The ultimate Residential/SMB Router, a note to Cisco

Someone forwarded me a link to job at Cisco responsible for defining the next generation in upscale residential router products.  I'm a little too busy to go off and get a job.  However, this category is so important the the current products out there are just awful. Anyone who knows Ken Wirt, Scott Kabat, or others that could make this actually happen, forward this to them.  

1) The network is very, very important to a number of folks.  Something that makes their network run quicker is very important. They use a $3K laptop instead of a $400 netbook, sit in a $100K car - if it's better, it can sell for a premium.

2) Since web response and key file download time is so important, a properly configured router may have more impact than spending $600/year for the next tier up in bandwidth. No residential network is has QOS set-up properly.  And if it does, it doesn't extend across the switches and AP's.

3) A router that could handle backup via tethering cell phone might eliminate a $250/year expense for many users.  A router with a builtin on demand 3G piece might be bought for $200 more a unit. Lots of folks need it but it's too hard to pull everything together yourself.  Apple iPad with 3G is a great model.

4) All traffic passes through a network but current devices act as if things are transient.  Every device and protocol represents information that can make the system work better.  Act on it! And build an operational model of the network that makes the home owners life better AND locks them into your architecture. Spiceworks is a little busy but that's the idea.  At the very least, lets use DHCP to assign addresses but lease for life should be a default, not an afterthought.  Do not rely on a client properly having domains or even WINS set-up to make printing work across physical segments.  If they have stupidly printed out the IP address from the printer status page and then entered it into windows, do we ever have to move the printer?  Or better yet, make it so easy to assign A records with a local DNS server that they automatically thing of it as officeprinter and enter that....

5) The home server has failed.  The integrated Router/AP has suceeded.  Declare victory and make residential NAS part of the router space. Or just make every device part of the network infrastructure.  

6) Create aspirational products AND a growth path.  The threshold up to the 520 is perfect but anything more and the client blows it off.  If everything is a small increment, it's not just the additional margin but keeping within a product family. You know what that means to me? Beautiful cases.  If they can't stack, then make a small rack.  If that's stupid, then make everything rackable.  Those who spend $, don't want a mess.  The physical form factors of your products now necessitate a mess.

Because the traffic in a home is small, slow moving and captive a higher level of functionality should be possible than any business, even small.

Here is a very short list of problems that are solvable  but should be solveable in a much easier manner if the products were better....

- Give dads email/network browsing higher priority than Jrs. bit torrent downloads

- Allow 3 xbox's in a home without completely opening up UPNP

- Allow someone to use Skype on their iPhone in the house without becoming a 802.1qf expert

- Make it simple to VPN the main house with the vacation home without knowing what 3DES means

- Integrate service management for many common inside/outside firewall services (file sharing, for instance)

- Integrate (for pay) inside the firewall system monitoring

- Of course, IPS by subscription without being a rocket scientist.

Valet, like the Flip, was achieved through the removal of many controls.  I don't think thats the answer.  I think it's more along the lines of Microsoft Firewall where at first, one gets a constant barrage of notifications but eventually the system knows what is what.

"A device from HP with Mac Address 00:17:D1:34:00:1F just appeared on the network.  It appears to be a printer name "Davids Printer", is this correct?"

System knows this because it saw the device then did a network probe to find what ports it answered on.  Netbios prob found the name.

"Do you want to allow guests to print to this printer or only home computers?"

I.e. I can establish port forwarding to an address in the DMZ and proxy NetBios lookups or just leave it on the secure side.

"Do you want to add consumables on this printer to the monitoring list?"

Someone has to own inside the firewall monitoring, why not the router?

"Do you want to lock this ethernet port down so only the printer can be plugged into it"

Port security is vital part of secure networks - why not bring it lower down.

"BitTorrent traffic is currently consuming 85% of available bandwidth coming from 'Shelby's iMac' - do you want to configure scheduling or prioritization for this traffic?"

There is very little a small business or SMB needs that VLANS, prioritization and NAT can't take care of but until the network vendors supply something easier to use, something that narrows the possibilities for users based on the traffic present, it won't get any easier.

 Classifying these problems in a more technical manner:

DHCP should be integrated with a local DNS server and meta-data about each device should be captured so the device is classified and a set of ACL's applied to each node.

QOS filters by mac address AND protocol should ensure that dad's email, son's torrent traffic and the directv's VOD traffic get serviced with the proper priority.

Filters, Port Forwarding, ACL's, etc, even when not automated, should easily make available options based on logs.  Just tried to use VNC from outside the network?  No need to research whether it was port 5500 or 5900, TCP or UDP - that info is already in the log....

Make things easier for those who use their networks the most.

Make it the fastest.  I don't care if residences never have 1GB internet connections, if the resi user feels like IPS is going to slow down their download of the Daily Show, it will get turned off.