Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Before I bought this particular router I gave a fair consideration to equivalent products from other manufacturers. My objectives were as follows: a 4-port router with flexible parental controls and reliable firewall at a reasonable price. SMC7004VBR turned out to be a clear winner. Setup can be done in manual (advanced) or assisted (wizard) mode, via a browser interface. I used the advanced option but also verified the wizard afterwards, for completeness of this review. Worth noting is that the router reboots almost every time you click the "apply" button. This results in a temporary loss of communication (~30 sec) between the router and the computer, which may look a little disturbing. Additional note: if you decide to change the router's LAN address, it will reboot with the new IP so the browser needs to follow. All settings are fairly standard except for one: SMC decided to set firewall to OFF by default. So remember to go to the firewall settings and turn it ON manually (and click "apply"). A somewhat debatable approach, especially that there is no word about it in the User Guide. The parental controls are very good. This router is capable of blocking up to 30 user-defined web sites based either on the URL or a phrase included in the URL. A very important tool if you have young children at home. When one of them attempts to connect to a banned URL the router just hangs with no other indication so it looks like the remote site is simply not responding. Other routers that I am familiar with send a message back stating that the URL was blocked. I prefer SMC's gentle implementation. There are also settings for defining the Internet access time and day per computer. Other setting like port triggering, forwarding, DMZ etc are there. These are standard on all routers these days. The security features make this router really stand out. Unlike other models in this class, SMC7004VBR can identify several types of hacker attacks and send alerts to a predefined email address. SMC did an excellent job implementing full POP3 account settings. Other vendors provide only basic configuration (i.e. only SMTP server name, no password), which may cause alerts to get lost under certain circumstances (dynamic IP). I was a little disappointed to see that SMC does not give options for other email alerts (i.e. triggered by the URL filter) but hopefully they will consider it in future firmware releases. Software upgrade functionality works flowlessly. I upgraded my router after visiting SMC web site and realizing there was a newer version available. The support via their web site is sufficient, I really did not have any reasons to call them on the phone. In my configuration, this product functions not only as a firewall but it provides high-speed network connectivity between my home computers. A remote (near the ceiling) Wireless Access Point is connected to one of the ports. The bottom line: two thumbs up!
Click Here to see more reviews about: SMC SMC7004VBR Barricade Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port 10/100Mbps Switch
The Barricade™ Cable/DSL Broadband Router (SMC7004VBR) is the ideal networking solution for home and business users that are looking for a complete networking solution. This platform independent multi-function router combines a 4-port 10/100 Mbps dual speed switch, full-featured SPI firewall, and network management system into one convenient device. The Barricade supports various network protocols, such as TCP/IP and NetBeui, while also providing support for VPN connections with PPTP, L2TP, and IPSec pass-through.
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