A common choice is to choose Cisco 800 series router. Currently Cisco 850 and 870 series routers are targeted for Home Users or Small Business Users, with many features, scalability, and reliability.
When you have financial constraints, you could also consider Cisco 831/837, 827, or even 806 router models. However keep in mind that these models are End Of Sale (EOS) and are no longer supported by Cisco. Fortunately like other Cisco equipments, those old models long lasted.
Check out the following thread for more info. /forum/remark,11039807~mode=flat »Cisco Router and Switch?
Keep in mind that either the ASA nor PIX is not a router. Therefore if you have or plan to have two ISP or have redundant ISP links; then you need both router and the PIX, or a router that have VPN and Firewall features.
Often people who submit questions of this nature have a limited knowledge of networking and/or the equipment involved and they don't know how or where to look for assistance. Some seek network consultants to help with determining requirements while individuals or smaller companies may avoid this choice due to financial constraints.
Cisco offers a broad spectrum of products and solutions for all networking situations. They can fulfill the networking needs of a home users or SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) network, up to and including requirements of major corporations, ISPs, and bandwidth carriers/providers. In fact, Cisco dominates the network equipment market worldwide.
Fortunately, Cisco provides tools to help determine what products and solutions will best help you meet your specific network requirements.
You plan to purchase Cisco router but not sure how fast they are? Or you just need to know how fast your Cisco router you already have? Following should be a good start to find out.
Here are things you need to know up front when you plan to buy Cisco equipments.
1. Buy a new-never-used Cisco equipment from reliable store or seller
2. When you buy the equipment, don't forget to buy also the proper Smartnet contract for the equipment. Following FAQ has more info on Smartnet. »Cisco Forum FAQ »What is Smartnet? Do I need one?
3. To make it easy for you, buy both the equipment and the Smartnet contract from the same store or seller; and have them register the equipment
4. For most home users, Cisco 850 or 870 series router should be sufficient
Now let's say you already have the equipment and it is time for installation and configuration. When you have no or limited knowledge of networking, here are some tips.
1. When you plan to connect the equipment to your ISP, make sure you have all the info you need. There are things you need to ask your ISP and other things you might need to ask your seller or store where you buy the Cisco equipment.
2. Questions to ask your ISP include
* Connection method to ISP: PPP (either PPPoE or PPPoA), static IP, DHCP (dynamically assigned) * IP address you will get from your ISP (the public IP address) along with the subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS server IP address * Equipment speed setting necessary: full duplex, half duplex, or auto
* MAC address (or addresses) of your Cisco equipment * Cisco TAC or Support Center phone number
4. Once you have all the necessary info, follow the Quick Start Up instruction that come with the equipment to install and setup
For a glimpse, it looks like there are a lot to prepare when dealing with Cisco equipment. Well, don't quit just yet. :)
All those things are necessary (sometime required) to make things go smoothly. Keep in mind that Cisco equipments are built with reliability as #1 priority. Therefore Cisco equipments can be "picky" in terms of installation, configuration, and support. All of these are to ensure that everything work just as is supposed to be.
You might ask, "why do I not have to go through this with Netgear, Linksys, DLink, or similar brand?". Yes, those brands are easy to use, are they? :) However that easiness comes with big consequences. The brand sacrifices reliability a lot. That is why when you poke into Netgear, Linksys, or DLink forum; you always find horror stories that leads to unreliable equipments.
So prepare yourself. There might be few bumps in the ride. Relax, it is only a process. We are always here to help anyway. Once you get through it, you can just leave your Cisco equipment alone and never to be touched again. It runs solid as a rock once you get it right :D
The ADSL feature is supported in the IP/ADSL Image ("y7" image) for the Cisco 1700 Series. Cisco 2600/3600/3700 series routers require a PLUS IOS image for ADSL if using 12.2T. From 12.3 Mainline and beyond ADSL WIC support is available in the "IP Base" feature set. Some QoS features require an advanced image (IP PLUS, IP VOICE, or above) for Cisco 1700/2600/3600/3700 series router support.
The ADSL over POTS WIC (WIC-1ADSL), is available on the Cisco IOS 12.2(13)T Release for the Cisco 1700/2600/ 3600/3700 series routers.
As this FAQ posted, the current Cisco Catalyst layer-3 switches are 3560, 3750, 4500 series, 4900 series, and 6500 series. The following are illustrations of layer-3 switch with examples of Catalyst 3550 and 3560 feature and capabilities. Note that Catalyst 3550 is considered EOL and the current replacement is the 3560.
From my experiences, the following router model share the similar memory chip specification. Therefore, most of the time memory chip from one model is interchangeable with another.
1. DRAM
* 800 series prior to 850/870 series; SOHO 90 series; 1700 series; 2600XM series; 2650 & 2651 - 100 Pin DIMM, SDRAM, 125MHz/133MHz, Unbuffered, Non-parity, 8ns, 3.3V, 16Meg x 32
* 800 series: 870 series - 168 pin DIMM low-profile CL3 non-ECC PC 133, Kingston KVR133X64C3L/128 works (full specification is clickable here), modules that are not low profile will not fit in the case correctly
* 2600 series (excluding XM models and the 2650, 2651, and 2691) - 100 Pin DIMM, EDO, 60ns
* All 1800 routers EXCEPT 1841 - 200 Pin SODIMM, SDRAM, 266MHz DDR, Non-ECC CL2.5 e.g. Kingston KVR266X64SC25/256