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Forum Discussion
Is Netgear getting out of the firewall business?
I went to check for firmware updates today, hoping that the Schedules clock bug (it only works correctly when the router time zone is set to UTC/GMT) has been fixed, when lo-and-behold, I see the following message on the FVS318GV2 Support page:
"NETGEAR Inc. will terminate the ProSAFE VPN Firewalls on September 1, 2017. The last software update for these products was provided in April 2017. NETGEAR Inc. will continue to honor valid warranty claims for all ProSAFE VPN Firewall devices purchased from an authorized reseller. To complete the full exit from the product line, NETGEAR Inc. will no longer provide ProSAFE VPN Firewall software support or subscription updates for any ProSAFE VPN Firewall devices after September 1, 2017."
There's a similar message (with earlier dates) on the UTM firewalls page.
What's up Netgear?
6 Replies
Hi gearneterb,
My apologies on that. I think NETGEAR is still working on it to provide better firewalls in the future.
Regards,
I have been going buzerk trying to solve the scheduling issue with netgear myself. This is the first I have heard about requiring the router to be set to UTC. What problems were you having?
Also, I just purchased my GV2 3 months ago to replace my GV1 (which never gave me any problems) and I asked about the end of life regarding the GV2. I was told by the support specialist that Netgear is leaving the VPN Firewall business and will no longer be building products of that nature. So bottom line there will not be a new replacement for the FVS318G-200NAS. Unofficially from the specialist Netgear wants to focus on the residential market. Guess where that leaves us!
That's too bad...and I hope you're wrong, Seven, because it leaves us in the middle of nowhere, IMO. Either we go with residential-grade (unpatched security holes FTW!) or spend, spend, spend with the annual-service-contract corporate mode. Thanks (for nothing after all these years), Netgear!
As far as the schedule bug is concerned, I noticed some time ago that the Schedule time was off when I had the router set to a typical (i.e. local) time zone. Once I found that the bug was known elsewhere here on the forum, I found that the easiest way to fix the problem was to leave the time zone set to UTC, then manually redo all of the Schedule times twice a year when we go on and off of DST. Pain in the butt, but I thought they'd fix it before this sudden "We give up" end-of-support announcement.
Damnit Netgear, don't let the small-business & small business tech support market down!
Edit: Apparently, We're out of luck: Current Prosafe VPN firewalls end-of-life?
Thanks for the reply, I spoke with a number of specialists working with a number of issues with this router, scheduling, overload, security holes, nat lookback and the 4.3.3.6 firmware bomb. After it was all said and done they at least acknowledged the problems, offered their appologies and for the most part told me I was out of luck and nothing could be done with it. In fact, one suggested putting the old GV1 back in place. When I asked about being put in the queue for a beta version of firmware I was told the development team was not currently working on any firmware for this model and that none was scheduled. Unless a major security flaw is found don't expect any new firmware.
So, bottom line, if you can make it work in your environment great, if not shelf it. I am now currently looking at the Cisco RV345, this might not work for me because of the yearly licensing costs. Honestly, I think Netgear really let us down. They are not the company they use to be!
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