Rating: 
Summary: user friendly
Review: I am a relative novice, and I had no trouble at all setting this up and getting it to work. Installation was easy. I use AT&T cable broadband and did not have to pay for extra IP addresses for the other computers on the network.
We did have a little trouble when a Mac laptop was plugging in. It would occasionally cut us off, but we just pushed the reset button and it would start working again after about a minute or two. I am very happy with this product. Especially because I bought it with a rebate!
Rating: 
Summary: It better work because tech support is non-existent
Review: The problem I had with the SMC7004ABR router may have been particular to my modem and/or DSL service. In any event, I could not get it to work for more than about 2 minutes, wherein it would slow to a crawl and most retrievals (web pages or mail server) would time out. They are not answering their email tech support. By phone, I was on hold for an hour and was helped by someone who merely wanted to take my phone number and collect a time range in which I'd be available on any given day. They didn't call. I sent it back and bought a Linksys BEFSR41 -- it works fine.
Rating: 
Summary: Good product, poor manual
Review: I recently purchased this item after deciding to upgrade to DSL service. While it took a little while for me to get the DSL service working, my LAN worked almost immediately. Truthfully, I have to admit that the problems with the DSL service were caused by my own inexperience with broadband and a non-standard set-up from the local ISP. My ISP uses a connection manager to connect through the DSL service, but the Barricade is always on. The result was that I THOUGHT I was having trouble connecting (since the connection manager software said it couldn't locate a server) when in fact, I was already on-line. Since then, the Barricade has worked almost flawlessly (if your connection suddenly seems to be VERY slow, reset or unplug the Barricade for 10 seconds or so, then reconnect and you should be fine). All in all, I'm very pleased with this router, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a firewall/broadband router. The plusses:
It's simple to use, easy to set up (mostly--more later), reliable (so far, anyway), and SMC support has been quick to respond to my questions. I've had no trouble connecting to my work network through a VPN (CITRIX), and thanks to the Barricade's firewall, I've seen no evidence of anyone accessing my LAN despite it being up 24/7 through the DSL. The minuses:
The manual needs some work. While configuring my system for the DSL connection, I noticed several times that there were discrepancies between where the manual said to look and where you actually needed go (ie, "...go to...page 25" when it was really page 28). Even worse, the steps on configuring the Barricade as a print server for Windows 2000 bear NO resemblance to what you really need to do. I'm still trying to get my W2K Pro machine to use the Barricade as print server with my DeskJet 660C. Neither of these are critical--the manual is thin enough you can easily find the right page and the interface is intuitive enough that you can probably figure it out even without the manual, and the print server function is a "gee-whiz" feature, anyway. If SMC can update the manual so the pages are correct and the print server instructions are correct, it will be a five-star product.
Rating: 
Summary: Connectivity
Review: Read most of the customers reviews and liked the price. This router/switch works ok, but the web site could offer more advanced setup information. My only problem with it is that it would not connect to another switch at 100MB, using a netgear 100MB switch or D-Link. I could only get it to work on a D-Link 10MB hub or the D-Link Switch set at 10MB. The throughput is also low. Not even close to 100MB. (Used Q-Check)Opening ports can also be a pain. If your looking for a low cost router/switch thats easy to setup and will not be using the advanced features, the SMC is a good buy. For me, I want a 100MB network, so I'm buying a different router. Remember you get what you pay for.
Rating:
Summary: In a word..........Awesome!
Review: Finally, a product that does what it is supposed to, from a company that seems to care. A rarity in today's marketplace.
By now you have read about all the features of this router, so I won't discuss them individually. I will, however, say that in my experience everything performs flawlessly. My tested transfer rates have remained at or above my speeds prior to installing the router. The print server works without a hitch. I have't had a chance to test the serial connection as of yet, but I would expect no suprises there either. Make sure you upgrade the firmware per the installation instructions, and you should have no problems whatsoever.
I highly recommend this product without reservation.
Rating:
Summary: Got multiple VPN sessions! And a Print Server too! Great!
Review: I installed it yesterday, and I am really happy. Solid performance, supports multiple VPN sessions (the Netgear RT-314 it replaced supported only one) and gives me a bonus print server.
So far so good. It's a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Extremely easy installation
Review: The product does what is says, in ten minutes out the box I was setup. Including the print server, my printer works just fine with Windows 2000 and XP.
Rating:
Summary: Great product. It does what it claims.
Review: Great product.
If i had to buy another product i would look for one made by SMC.
Easy to set up and great speed. Does slow done the internet connection a little bit because of the firewall.
If you are going to use the print server make sure you visit your printer manufactors web site and download new drivers. I had a canon printer and tried to install the drivers that came with the printer but they wont work. I than visited canons website and downloaded the smaller (min.) drivers and the print server worked fine.
Rating:
Summary: Had to configure as STATIC on Dynamic ADSL
Review: Would'nt work with Cinti Bell Zoomtown dynamic IP ADSL. Tech support's (call in wee morning hours) last resort was to set 7004ABR as Static to the current IP address. Yeah, it worked, BUT I did'nt want to find out for how long that IP was going to be valid. Testing the LinkSys now, -works outa the box -- so far so good.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of money
Review: I bought this router just because this has print server to replace my linksys router which is working perfectly alright . without any doubt i can say this is the biggest mistake i did. the connection is too slow with the dsl connection i have that sometimes i feel dialup will be much faster. customer service is too busy to hear your problems itself. in short i have packed it safely & am back to my good old linksys router....
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