I’ve spent some time today at work getting a Cisco 857 Wireless router working, as a replacement for some Netgear DG834G ones we bought a while back. Now, the Netgear isn’t a bad device, but, like the Belkin, Linksys and other offerings, it’s a domestic, consumer-grade product, and gets a bit flaky once in a while. The Cisco is in a different league: it runs IOS, and has one of the most experienced network manufacturers behind it. (Of course, LInksys is now the consumer brand for Cisco, but trust me, it’s not suitable if you depend on stability).

The different league shows up in two ways:

1) The overall quality and stability is higher. I’ve used Cisco gear for a few years now, ever since 3Com shit their own nest, and it rarely fails, reboots, locks up, or goes screwy. Personally, It’s the only network hardware I’d use in an ‘enterprise’ situation.

2) Damn, it’s hard to configure by comparison. The power and flexibilty of IOS is a double edged sword. You can get a Netgear DG834G up and working, with encrypted wireless, on an ADSL line in about 5-10 mins. The Cisco took me several days and a bit of web searching- and I’ve configured IOS routers before. The web configurator seems to only exist to lock you out of the router- console cable and command line is king :-).

Once I’ve finalised the config I’ll put some samples up on the web.