Cisco RV345P VPN Router with 16 GbE Ports, PoE, Dual WAN

Fast and versatile router – now working with latest firmware
I’ve updated this review – updates are chronological with latest at the end.As received, my RV340 required a firmware update to bring it to Cisco’s current release level. I then proceeded with the setup process. My use case is a SOHO internet gateway and firewall with full support for IPv6 (delegated prefix from the ISP).My main points of experience worth pointing out so far are as follows:(1) Upon reboot (or power cycle) the RV340 reliably fails to update the WAN port MAC address with the customized value (i.e. MAC address powers up as the factory default). Both WAN1 and WAN2 are affected. At first, this looked like a serious problem since I thought my ISP requires a specific MAC address on my end to work. However, by power cycling my cable modem, the default MAC address of the RV340’s WAN port was accepted and is now working.(2) The WAN port must be connected to the ISP (cable modem in my case) in order to complete the IPv6 configuration. There is a place in the WAN configuration to assign a name to the IPv6 delegated prefix supplied by the ISP, but the LAN port configuration (for stateless autoconfiguration of the client IPv6 addresses) does not have any place to enter this name. Instead, you must identify the active WAN port (with a valid IPv6 prefix). That of course requires the ISP connection to be hooked up and running.(3) Unlike routers I’ve used the past few years, the RV340 does NOT provide an NTP service to the local LAN clients. This required me to modify NTP server addresses in a number of connected devices from the local gateway IP address to an actual NTP server out on the internet.(4) I discovered on the Licenses page that the router is running in Evaluation Mode. In addition, the two 90-day (evaluation period) security feature licenses are not activated by default. To get out of evaluation mode, you must log in to your Cisco Smart Account. With considerable effort I eventually got this sorted out so it’s no longer an issue.In summary, the RV340 is currently working well supporting a busy network with a lot of devices.(24-Dec-2017) Alas, I’ve taken the RV340 out of service and re-installed my previous gateway/router. It took about a month but I finally associated several application-level performance issues with the RV340. The specific problems are: (1) very slow access to gmail inbox both with POP3 and IMAP; (2) long delay from clicking a selection to actual start of playback for iTunes Music; and (3) long delay and frequently a timeout while opening the Solitaire, News, and other Microsoft apps under Windows 10. How could the router (with no extra security modules enabled) have such specific impacts while other applications are just fine? I have no idea. But these issues all disappeared when I reinstalled my previous gateway/router.(20-Apr-2018) – I noticed the new firmware release v1.0.01.18 (issued March 2018) and updated my RV340. I ran through a couple of the application performance issues noted above and the unexplained delays no longer appeared. Updated my star rating although I haven’t put the RV340 back into service yet.(10-Nov-2018) – Noticed new firmware release v1.0.01.20 and decided it was time to give the RV340 another try. Updated the firmware, plugged in the WAN and completed the IPv4 and IPv6 configuration with no issues. The application-specific performance issues noted above are also gone. I am leaving the RV340 in service. The speedtest downlink measurement is now the expected 194Mbps (with a change to the server at the other end) so I have finally updated my star rating to five stars.(20-Nov-2019) The RV340 continues to work great – I am quite pleased with it now. A cautionary note: browsing the router configuration pages I noticed the router was back in “Evaluation” mode. It appears that Cisco Smart Licensing had “expired” the router license token originally generated about a year ago. However, my Cisco Smart Licensing account was still in order so it was easy to generate a new license token for the router (no cost, thanks Cisco!). I believe the token will expire again and necessitate another trip back to Smart Licensing.(3-Jan-2019) I noticed that a new firmware update, to version 1.0.02.16, was available and I went ahead and updated the Cisco RV340. I’m not sure if any functional issues were fixed with the update (I hadn’t noticed any), but the update also revamped the entire GUI. It changed from the classic Cisco blue-background no-nonsense design to a modern split-tone look (white text on dark background to the left, black text on light background in the main edit window). At first I didn’t like the change but now I’m used to it and it seems “normal”.(12-Feb-2019) – I noticed that IPv6 was no longer working — it may have been my fault due to some errant settings update. However, I wasn’t sure and as part of the troubleshooting I downgraded back to the previous working firmware (v1.0.01.20). There I did clear up the problem (it was my own misunderstanding of the proper settings for my ISP). However, when I tried to re-upgrade back to v1.0.02.16 by changing the Active Image under the Reboot menu, the router initially came up NOT upgraded but with a non-responsive web GUI. When I nervously used the paperclip method to RESET the router to factory configuration (holding the button for more than 10 seconds), I found the RESET button must be pressed and held BEFORE powering up the router. When the router came up this time, the newer firmware (v1.0.02.16) was then active and the router configuration settings had been converted for the new firmware’s format (although I had expected the factory default configuration). Best of all, the web GUI was fully operational and IPv6 was working once again.If there’s any conclusion from all this, I’d hazard a guess that it’s best to always upload a firmware upgrade to the router (rather than relying on changing the Active Image under the Reboot menu) so that the router gets fair warning that the configuration settings are to be converted to the new firmware’s format. (Note that downgrading from v1.0.02.16 to v1.0.01.20 always gives you a factory default configuration since there is no built-in “reverse” settings format conversion utility.)

Seems to be a solid device, not very easy to configure
After about a month of use, I am overall happy with this router. But I can’t justify a 5 star rating.I bought this to upgrade a small business that was switching to SIP trunks for their phone service. The consumer grade router they had before did not have the firewall features needed to support the service.I am not a network engineer, but I have been working in the IT support industry for over 30 years. I am somewhat familiar with Cisco’s enterprise equipment, and I didn’t expect that from this little $200 device. The web interface that this uses for configuration is OK, but I think it could be a little better. The documentation available is not great. The tutorial videos they have available are better.I was a little surprised at how long this router takes to reboot. Seems to be about 4-5 minutes.As is always the case with Cisco, from a hardware perspective, it’s very well built. All metal case, no plastic. The rack mount was everything it should be.

Great security features, no licensing required. The 1 free year of support is incredible. I had not used a Cisco router before so I called them up and they helped me set it up, including VLANs. Best customer support I’ve ever received for a product, their tech spent hours with me setting things up.The web GUI is easy to use and full of features. I do not think you can go in via CLI though. Also, I can’t say anything about its VPN functionality as I have not used it.

This router just works. We had the predessor running for 10+ years without any problems. This upgraded new model has newer portal with better and new features. We love this new router.