Remote Access Solutions for Businesses?

thajeavis asks: "We are in the process of replacing our existing remote access system for IT staff and other faculty/staff. Previously, we were using a Bay Networks (Nortel) Remote Access Concentrator with an ISDN circuit. The equipment failed and the cost of the ISDN PRI is too high based on the low usage. We are presently testing a VPN solution using the employee's own dialup or broadband connection (Cable/DSL). The issue has also come up over who is to pay for the dialup/broadband connection, the employee or the college since it will be used to work from home. I am most interested in what type of solution your institution has in place for remote access for IT staff and who pays for that access. We also are interested in what type of access, if any is available for other faculty/staff. Any insight on this issue will be greatly appreciated."

Comments

Netscreen

[Gothmolly]

Makes firewalls which handle 10-10,000 users. Buy a smallish one (model 25 or 50), get your 4 10/100 interfaces, stateful inspection, ability to scan viruses, etc. etc. and terminate tunnels. Buy some new (pricey) or used ($250) Netscreen-5 units for the employees with broadband. The Netscreen-5 does 4 MBps at 3DES, 10MBit unencrypted, stateful inspection, all the goodies. They handle DHCP, static or PPPoE interfaces, so it should work with any ISP.
I've rolled out many "home->corporate" VPNs this way, it works like a charm.