NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
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 fol...
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!
I received probably the last phone call I expect from Netgear regarding the problems with the FVS318GV2. Again it was an acknowledgement of the many problems that currently and more then likely will never be fixed due to the drop of support and end of life announcement. Here's the kicker, the Netgear specialist added "please leave me a good review" and that even though we couldn't resolve the issues the review directly reflects on me an not the product.
Honestly, I laughed my a$$ off. Netgear creates a survey on the employee and not on the ability of the company to resolve the problem. I looked over the survey today and could not complete it. The specialist I worked with was a nice guy who really tried to help but he had his hands tied. Other then a little section at the end of the survey there was no way to reflect on the products problems. I really wanted to drop the hammer on this survey but could not at the expense of a good employee just trying to do his job in an impossible situation.
Wow, a company can build and sell an inferior product loaded with bugs, classify it as End of Life and get out of any responsibility to fix it or compensate the customer. Guess we need a lemon law for network hardware manufactures. lol, imho and for what its worth...
Honestly, even for a small business I found their product lines rather not so refined, unlike some of their old home routers which are just solid.
We switched to Sophos UTM, and never looked back. We had both 318 as well as UTM, and while the community here did their best to provide some answers it was just too much to deal with. I am kind of glad they are retiring these products, they really hurt Netgear image in my mind. I really hope they come up with a better product line that can compete with other serious brands.
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
