Review on SMC7004VWBR Barricade Router 100Mbps 802 11B by Chris Reeves

I recently purchased this product as a gift for my parents, hoping to help them dial in, set up a home network and provide an easy upgrade path to DSL/ Cable. However, I found that the SMC7004VWBR does not have a serial port or phone jack. I was lucky enough to get around this by putting a Linux box on a wireless gateway, but I was terribly upset with Revain for clearly misinforming the product specification description, especially when there was no indication on the box that it is supported. Also, the product was acceptable enough, but like many "EZ" installations, problems can arise if something goes wrong. Installing through Windows XP was impractical due to the firewall that came with it, and the installation wizard gave useless and somewhat misleading error messages. WEP was also cumbersome to set up, but that's largely XP's fault. I've had experience setting up an Apple AirPort base station before and I have to say it was much more convenient. In fairness, though, the AirPort base station is grossly overpriced and doesn't have the same firewall and security features. Overall, however, AirPort has rarely made me feel like I had inadequate error reporting when setting up. The SMC configuration tool (used via a web browser) seems limited in use as I was hoping for something more extensive for something that played up its security configuration abilities. . Even with lots of LEDs on the front and a boot sequence that seemed to take a while, it would be a good idea to use the LEDs for diagnostic purposes. Apple only has 3 LEDs but still managed it well enough. In short, if you need or can connect to a wireless access point with a modem, DO NOT buy this product. In addition, it is a normal product. It's certainly not great, but it will work in the end. Be sure to disable the firewall when configuring it and do not enable network authentication (802.1x) unless you are sure it is required. Perhaps in the next firmware the configuration interfaces will be improved, but you should not hold your breath.