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Corega is backed up by one of the largest networking vendors around, as this is the retail brand name for Allied Telesyn and was created to target the small business and consumer market. The BAR-AWLA-54 is the company’s first all-in-one ADSL solution and the extensive range of features on offer makes it look good value.

Design isn’t the most exciting but it’s another simple device to use and initial configuration starts by pointing a web browser at its default IP address. All the main configuration details can be accessed from the main OnePage Setup screen although it doesn’t provide any automatic ADSL discovery routines as found in the Netgear router.

We did find it initially confusing that common wireless settings and the MAC address filter tables are accessed from one menu option whereas SSID masking plus WEP and WPA encryption must be configured from the main screen. However, Corega supports both pre-shared and RADIUS server supplied keys for WPA and overall performance with the former selected was among the best. In fact, wireless performance across all tests was comparatively good.

A standard SPI firewall keeps you safe from hackers and advanced features allow blocking of ActiveX controls, Java applets, cookies and Web proxies. Corega is yet another vendor that states it supports web content filtering but don’t be fooled as this feature is no different to the other products on review. It can only block access to specific URLs or those that contain keywords in their name that match those in a list of up to twenty entries. However, you can be really strict by selecting the option that only allows access to those sites in the list. A schedule is also provided so you can decide during which periods the list will be active.

Perhaps the most impressive feature of this router is the VPN support. Rather than just providing a pass-through mode it can be used to create secure tunnels with other IPSec compliant devices or other PCs using just the Windows XP VPN client and there’s plenty of help in the supplied manual. It’s worth noting the routers from ZyXEL and Draytek also support this but cost substantially more.

Verdict

A dull design but you’re getting a lot of features for your money. The simple installation routines plus good wireless security and performance are topped off by VPN facilities that aren’t normally seen at this price. Even though the competition is tough, Corega manages to grab a Recommended award.

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