Customer Reviews

SMC SMC7008BR Cable/DSL Router with 8 Port Switch

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been through the whole progression of sharing the cable modem at my house for 5 home PC's and my work laptop. I started with the Microsoft solution of ICS (I specifically upgraded to Windows 98 SE to get that feature). I used thinnet on my home network and it worked ok but having to have the one PC on for the rest was awkard and it was slow for the kids multiplayer games. I then moved on to a SMC 7004BR router and it was bliss. Easy setup except the printer sharing. Even there I called their support and they walked me through it. I have since stepped up to the 7008BR for two locations I manage and these are better than the 7004BR (Faster too). I cannot recommend them enough.

This makes networking a BREEZE! I unplugged the cable modem, connected an Cat5 cable from the modem to the router, connected the computers to the router, and plugged my printer into the back of the router. Booted up the cable modem. When it was ready, booted up the router. Then booted up the computers. I set up the new printer port on each computer, and in Internet Explorer Unchecked "automatically detect network settings" That was it!! 5 computers online with 576kbs download times, all printing to one printer without all the "sharing" set up hastles!

I highly recommend this for anyone!

The unit installs easily, seems to work fine. Download speeds are just about even with my old Linksys BEFSR41, but the printer port and backup modem port are very nice additions. I'm very happy with it. My only gripe is that the only printed docs are a quick-reference card - the manual is on a CD-ROM, and I'd have preferred to get a hardcopy, too.

I just set up my home network for three PC's and a Mac, and I am very pleased with the results. Now, I'm downloading MP3's and music videos at blazing speeds from every computer in the house. I enabled the print server for two of the PC's without difficulties and even got my intranet web server to work. I can't wait to host a networked computer game.

The configuration of the router was fairly easy, but could have been more straight-forward. The manual was written for people who get their IP addresses assigned dynamically. I have my own static IP address and had to fiddle with the menu options. (Fortunately, I just finished a Cisco CCNA networking class and was confident with my solution.)

This is a great NAT Router. I will not bore you with repeating all the tech specs, but the install was quick and easy. The chassis is made of metal, and uses a standard PC power cable. (Yep, you don't need an special power adapter). It has a nice large power switch on the rear also. The only problem I had was installing a HP DeskJet 722c printer. The problem is caused by the HP drivers. HP specifically writes drivers so that one must purchase a JetDirect box to network thier low-end printers. Turned out that I had to use 10.1 drivers instead of the 10.3 to workaround this problem. All in all this is a great product that deserves a five star rating.

Can you run a webserver behind this router? Because you CAN'T do it with a SMC7004ABR

Thanks!