SMC Barricade N Wireless Broadband Router SMCWBR14S-N4 - Wireless router 4-port switch - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n - external

by SMC

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 3.6 x 1 inches ; 5.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• ASIN: B002ZDGJX2
• Item model number: SMCWBR14S-N4
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 2, 2010

Product Description

The Barricade N 150Mbps Wireless Broadband Router (SMCWBR14S-N4) is the perfect all-in-one networking solution for connecting and sharing your high speed cable/xDSL internet connection. Designed for the home, this platform independent multi-functional router combines a 4-port 10/100 LAN switch, 150Mbps Wireless-N access point, NAT firewall with Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) and User friendly web-based management interface in one convenient device. The SMCWBR14S-N4 provides better performance than existing 802.11g technology and is fully backwards compatible with existing 802.11b/g products. It supports the latest WPA and WPA2 wireless encryption standards, which prevent unauthorized access to wireless networks and ensure data is secure. Wireless security can also be set up easily using Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) that enables push button (PBC) or PIN configuration. The integrated NAT firewall with SPI provides protection from hackers and Denial of Service attacks by analyzing individual data packets, to ensure that only authorized packets are allowed access to the network. Using the Access Control feature parents or network administrators can block certain websites, limit web access based on time or dates, and/or block internet access for applications like P2P utilities or games. Finally, configuration of your internet connection and advanced router functions is made simple and straightforward with the EZ Installation Wizard and intuitive web-based management interface.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great bang for the buck., March 9, 2010

By 

Philantrop - See all my reviews

This review is from: SMC Barricade N Wireless Broadband Router SMCWBR14S-N4 - Wireless router 4-port switch - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n - external (Accessory)

Great little router, I run it in a mixed wired/wireless N environment and use it to share the Internet between two desktops, a laptop, a netbook, two Nintendo DS, one Nintendo DSI, Xbox 360 and a Wii. I bought it to replace the old SMC G router which I had for years (love the brand, so I stuck with them). Not much else to say, the set up was easy, and I haven't had to do anything else since the initial setup - it just works. Forgot to mention - didnt have to install any software, just like with SMC's other router, just logged into the web server menu and it was ready to go. Like I said, its a no brainer.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You get what you pay for..., July 26, 2010

By 

C. Stinnett "Brain Scanner by Day, MMA Watche... (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SMC Barricade N Wireless Broadband Router SMCWBR14S-N4 - Wireless router 4-port switch - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n - external (Accessory)

Well I thought I would give this inexpensive router a shot. It arrived quickly and was fairly easy to set-up. The installation CD didn't work for me, so I had to install manually. Manual install is basically like any other router out there. There are a few little quirks, mostly with the wording of things but still easy to figure out. If you have never installed a router on your home network, I probably wouldn't recommend trying to install this one on your own. If you are familiar with other router vendors and how to install them - this one is a bit different, but not too difficult to set-up.

Ok so set-up complete, on to get the network up & running. Had a few issues, but may more lie in I have a few older computers with older network cards. After a couple of hours of rebooting my various systems, I was finally able to get everything up & running. Note: all my Win7 systems set-up without any issues. Only had issues with my WinXp systems. Xbox also set-up just fine.

So everything was working well for about 4 days, then BAM router starts acting up and not in a little way. It just started continuously rebooting itself and dropping connections along with it. So I was a little disappointed.

Being that it's so cheap, I have a feeling it's a little hit or miss if you get a good one. I wanted to just exchange it, but as seeing as it was purchased through one of Amazon's third-party vendors, I could only get a refund. I would of happily just exchanged it in hope of getting a decent one, as signal strength & network speed were good while it lasted. Just sucks it didn't last more than a few days. Every other wireless routers I've ever owned have at least lasted several years. So I'm giving this router only 1 star - even at this low of a price, it needs to last more than a few days. If it was just a year or two - I would of felt like I got my money's worth.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great little router, October 5, 2010

By 

Hatt (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SMC Barricade N Wireless Broadband Router SMCWBR14S-N4 - Wireless router 4-port switch - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n - external (Accessory)

Pros
1) Price. Especially if you're a Comcast customer. You can buy the router for around $30 dollars. But if you order a wireless router from Comcast they will "loan" you this router for $9 dollars shipping. While you do have to return it if you cancel your cable, it still gets you in the door to wireless-n for under $10 bucks.

2) The range is much better than my other 2 routers I own. Dlink dir-655 and Belkin N1. I don't have very far to send the signal, just down one floor and into a shield tv nook. But neither of the other routers could access this location well. The dlink wouldn't connect at all, and required a hawking wireless n extender to connect. The Belkin could connect but got very poor connectivity. Both the Belkin and Dlink with extender showed 300 mb/sec connections... neither had performance that could back it up. Neither of the routers were able to run vnc or inputdirector reliably due to packet loss.

3) Works well in heavy wireless area. There are more than a dozen wireless networks in my location and I have absolutely no problems or interference using the standard channel 1/5 setting.

4) Throughput to htpc in shielded television nook one floor down.
dlink dir-655: less than 1 MB/second
dlink dir-655 with hawking range extender: 1-3 MB/second with very high interference during peak times
belkin n1: 3 MB/second but disconnects often with 10-20% packet loss
smc: 7 MB/second with no disconnects and 0 packet loss

Cons
1) Installation disk is worthless. Just change your network card ipv4 to 192.168.2.10, subnet 255.255.255.0, and preferred dns server to 192.168.2.1, connect with an cat5 and then type 192.168.2.1 into a browser to admin the unit. U: admin P: smcadmin

2) DHCP is very slow. Wired computers would take 30 seconds or more to get internet access. Wireless would sometimes never get internet access and required a manual connection. While static ip takes 4-5 seconds to connect after rebooting or coming out of sleep. Unlike my belkin and dlink, setting up static ip addresses was a piece of cake and would connect and register about 2 seconds after making the changes.

This product makes me want to try the 300 mbit router from smc. But, I'm so happy now with this router than I don't even feel the need to change and possibly be disappointed. Even with the cons, the price and performance still make me rate this 5 stars.