Router Reviews

Features of a firewall, a traditional network switch and a DHCP server are present in a broadband router. The main purpose behind designing the broadband routers is to get comfort while setting up home networks, especially for homes with DSL internet service or high speed cable modem. A broadband router support internet connection sharing, file sharing and home LAN gaming.

Here we present information about broadband routers and their reviews. Also we provided reviews of broadband routers from most popular companies like Netgear, Linksys, D-Link, Nextland, SMC, etc.

For home networking, a broadband router follows the Ethernet standard. Traditional broadband routers also known as wired broadband routers needed Ethernet cables be work between the broadband modem, the router and every computer on the local area network.

Without using cables, you can still access the broadband internet, because newer wireless routers are present in market that supports Ethernet standard as well as broadband internet access. Several broadband router products differentiated in number and type of ports available for external modems, cabling computers or other network devices.

SMC 7004VBR Barricade
SMC 7004VBR Barricade is a four port broadband router features a NAT firewall, print server and a built in dual speed Ethernet switch. It also provides a COM port and VPN tunneling support. A COM port is provided to support modem dial up access like a backup or automatic failover option. It is also able to log hacker attacks. A small life guarantee is offered by SMC for this product.

Netgear RT314
All the basic gateway features are present in the Netgear’s four port cable or DSL router, RT314. It supports the PPPoE based internet connections, commonly offered by ISPs today. The RT314 works on faster hardware, so provide better performance than many other routers in this family. This product comes with a five year warranty.

MultiTech RouteFinder RF102S
This is a dial up router which offers two RS-232 serial ports to connect external modem and a built in 4 port 10/100 Ethernet switch. It also supports port forwarding and VPN pass-through. Those who are not ready for broadband, but need a router can go for this option.

Asante FriendlyNET FR1004
Because of the speed and port management capabilities of Asante’s broadband router, most of the games recommend this FR1004 product. Asante too provides easy-to-use facility package with these routers. The basic internal features are similar to the SMC Barricade, but lacks only by a one year limited guarantee.

Linksys EtherFast BEFRS41
Linksys EtherFast BEFRS41 is available in the market since January 1st, 2000 and has become a best seller and a least expensive broadband router among others. It is reasonably fully featured and to fix the reliability problems, undergone many firmware revisions.

2Wire HomePortal 180
This product maintains aggressive characteristics for the home network integration which is based on the Ethernet (RJ-45). It offers a USB and phoneline (RJ11) network support. Other routers may offer this functionality through add-on bridge product, but this router blend all these characteristics into a single unit.

US Robotics USR8000
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) produced the USR8000 hardware as well as the internals of SMC and Asante router. Recently, US Robotics entered this product in the market. While comparing this product with other broadband router consider its quality of technical support and pricing incentives.

D-Link DI804-HV
D-Link’s DI804-HV broadband router is a 4-port D-Link model which supports Virtual Private Networks. Also it comes with set of firewalls and other security features. It offers one year warrantee.

Nexland ISB SOHO
This broadband router has four port full duplex switch which handles more than 8 Mbps of speed and supports PPPoE and Web/ FTP/email servers and the free CAT5 line was a good added appliance. The Internet Sharing Box (ISB) and Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) provided better overall cost/performance ratio for this type of routers. Five years of guarantee is provided by Nextland for the ISB SOHO.

D-Link DI-604
The D-Link DI-604 broadband router is an award wining entry level router. The package contains a built in 4-port switch, a VCT (Virtual Cable Tester) to detect Ethernet cable connectivity problems and a CAT5 Ethernet cable for convenience. It comes with one year warrantee.