What follows are a couple of complete Internet access / data security / home networking solutions geared towards home schooling parents. If you are serious about home schooling, you will soon discover a network of local parents with the same concerns and with differing skills and talents. It is common for several families to form informal cooperatives where kids can be drawn together to take advantage of a particular parent/teacher's skillset and talents. What this means is that you'll find it advantageous to be able to make internet access available to more than one or two people at a time. Many of our home schooling clients make good use of wireless LAN technology to provide this access to their kids. That is why we are presenting both a wired and a wireless router solution as part of a home schooling Internet access solution. Plus, the business-class security and versatility offered by the NETGEAR ProSafe and SonicWALL product lines will go a long way towards ensuring that your home schooling environment remains useful, productive and safe for you and your kids.
| Good | Better | |
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Internet Access |
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Pro: |
Inexpensive, low initial and monthly cost. Decent reliability. |
Good remote client support, outstanding reliability. The most transparent, lowest latency residential-class product. |
| Con: | No VPN or VoIP | No VPN or VoIP |
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Approx cost: |
$300-$400 initial $50-$80 monthly |
$700 initial $70-$100 monthly |
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Computing Power |
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| Shuttle SD30G2 | Antec Solution Series NSK1380 | |
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SOHO workstation. Single core Intel system. Very compact Small Form Factor case. Also supports Intel Core 2 Duo |
SOHO Power user. Dual core Intel system. Small Form Factor case. |
| Approx cost: | $700 - $1200 depending upon configuration. | $1200 - $2400 depending upon configuration. |
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Security |
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| NETGEAR FVG318 | SONICWALL TZ150 | |
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Pro: |
Inexpensive, low initial cost. Firewall stops most common attacks. Handles up to 8 users well.
Very good wireless performance.
Great bang for the buck.
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The beginning of real
comprehensive edge-of-network defense. CGS* package defends against
attacks, virus, spyware, intrusions. Highly configurable
two-way firewall. the CGS add-on also allows you to block
specific categories of web sites, such as sites with
adult content, violence or other inappropriate material.
Excellent secure wireless performance. Download the SonicWALL Comprehensive Gateway Security datasheet (PDF) |
| Con: | No real edge-of-network defense like the SonicWALL. Limited ability to block web sites. | Enough processing power for more than 4 or 5 users with CGS* operational. |
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Approx cost: |
$200 | $450 |
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