I've used two offerings from SMC over the years and have been happy with both.
The SMC 7004AWBR is a router and wireless acces point, it supports airport or any other 802.11b wireless interface. It also has three 10/100 ethernet ports for connecting up any desktop computers you have. It also passes appletalk portocols, something many wireless access points don't do, this means you will be able to print to an appletalk printer, if you have one.
The SMC 7004VWBR is a newer version and supports stateful packet inspections, a method of firewall protection that has the ability to provide greater protection of your network. It also can support multiple IPs, should you have a use for that. In my case my ISP provides me with two IPs. I can use the router to assign which computer will respond to which IP, or of course I could use just one of the IPs and let the router assign addresses to any computer hooked up to it. The 7004VWBR also supports appletalk protocols, like the earlier version.
Both wireless routers are currently available. And I would recomend either one. The AWBR is probably eaiser to setup and administer, since it has fewer firewall and NAT options. The VWBR provides more features, but unless you are using them, it performs no better then the AWBR. The AWBR has an automated setup which attempts to configure itself by checking the type of modem (cable or DSL) that it is connected to. I didn't use that feature so I have no idea if it works, I confirued mine manually, since I knew how I wanted it set up.
Good luck
Tom N.
The SMC 7004AWBR is a router and wireless acces point, it supports airport or any other 802.11b wireless interface. It also has three 10/100 ethernet ports for connecting up any desktop computers you have. It also passes appletalk portocols, something many wireless access points don't do, this means you will be able to print to an appletalk printer, if you have one.
The SMC 7004VWBR is a newer version and supports stateful packet inspections, a method of firewall protection that has the ability to provide greater protection of your network. It also can support multiple IPs, should you have a use for that. In my case my ISP provides me with two IPs. I can use the router to assign which computer will respond to which IP, or of course I could use just one of the IPs and let the router assign addresses to any computer hooked up to it. The 7004VWBR also supports appletalk protocols, like the earlier version.
Both wireless routers are currently available. And I would recomend either one. The AWBR is probably eaiser to setup and administer, since it has fewer firewall and NAT options. The VWBR provides more features, but unless you are using them, it performs no better then the AWBR. The AWBR has an automated setup which attempts to configure itself by checking the type of modem (cable or DSL) that it is connected to. I didn't use that feature so I have no idea if it works, I confirued mine manually, since I knew how I wanted it set up.
Good luck
Tom N.