SMC Barricade wireless broadband router

Considering its name, you might expect the Barricade to come with retractable metal grating encased in barbed wire. Instead, SMC's wireless broadband router is a sleek, gray box about the size of a big slice of deep-dish pizza. But despite its modest appearance, it offers more connection ports than any other home router we've tested, with the exception of the Siemens SpeedStream Wireless DSL/cable router. It also offers excellent performance and an impressive set of security features to protect your network from the most common hacker attacks.Considering its name, you might expect the Barricade to come with retractable metal grating encased in barbed wire. Instead, SMC's wireless broadband router is a sleek, gray box about the size of a big slice of deep-dish pizza. But despite its modest appearance, it offers more connection ports than any other home router we've tested, with the exception of the Siemens SpeedStream Wireless DSL/cable router. It also offers excellent performance and an impressive set of security features to protect your network from the most common hacker attacks.

Ports galore
The $178 Barricade offers an impressive array of ports. It includes three 10/100Mbps Ethernet ports and a 10Mbps WAN port for connecting your cable/DSL modem. The Barricade also has an RS-232 serial port for connecting to an ISDN terminal adapter or a POTS analog modem; the latter is a handy backup if your broadband service becomes temporarily unavailable. The Barricade also has a parallel port, but because new printers typically connect via USB, most home users will have difficulty finding a use for it.

The Barricade offers some other conveniences as well. Two omnidirectional antennas extend from either side on the back to provide better range, and a Reset button next to the printer port sends the router back to its factory default settings. While the Barricade does not include brackets for wall or ceiling mounting, it does come with a CAT-5 Ethernet cable.

Simple administration
Setting up the Barricade is simple. The Quick Installation Guide contains detailed and illustrated configuration instructions for PCs and Macs, and a more comprehensive user guide in PDF format can be found on the included CD-ROM. To configure the router, open your Web browser, type in the provided IP address, and click the Setup button from the main screen. The automated setup wizard leads you step by step through the rest of the process. To connect wireless computers, you'll need to purchase an adapter (such as the $60.95 SMC EZ Connect 11Mbps wireless USB adapter) for each machine.

Good security
You can also make more sophisticated networking settings from the Advanced menu tab. For example, you can configure the Barricade to function as a virtual server for services you would like to set up behind the router's NAT-based firewall. A simple check box tells the router to discard pings from the WAN side, which helps conceal your router on the Internet. You can also run multiuser applications behind the firewall by opening public ports or assigning a particular machine to run without firewall protection within a DMZ. Other tabs let you update the firmware, reset defaults, or check the security log, where you can view any illegal attempts to access your network. The Barricade's firewall can also block common hacker attacks, including IP spoofing, land attack, ping of death, smurf attack, and snork attack. Hide Review