Smoothwall Firewall is a unified threat management solution designed for educational institutions including schools, colleges, and multi-academy trusts. The product provides next-generation firewall capabilities that combine Layer 7 application control with perimeter firewall and stateful packet inspection. The firewall includes intrusion detection and prevention functionality to monitor, report on, and respond to malicious attacks on network systems. It offers both perimeter firewall and internal network segmentation capabilities to protect against web and non-web-based threats. The solution supports multiple VPN configurations including site-to-site IPsec VPNs and remote user access via SSL and L2TP protocols. It provides link and load balancing for multiple WAN connections and includes source NAT functionality for routing traffic across multiple IP addresses. The firewall integrates with Smoothwall Filter, the company's web filtering solution, to provide combined protection. Layer 7 application control enables administrators to identify and block unwanted applications while prioritizing approved network traffic. The product is positioned as an all-in-one protection package when combined with other Smoothwall solutions, specifically targeting the education sector's network security requirements.