SMC SMC7008BR Cable/DSL Router with 8 Port Switch

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.