The gateway is the entry and exit point of the entire network to the internet. It manages traffic between the local network and the outside world, decides how available bandwidth is distributed, protects the network against external threats and ensures service continuity when an internet provider fails. In a professional installation, the gateway is not simply a home router: it is the central piece of the network architecture.
The term router is commonly used to refer to the device provided by the internet service provider, which does the minimum: connecting the local network to the internet. A professional gateway goes much further.
A gateway manages multiple simultaneous WAN connections with load balancing and automatic failover: if one line goes down, traffic is rerouted through the other without any perceptible interruption. It offers intelligent flow control to prioritise critical applications and limit bandwidth for P2P applications. It provides VPN connectivity to securely link remote sites. And in Data General models, it also integrates the WiFi controller and a PoE switch in a single unit.
The DG-WS7005 is the gateway that equips the Signal, Extreme and Beam packs. In addition to its functions as router and WiFi controller for up to 64 APs, it integrates a 4-port PoE switch that directly powers the access points. A single connection to the internet provider, a single device, and the network is live. The ideal solution for small and medium businesses, hotels, retail premises and any installation where simplicity is a priority without sacrificing professional management.
The DG-SG2100-2W8GP is the security gateway for installations requiring greater capacity. Based on multinuclei MIPS architecture, it supports up to 300 simultaneous users with real-world throughput of 1,000 Mbps, and integrates 8 Gigabit ports — 7 with PoE/PoE+ — and a total power budget of 135W. Its capabilities include load balancing between two WAN lines, up to 16 IPsec VPN tunnels, per-user and per-application flow control, L7 visibility of over 120 application types via DPI, captive portal and URL filtering. All managed from the WIS cloud platform.
Both the DG-SG2100 and the DG-WS7005 when operating as a router are compatible with Flashstart, an AI-based DNS filtering solution that protects the network by intercepting name resolution requests before the device establishes any connection. Malware, ransomware, phishing and unwanted content are blocked before reaching the user’s device, regardless of the browser or application being used.
Key capabilities include content filtering by category, real-time blocking of malicious domains via artificial intelligence, geoblocking by country of origin, specific application blocking and Microsoft Active Directory integration to apply policies by user or group. No software installation on user devices required: protection operates at the network infrastructure level.
Data General gateways support IPsec VPN to securely connect remote sites, mobile workers or remote maintenance access. VPN tunnel configuration is performed visually from the management interface, without manual cryptographic parameter configuration. The status of each tunnel and the traffic flowing through it are visible in real time from the WIS cloud dashboard.
