Home > Consumer Reviews > Asa 5505 Security Appliance 10

I've worked with these units since they came out. They have really progressed with the new code updates and offer all the features of the higher end firewalls (like the 5510), but for a small business price. The only thing to be careful of is all the licensing. Research what you need before purchasing. I am looking forward to when they add an IPS and/or wireless module into it.

Make sure you go to Cisco.com and download the latest ASA and ASDM images.
My only gripe about this unit is that I wish the switch port was gigabit.

I would not recommend this product unless you are a competent, Cisco certified network engineer. I spent a week trying to make it work. I read the manual, surfed google how to's and even bought a booklet on the subject, but the appliance refused to work as designed. I bought a Linksys SSL VPN for half the price and it everything including the VPN was working in 1 hour.
A colleague of mine also had the same experience a while back. He returned it also. The one good thing is that Amazon have a really good return policy.

Purchased this through Amazon. However, did not open the box until after the 30 day return period (was out sick). Unit was dead out of the box. Could not return to Amazon. Cisco says Amazon is not a licensed reseller, so they will not support the warranty.

So, I have $400 of DEAD JUNK! and apparently NO RECOURSE... except to NEVER purchase another Cisco unit again.