Check out our recommendation on the best firewall router for your home. The products are recommended based on the size of your home.
Two firewall routers are recommeded for 5000 sqft and 3000 sqft home respectively.
If you have a router at home that does not support firewall, it is highly recommended that you upgrade it with a firewall router. These routers would block threats at the router and would not permit it to reach your home network.
This would provide total protection to your network and associated components.
Best Firewall router for 5000 sqft home
If your home is 5000 sqft or less we recommend the
NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBK852)
The NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System is a triband mesh router which is typically used for large homes. This product from netgear has netgear Armor feature in it. Netgear Armor is a security fetaure which is powered by bitdefender , a leader in Antivirus security. The following are the top features which are available with netgear Armor powered routers.
Phishing protection
The bitdefender cloud has a cloud URL database which maintains a list of malicious and phishing URL. Any requests from the internal home network is scanned before which access is provided. This would prevent any forms of phishing attacks and malicious downloads.
Network vulnerability checks
The netgear armor feature scans your network for vulnerabilities like common trojan backdoors, insecure configurations, unecrypted communication etc. A detailed report is provided which would help to fix the identified issues on your network.
Device alert
The feature provides device alert reporting. Whenever a new device joins your network, you recieve an alert. If it is an unauthorized device you can block it from the mobile app.
Anomaly detection
The netgear armor feature understands how the devices on your network behave using machine learning technology. Any deviation from the normal behavior would make the traffic suspicious and it would be blocked proactively by the router.
The NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBK852) would be an ideal choice for large homes. It supports 100 users and provides coverage upto 5000 sqft.
More details can be viewed here – NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBK852)
Best Firewall router for 3000 sqft home
If your home is 3000 sqft or less, we recommend the ASUS WiFi 6 Router (RT-AX3000) – Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router
This product from Asus supports Ai protetcion Pro which is a commercial grade security functionality which utilizes the database engine of Trend Micro.
AiProtection Pro uses the Trend Micro’s cloud database for Intrusion Prevention, Identifying and blocking phishing and malicious website, Detecting and blocking infected devices on the network, content filtering on the router.
Parental control is also available for the router which is used for limiting internet access and implementing access control to users on the wifi network.
Ai mesh technology on the router allows you to establish a mesh network with other Ai mesh compatible routers on the network. It supports dual band and provides a total speed of 3000 Mbps combined on the 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands.
FAQ
1. My house is 3000 sqft. But it is spread across two floors. Which product do you recommend ?
In this case you can buy the
NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBK852)
. This is a mesh router where you could buy two units and place 1 each in each floor for best Wifi connectivity.
2. I have antivirus systems on the devices on my network. Should I then buy a firewall router.
By having antivirus on your systems, your devices like laptops, PC, mobiles can be protected. But what about smart home devices ? These are still vulnerable to threats originating from the internet. To protect these devices you need a firewall router.
3. How do I know if I am really being protected with the use of these devices.
You can check the reporting which is included in the wifi router. This would provide details of the threats and if any devices were affected and blocked. Using this feature, you will know how well your home network is protected by implementing these secure routers with firewall.
4. What is the difference between firewall router for home and home network firewall. Should I use both ?
A firewall router, as explained above is a wireles router which has firewall feature inbuilt in it. A home firewall is a different hardware which is explicitly a firewall and not a wifi router. It only provides security feature on it and does not contain additional features which a traditional router supports.
You need not use both. Any one would suffice on your home network.
Conclusion
As it can be observed that both the routers use security database from two industry leaders which are bitdefender and Trend Micro. Cloud based protection is utilized where URL and other malicious links are blocked using the database from these vendors.
It is highly recommended that your purchase a firewall router for your home since the internet is infested with a lot of malware and other threats and your home network could be a soft target for these security threats.
Check out – Home Network Security -9 steps to a secure home network