular piece of equipment from http://www.dslreports.com/nsearch?q=zyxel&cat=remark&advanced=1&189=1&nk=nk:tt95586504 DSLReports-dot-com. I've used their info in a lot of my decision making in the past.

Just another place to visit for research.

 

[tankman1989]

I was introduced to Zyxel products about 4 years ago with a level 3 managed 48 port switch that was about 1/5 the price of a Cisco switch but seemed to perform just as well. I was impressed.

This year I bought the NSA320 (Don't know why it wasn't called NAS320 as it's a NAS device) and it is excellent for the price ($72.99! w/o drives). It has as many or more features of other NAS's that are 2-3x the price and the reliability seems excellent.

I'm sorry I can't directly answer your original question but I can at least give some feedback on their products. I'd definitely use them again.

Also, their tech/service department is prompt with inquiries.

 

[uprighttech]

Also, their tech/service department is prompt with inquiries.

Yep, this is another common consensus I've seen. Seems that they have good, quick and competent support.

 

[dagint]

I have a bunch of there products and can't say enough good things about them. I have about 10 or more of ther USG routers (20/20W/50) deployed using there site to site vpn and remote access vpn. They have a full UTM support for spam, content filtering, virus, etc. There support is very responsive. I also have a couple VFG6005N deployed and all work as expected. There WAP's are pretty good I have about 10 or so WAP3205's and they work great and are solid and barely never give me problems. I also use there VANTAGE product to graph and report computer internet usage at one of my clients locations, which also works great.

I will say there documentation is not that great but once you get the hang of them they are pretty simple work with. There is definitely a little of a learning curve but for the price they are great devices.