Low-cost gateway for secure remote access

A new appliance is said to be the first to combine the functions of a business-class router, firewall and a gateway providing staff with Virtual Private Network (VPN) office access from anywhere in the world.

The £350 (ex Vat) BiGuard S10, targeted at small and medium-sized businesses, uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN security and has been designed to be easy to set up and manage, according to manufacturer Billion.

Sales manager Julian de Selincourt claims there is nothing quite like it on the market at the price. "We think a lot of businesses are going to be interested in this," he said.

The S10 allows access from any major browser, and can be configured to allow different users different levels of access.

A sister product, the S20, is to be launched soon, at around £1,000 and is designed for larger companies. It supports IPSec as well as SSL VPN and has dual WAN ports for load balancing.

Taiwan-based Billion has been going since 1972 and is best known for its ISDN products, though it has been selling ADSL modems and routers for five years - often under other brands.

"Billion is now starting to offer products under its own brand," de Selincourt said.