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Wedge Networks 1005G AntiMalware Gateway

The Wedge Networks 1005G looks good on paper, but in reality is a little disappointing. While the initial setup was easy enough, ease-of-use issues and documentation gaps made for a frustrating deployment experience.

The 1005G setup procedure was a completely manual process. Given the choice between bridge and routing mode, we elected to deploy the device in a bridge configuration. After setting our workstation IP to the device's default network, we were able to access its web interface. From there, we configured the Ingress interface to match our network, reset our workstation IP and reconnected to the web interface. We then connected the Egress interface to our WAN network logically just behind our firewall. After that, we reset the default route on our LAN to point to the 1005G, sending all of our outbound traffic through the device. We were then able to set up rules governing anti-virus scanning and SMTP and web content filtering. One of the first signs of trouble we encountered was when running one of the device's built-in diagnostic tools. The Configuration Check tool tests the device's network configuration by attempting to connect to various update and support servers. As we discovered, the configuration check consistently fails because one of the servers it attempts to connect to does not exist - or was at least unreachable up until the time of this writing. While not entirely critical, we considered it bad form.

The 1005G encompasses anti-virus, anti-spam and content filter services. The anti-virus service offers a choice between the Kaspersky or Bitdefender AV engines, and can use Wedge's GreenStreaming feature, which permits the device to begin relaying HTTP information to the client before the entire payload has been downloaded and scanned. 

Active Directory/LDAP integration is also supported. However, it requires login and logoff scripts to be implemented in order to append IP address information into users' AD entries. That said, we were not actually able to get the device to connect to our AD environment due to an inability for the configuration submission form to parse our otherwise valid Search Schema DN string. 

While the documentation is adequate, we did encounter a few gaps. For example, we were not able to determine how to specify which of the two anti-virus engines were used, even though the administrator's guide says only one is usable at a time. It also offered no workaround from our AD configuration issue. Outside of those issues, there was enough information to make the other features function, and the PDFs were easily navigable and well-organized.

Wedge Networks offers three tiers of support: basic, advanced and advanced 24/7. Basic provides nine-hours-a-day/five-days-a-week phone and email support. The Advanced option adds next-day advanced hardware replacement, and the Advanced 24/7 tier upgrades support hours to 24/7. The company also maintains an online knowledge base and a user support forum, albeit a sparsely populated one.

The 1005G Anti-malware Gateway is priced at $5,080 for the hardware, and support costs start at $1,270 for basic tier.


Product title
Wedge Networks 1005G AntiMalware Gateway
Product info
Name: Wedge Networks 1005G AntiMalware Gateway Description: The 1005G encompasses anti-virus, anti-spam and content filter services. Price: $5,080, plus $1,270/year for basic support.
Strength
Flexible deployment options, high data throughput.
Weakness
Partially functioning features, some documentation lapses.
Verdict
Given the price, you may want to consider carefully before selecting this one.

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