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SMC Barricade N Wireless Router & EZ Connect USB Adapter Bundle
$19.99 + $5 Shipping
Condition: New

Product List:
- 1 SMC Barricade N 802.11n Wireless Router SMCWBR14S-N4
- 1 SMC Networks EZ Connect N Wireless USB Adapter SMCWUSBS-N3

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

can you put ddwrt on it

I just bought a new router yesterday.

Make sure you use WPA or WPA2 for your security because WEP is very insecure.

Router at Amazon

How well does this give signal through walls in a house?

I understand this is a router. But what is different/special about this versus my Linksys wireless router?

$25 Router with a USB adapter for Wireless is a nice bargain if you got an old laptop or desktop that haven't got wifi.

Pro:

The price is great: it would be a good price for either piece; it's a great price for both.

Wireless N is the latest standard; this should still be current 3 years from now (maybe 5).

N gives you the best range today (maybe twice as good as G, if you're having reception issues).

The hardware firewall will keep your system(s) a lot safer than the (semi-bogus) Windoze firewall, which you can turn off if you need better performance.

SMC support will answer and talk with you if you call them.

Con:

You cannot use the open-source alternative OS (that's for Linksys).

Although SMC is a venerable purveyor of professional networking gear, they're becoming an also-ran in the consumer market. (Maybe this is the reason for the great price.)

When I had an SMC, it worked great -- as long as I reset it every day or so. Otherwise, it had problems.

is this better or worse than Linksys or Netgear? How come it's so much cheaper than those other more "famous" ones?

I had an older SMC Barricade router that would quite frequently disconnect then reconnect with all wirelessly connected computers. While you might not think this is a problem, consider downloading a large file that cannot be resumed....

I, in anger, damaged a lapatop because I thougt it to be a unit of crap. But, later I realized, that the culprit was the crappy router made by SMC and labled Barricade.

A crashed hard drive, due to my anger, and a lot of hair pulled out, finally led me to the defective SMC Barricade router.

Since then, I have not recommended their stuff even to my WORST enemys.

Tread lightly!!!!!

Router froogled

Adapter froogled

bigwayneo wrote:I understand this is a router. But what is different/special about this versus my Linksys wireless router?

This one is white.

Wireless-N 150Mbps, but only 100Mbps for wired ports??
What a crock!!

TJFoxxxx wrote:I just bought a new router yesterday.

I just bought 1 about 3 days ago!

A very important question (at least to me), that for some reason many router makers are forgetting about....

Does this support static IP reservations / distribution of said reserved IP's through DHCP based on MAC address?

GOod like finding serious reviews on SMC Barricade products. I found a few, but they're really not even worth linking to.

Can it work with an Xbox 360?

Kn1nJa wrote:Make sure you use WPA or WPA2 for your security because WEP is very insecure.

It's best to do MAC address filtering also.

anyone know if this will work as a wireless ap serving an existing network(or more accurately, work as a wireless switch providing addressing from the existing network to devices directly connected/wired to this ap)

Remember, this is only a Wireless-N 150Mbp device. It's not "true" Wireless-N which is 300Mbp.

Considering the price, I am contemplating getting one because the wireless signal is kinda spotty downstairs where my wife's computer is located. I have an ethernet down there, but the jack is on the other side of the room.

NightGhost wrote:Router at Amazon

The Amazon one doesn't come with the USB adapter.

gwbaker wrote:I had an older SMC Barricade router that would quite frequently disconnect then reconnect with all wirelessly connected computers. While you might not think this is a problem, consider downloading a large file that cannot be resumed....

I, in anger, damaged a lapatop because I thougt it to be a unit of crap. But, later I realized that the culprit was the crappy router made by SMC and labled Barride.

A crashed hard drive, due to my anger, and a lot of hair pulled out, finally led me to the defective SMC Barricade router.

Since then, I have not recommended their stuff even to my WORST enemys.

Tread lightly!!!!!

I was thinking about getting this to replace my god-awful Belkin setup I have now with which I've had similar experiences with. What brand would you guys recommend?

dissatisfiedcustomer wrote:MAC address filtering is best.

Only when coupled with a secure protocol as mac spoofing and mac sniffing are fairly simple

stevesds wrote:Wireless-N 150Mbps, but only 100Mbps for wired ports??
What a crock!!

That's pretty standard fare for wireless-N routers. Most of the gigabit routers are closer to $100+.

rileyper wrote:can you put ddwrt on it

Does not appear so. SMC is not in the DD-WRT database, and a couple of forum posts indicate that it is a no-go.

Oh, and on the topic of USB adapter:

Is it just a generic WiFi dongle that will work with any wireless router/hotspot, or is it married to this specific unit?

OK, so here's my question: is there any wireless router out there that is consistently tolerable? I've ran into problems with just about every brand. I'm convinced that while all technology moves forward, wireless routers are still an absolute crapshoot when it comes to whether or not they'll last, whether they'll arbitrarily boot users off the network, whether you'll have to unplug it every day to reset it, etc...

I find it extremely frustrating, and I'm in the market for a router. This is so cheap that I almost think it's worth the chance. Anyone have some advice? I'm getting a little sick of this 50 foot blue ethernet cable wrapping around my apartment. Thanks in advance.

gwbaker wrote:I had an older SMC Barricade router that would quite frequently disconnect then reconnect with all wirelessly connected computers. While you might not think this is a problem, consider downloading a large file that cannot be resumed....

I, in anger, damaged a lapatop because I thougt it to be a unit of crap. But, later I realized that the culprit was the crappy router made by SMC and labled Barride.

A crashed hard drive, due to my anger, and a lot of hair pulled out, finally led me to the defective SMC Barricade router.

Since then, I have not recommended their stuff even to my WORST enemys.

Tread lightly!!!!!

Thanks I almost clicked buy..

All I could picture was your RoboCop avatar throwing a temper tantrum and smashing hardware... It made me giggle.

Kn1nJa wrote:Make sure you use WPA or WPA2 for your security because WEP is very insecure.

Well you're certainly not helping by speaking ill of WEP.

Here's the router manual

rileyper wrote:can you put ddwrt on it

I just went on the DD-WRT website and searched the database. It does not come up in the results.

You can search here.

What kind of speeds should you get with a "N" router. I have d-link downstairs with d-link usb adapter on the next floor up. I get 60mbps sometimes not to often I get 120mbps. So what is going on?

It only has one antenna. Wireless N needs two antennas in order to achieve its full potential.

moliva914 wrote:I was thinking about getting this to replace my god-awful Belkin setup I have now with which I've had similar experiences with. What brand would you guys recommend?

I've used an old Barricade before with no such issues. I currently roll with Netgear, though. Nice routers, solid built in configuration options, and pretty good signal strength.

bhcompy wrote:anyone know if this will work as a wireless ap serving an existing network(or more accurately, work as a wireless switch providing addressing from the existing network to devices directly connected/wired to this ap)

Yes. It has bridge mode functionality. I was just looking at the manual.

http://www.smc.com/files/AX/UG_SMCWBR14S_N4.PDF

dissatisfiedcustomer wrote:MAC address filtering is best.

Until whoever is accessing your network just monitors the traffic and grabs a MAC to clone.

Setup WPA2 and use a long non-dictionary, alpha-numeric key if you actually care about security. Someone might be able to crack it, but they'll have been dead for a few hundred years.

moliva914 wrote:I was thinking about getting this to replace my god-awful Belkin setup I have now with which I've had similar experiences with. What brand would you guys recommend?

Linksys.

This one in specific.