Review: Draytek Vigor 2800VG voice-enabled router

A high-spec product with no shortage of useful features

This article is part of a group review of six voice-enabled Wi-Fi routers

Draytek has a long-standing reputation for high-spec routers, and the 2800VG is no exception. A comprehensive series of web management screens presents a blizzard of features and functions that can be tuned and tweaked.

Despite this, the box was easy to set up; we had DSL and Wi-Fi working very quickly, with multiple VoIP clients installed in the box. The box supports ADSL 2+, and Wi-Fi support includes WEP and WPA with the option of pre-shared keys or 802.1x.

We feel the Vigor should appeal to corporates since firewall functions can be set up according to company policies. There are also extensive options for VPNs passing through the firewall. It supports Routing Information Protocol (RIP), can run up to four virtual LANs (VLANs) and can detect and block Syn Flood and other denial-of-service attacks. It also allows one port to be exposed as a “DMZ” host, outside the firewall and exposed to the internet, while the other ports are protected by network address translation (NAT). This might prove useful for running services that cannot get through firewalls easily.

The Vigor can be used on standard LANs as well, since the onboard Ethernet switch has a port that can act as an uplink without any need for reconfiguration.

The VoIP provision is good, with space for six SIP accounts, any of which can be prioritised on either of the two phone ports. There is no option to plug into the PSTN, however, so dialling rules cannot use the normal phone network.

The Vigor 2800 also offers the opportunity to spread wireless across a larger office using Wireless Distribution System (WDS) to link between multiple routers. A minor failing is the largely undocumented USB port, which does not appear to do anything very much.

Next review: Intertex SurfinBird IX68