I am helping a new company get off the ground. As with many startups, low cost and good functionality without a lot of BS is essential.

So I bought this firewall for them to use and it’s really damn good for the price. Better than some $1,500 firewalls I’ve used.

The interface and how to set things up is a bit confusing, but not really if you’ve used true high-end enterprise-grade firewalls. And I’ve used the most confusing, counterintuitive and convoluted $50,000+ enterprise-grade firewalls you can imagine, so it was pretty easy for me. I can see how it would trip up people who have only used consumer-level gear, though, as it’s absolutely not just clicking a few buttons and having something useful happen.

All that said, the Zyxel just works, is stable and seems fast though it hasn’t been under any true load yet. And might never be – it’s a small company.

But if you want an enterprise-class firewall at a consumer price, it’s a good one. I highly recommend it.