SMC Barricade router (SMCWBR14-GM) review

These days, there are times when it seems that if a product isn't wireless, then it's not worth writing about.

Conversely, there are some wireless products that don't deserve much publicity. SMC's Barricade MIMO Wireless Broadband Router is one such device.

The trouble begins with the 'EZ 3-Click installation wizard' promised by the product's packaging. In fact, setting up the Barricade requires at least five clicks by our count - not to mention a few more on top of that if you actually want a secure wireless network. But we don't want to be too trivial too early with our tongue-lashing- there are grander problems with the Barricade's setup and configuration.

For starters, the options on the installation software's opening screen differ from those pictured in supplied 'Quick Installation Guide' leaflet. It's not difficult to work out which option to use, but the discrepancy smacks of sloppy production values. Similarly, the user manual - a PDF on the installation CD-ROM - is poorly structured, badly written and assumes far too much prior knowledge of the setup and operation of a router to be useful to anyone other than experienced users, who probably wouldn't need a manual anyway.Much the same could be said of the setup software, which though functional, is littered with unqualified technical terms and avoidable jargon, not to mention misspellings. SMC should be ashamed.

However, once up and running, it does its job as a 54Mbit/s Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) MIMO router. The MIMO bit stands for multiple-input, multiple-output, which manifests itself as a set of three aerials sticking out the back of the device. When coupled with a compatible wireless adapter - we tested the router with SMC's own MIMO PC Card adapter (SMCWCB-GM) - this technology improves the reliability and consistency of the wireless connection. During testing, we clocked a top connection speed of 24Mbit/s and a sustained data-transfer speed of just over 18Mbit/s at a distance of around 25m, and that was through one wall and one floor below the router's position - really quite impressive.