The 4620 server is one of the easiest to install, but TimeStep's client requires a tad more installation work than the clients of other products we tested. Performance also lagged behind that of other products in our test group, but the unit's low price and flexible protocol and authentication options make the 4620 an attractive choice for smaller organizations. The 4620 is housed in a small plastic cabinet that is roughly the size and shape of a hardcover book. The front panel hosts six status LEDs and an RJ-45 connector for connecting a serial communications terminal. The rear panel provides two 10Base-T Ethernet connections and a socket to attach the unit's external power supply.
Installation is simple, thanks to the quick configuration menus built into the unit.
First, we attached a PC running a terminal emulator program to the 4620 via the supplied RS-232 cable. A menu system walked us through the initial steps of setting basic system parameters, including IP addresses for the two Ethernet interfaces. It includes extensive online help screens, which let us configure the 4620 to accept VPN connections in about an hour. Users can create multiple host profiles on each client PC, making it easy to set up tunnel connections for different devices or multiple VPN sites. Switching between profiles is easy, but only one profile can be active at a time.