Swapping out a dying Sonicwall TZ170
August 9, 2008 9:50 AM Subscribe
Can Sonicwall TZ170's be swapped out after hardware failure like ordinary routers, or are things more complicated than that?
We use two Sonicwall TZ170s to connect our two office locations via VPN. For the most part the two have been humming along with very little interaction. In the last few weeks though, one of them has been freezing up on an almost daily basis.
As our business is seasonal and we're right in the middle of crunch time, we want to replace the router that has been freezing rather than investigate a more up-to-date replacement system right now.
What I don't understand, though, is how Sonicwall's licensing works. I don't think we currently have any kind of open support contract with them and so I don't think we can get tech support from them.
I can easily handle just buying another TZ170 on eBay, exporting the settings from the old box & importing them into the new box. Will this work? Or does Sonicwall require some kind of centralized pairing between the devices or some kind of service contract extension to get this stuff working? Their system seems kind of opaque to me.
Any advice appreciated with the understanding that we can't tear the whole thing out and start again until our next budget cycle.
We use two Sonicwall TZ170s to connect our two office locations via VPN. For the most part the two have been humming along with very little interaction. In the last few weeks though, one of them has been freezing up on an almost daily basis.
As our business is seasonal and we're right in the middle of crunch time, we want to replace the router that has been freezing rather than investigate a more up-to-date replacement system right now.
What I don't understand, though, is how Sonicwall's licensing works. I don't think we currently have any kind of open support contract with them and so I don't think we can get tech support from them.
I can easily handle just buying another TZ170 on eBay, exporting the settings from the old box & importing them into the new box. Will this work? Or does Sonicwall require some kind of centralized pairing between the devices or some kind of service contract extension to get this stuff working? Their system seems kind of opaque to me.
Any advice appreciated with the understanding that we can't tear the whole thing out and start again until our next budget cycle.
Response by poster: SirStan--I was referring to the fact that it seemed like we had to have both of our Sonicwalls registered at the MySonicwall website in order to use the VPN. But it looks like that's not the case, they were only registered to maintain warranty service and tech support. I was a little confused about that because, like you said, the company is ridiculously hostile to sharing information!
Thanks for your answer, it seems like we shouldn't have a problem. After our summer season ends we'll experiment with other devices and we'll almost certainly be upgrading before next year; I just need to keep our connection up for the next seven weeks without any further interruptions.
posted by bcwinters at 3:42 PM on August 9, 2008
Thanks for your answer, it seems like we shouldn't have a problem. After our summer season ends we'll experiment with other devices and we'll almost certainly be upgrading before next year; I just need to keep our connection up for the next seven weeks without any further interruptions.
posted by bcwinters at 3:42 PM on August 9, 2008
SirStan is right - licensing will be where you run into problems with this plan. I don't remember all the licensing particulars, but if you've licensed more than the default number of users or more than the default number of VPN connections, your new TZ170 will have problems.
I had a TZ170 fail a year ago and had licensed 20 VPN users, so I could not have done what you're planning to do. My VPN users wouldn't have been able to login.
One other potential problem is if the old and new devices are on radically different firmware, you may have problems restoring one to the other. Again, I don't have enough experience with these to know it will be a problem - just something to watch out for.
Lastly, I've seen more than one TZ170 fail in very little experience with them, and Sonicwall's support is absolutely horrendous.
posted by cnc at 6:59 PM on August 9, 2008
I had a TZ170 fail a year ago and had licensed 20 VPN users, so I could not have done what you're planning to do. My VPN users wouldn't have been able to login.
One other potential problem is if the old and new devices are on radically different firmware, you may have problems restoring one to the other. Again, I don't have enough experience with these to know it will be a problem - just something to watch out for.
Lastly, I've seen more than one TZ170 fail in very little experience with them, and Sonicwall's support is absolutely horrendous.
posted by cnc at 6:59 PM on August 9, 2008
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Correct -- Some companies will talk with you and be nice -- but Sonicwall (in my experience) is EXTREMELY hardline, and wont even say they make a "TZ170" unless you are up on your support contract.
"I can easily handle just buying another TZ170 on eBay, exporting the settings from the old box & importing them into the new box. Will this work? Or does Sonicwall require some kind of centralized pairing between the devices or some kind of service contract extension to get this stuff working? Their system seems kind of opaque to me."
If the TZ170 you buy on Ebay has the correct licensing (ie, 50 users, etc) then you are fine.
If you are technical at all, you might want to try putting a Smoothwall in and testing it. An office I worked at started using one after our SW Pro died and it worked great (mind you we were all techies).
I am not sure what you are referring to as for "pairing", but if you buy a used unit with no support, it will be just that, an unsupported (by Sonicwall) device. It will still operate however, but you wont be able to get software updates, technical support, etc.
posted by SirStan at 2:46 PM on August 9, 2008