The FB2700 is a hardware firewall/router. It provides a wide range of features for the small/medium business market. Its main role is as the gateway between your internet connection (DSL router/modem, FTTC, FTTP, leased line, etc) and your office network. It provides firewall functions stopping any unwanted direct connections in to your network, but it has many more features which are invaluable to small businesses.
With the demise of the old internet (IPv4) companies are having to work out how to get their office network on to the current internet protocols (IPv6). Without this they will find increasing problems with access to parts of the internet as well as more of more of the usual issues with Network Address Translation (NAT). IPv6 provides a means to have real IP addresses on your network with the FireBrick providing firewalling and control that you need. Even if your internet provider does not support IPv6 yet (and you should really find a new one if that is the case) you can gain most of the advantages of IPv6 using the FireBrick as your network gateway.
Just like the FB2500, there are two models of FB2700.
The FireBrick has a web based configuration editor which gives you a good idea of some of the features. We have set up a demonstration page which you can have a play with to get a feel for how it works. This page only shows the configuration editor.
The FB2700 and FB2500 are part of a range of new products. The FB2500 is aimed as a replacement for the popular FB105 model providing the same range of features at a faster speed. The FB2700 is bigger and better with around 350Mb/s routing and 1Gb/s switching and 3G dongle support for mobile internet or DSL backup. DSL requires a suitable modem, but the FB2700 can connect directly to a range of services such as FTTC, FTTP and cable modems using PPPoE.
Contact your FireBrick dealer for more information.
We have tried to keep the models simple, you can either buy the base model or the full loaded model.
The base model has all of the core functions providing routing and firewalling and DHCP server and 3G dongle support.
The fully loaded also has a limited BGP capability, L2TP server, PPPoE server (acting as a BRAS), bonding (VRRP, L2TP, PPP, gateway) and FB105 tunnels.
As an alternative, the FB2500 provides most of the same options at a lower price. It is only capable of 100Mb/s throughput total (both ways added) and does not offer 3G backup.
We have a config conversion tool which allows you to take a config from an FB105 and generate a config that acts as a starting point for the FB2700 or FB2500. It will usually need some editing, and this tool is constantly being updated to add new features. It does however provide a useful start to the new config if you are upgrading.
Dealers may offer a small discount for trading in an FB105. The new FB2700 and FB2500 do not have feature keys in the same way as the FB105, so there is no trade-in option for features. You may find you can make more selling an FB105 on the internet, especially if it has a lot of feature keys.
To order a FireBrick, see our list of resellers.