SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N ProMax Draft 11n Wireless Gigabit Broadband Router

by SMC

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 8.5 x 2.2 inches ; 12.3 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000VM16UU
• Item model number: SMCWGBR14-N
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,804 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

The Barricade N ProMax Draft 11n Gigabit Broadband Router (SMCWGBR14-N) is the perfect all-in-one networking solution for connecting and sharing your high speed cable/xDSL internet connection. Designed for the home and office, this platform independent multi-functional router combines a 4-port 10/100/1000Mbps LAN switch, high speed Wireless-N (draft 802.11n) access point, NAT firewall with Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), Intelligent stream handling technology, a Multi-function print server and a User friendly web-based management interface in one convenient device. The built-in wireless access point is 802.11n draft v2.0 certified while maintaining full backwards compatibility with the Wireless-G (802.11g) and Wireless-B (802.11b) standards. This next generation wireless networking standard utilizes advanced MIMO (Multiple-In, Multiple-Out) technology to deliver incredible speed and range. With wireless speeds up to 300Mbps and up to 11x the coverage, there is enough bandwidth to simultaneously stream video and audio, play online games, transfer large files, make VoIP calls and surf the Internet. Limited Life Time Warranty. 24/7 Technical Support 1-800-SMC-4YOU.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love It!, September 13, 2008

By 

Stefanie "Stefanie" (San Diego) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N ProMax Draft 11n Wireless Gigabit Broadband Router (Personal Computers)

I'm a Network Engineer and I have a habit of over doing it with my home equipment. I was limping along with my old Linksys router. The Barney of home networking equipment. My Vista laptop did not get along well with it at all. Refusing to upgrade convinced that N was just a stepping stone and the moment I bought a new router they'd release a new better product that actually lived up to the hype. However I was to the point that I would only use the internet if I was wired in. I did a lot of research and I finally chose the SMC Barricade Router. I installed the Barricade yesterday and I was shocked at how many features this router really came with in the Admin console. And my wifi connection is fast, 100% reliable and my laptop hasn't kicked me off of the internet since the moment I turned the router on. Signal...100% excilenta all of the time. Buy it, you'll love it. Stay away from Linksys you deserve better. The only thing that could make me happier with the Barricade is if the built in Gigabit switch had more than 4 ports. I have a few ethernet network storage drives and I'd like to have some extra slots for other devices. But 4 is standard with wifi routers. Thank you SMC for fixing my relationship with Wifi. It has really lived up to the good reviews. Check out Cnet.com for a good run down on it's features.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good router but not without some hassle factors..., July 5, 2008

By 

Jazzspielen (ER, AK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N ProMax Draft 11n Wireless Gigabit Broadband Router (Personal Computers)

Bought this SMC router on the strength of a CNET review to replace my old, failing Netgear for my home office with four laptops and four desktops. Had some difficulties with installation but a call to SMC tech support helped resolve the problems (SMC tech support is fast and excellent - best tech support I've found in years). Unfortunately, I have to contact Lenovo to have them re-configure inbuilt wireless card in laptop running Vista (adding to my growing distaste for Vista). My Macbook and other laptops running XP connected with no difficulty. My two desktops running Netgear cards will not recognize the router, so I had to call Netgear, but they wanted $36.50 for a half-hour of support b/c my cards were out of warranty. So, that sucked. Looks like I'll need to get SMC adapter cards for the desktops. I suppose I should have just purchased a newer Netgear router. I think the SMC router is very good overall -- I'm getting a strong signal and fast downloads. My problems are probably not the same that other users might experience, but I just wanted to save another user from the same hassle factors that I've had to go through with my setup....

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most stable 11n router for consumers, May 26, 2009

By 

T. Takebe - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N ProMax Draft 11n Wireless Gigabit Broadband Router (Personal Computers)

I work in network engineering so I'm used to the stability of expensive commercial routers and APs. Many consumer routers tend to fluctuate in output or have software issues that cause slow downs, connection drops, and even device crashes which require manual reboots to fix. Features and ease of set up are important, but stability is usually the single most important requirement in home networks so that the router can be installed and forgotten.

I have worked with various consumer routers from SMC, Linksys, D-Link, Trendnet, Belkin, Netgear, etc but SMC routers have usually been the most stable one for me that requires the least connection drops and manual restarts since their first 11a/b routers. Linksys routers do have the best software and most features so they are popular for enthusiasts, but they simply don't match SMC's stability with various types of networks.

SMCWGBR14-N is another rock solid router from SMC that doesn't require routine manual restarts even for very flaky PPPoE WAN connections. It's the perfect router to install and forget. Feature wise it has mostly everything you need, from one touch set ups to advanced signalling configuration. The printer / scanner port is definitely a plus for home networks sharing a printer. It saves energy and hassle.

The router has a small footprint and has an average but very solid signal strength. (Which is far better than various "boost" models which fluctuate in strength and cause connection drops) A design issue would be that it does not have wall-mount holes. It does come with an optional base for vertical standing, though.

If I were asked to install a 11n wireless home network for a regular family, I'd choose this router without a blink. Like every router there may be some compatibility issues with certain wireless NICs but these can usually be fixed by updating the NIC drivers or by tinkering with wireless settings.