From the top, you can see that the device has activity
indicator lights for WAN (you're DSL/Cable Ethernet connection) the 4 individual
Ethernet LAN ports, and a blinking indicator light that blinks once a second to
indicate the device as power.
The front of the unit, is where you will find the 4
Ethernet ports. The device acts as a 10/100 switch, rather than a hub, which is
a good thing. Hub's cannot handle the types of Lan side throughput that a switch
can. Two competing products, the D-Link D701 and the Netgear RT311 are simply
hubs. This isn't a damning criticism of those products, but it limits their
performance and usefulness in a SOHO environment, where LAN performance between
networked PC's with file/print sharing can seriously degrade. The SMC will
clearly be more appreciated in high bandwidth applications between networked
PC's.
On the back you will find the WAN port, for connecting
your cable/dsl modem, a printer port for hooking up a standard printer, and a
COM port, for control of an external modem, as well as for accessing the router
through a null modem cable and Terminal software (should you forget your
password to access the administrative functions, this will be necessary). I
believe this is the only broadband router available in this price range that
supports a built in print server (Windows/*nix only...no Mac support). Also, it
is unique in that it can support dial-up and ISDN connectivity.
In the box, you find the router, the ubiquitous power
brick supply, 2 Ethernet cables, one software installation CD, and a 1-page
setup guide. *ONE PAGE*????? Well, let's hope it's that simple to set up? On the
installation CD, you will find the full manual in Adobe Acrobat format. This is
a more and more common occurrence with hardware/software manuals, but one that
just bugs the heck out of me. Regardless of how easy a product is to set up,
sooner or later you are going to NEED a manual. SMC needs to include it's full
manual in the box, along with their 1-page quick setup guide. Skimpy
documentation rarely instills confidence in buyers. Just a tip SMC.
Next page: Setting it up
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