? about my barricade

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J

James

Mode SMC 7008ABR can be seen here

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?id=995

I am hooking this to the surfboard modem from Comcast. I noticed that where
the network cable that goes from the modem to the back of the barricade here
are 2 lights, one marked 10 the other marked 100. If I am connected directly
from my pc I'm at 100 but if my barricade is connected it's at 10. The
router says it has 10/100Mbps so I'm confused at why it's not running at
100.

And one other thing, this router has a problem connecting. I can get it to
connect and it will work for a while then become disconnected and I have to
power everything off for a while and power up the modem first then the
router and it MIGHT connect where as my pc can connect to the modem and get
a connection right off.

Is this just a poor quality product from SMC that I have? If I'm on the
config screen and hit Renew the screen flashes once and nothing happens.
There's nothing in the log that says anything about sending any type of
connection renewal to the modem or anything. Then the total reset takes few
moments and does pretty much the same thing, nothing.

I have looked for firmware upgrades from SMC but there's nothing listed for
this model with the same product number.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
James said:
Mode SMC 7008ABR can be seen here

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?id=995

I am hooking this to the surfboard modem from Comcast. I noticed that where
the network cable that goes from the modem to the back of the barricade here
are 2 lights, one marked 10 the other marked 100. If I am connected directly
from my pc I'm at 100 but if my barricade is connected it's at 10. The
router says it has 10/100Mbps so I'm confused at why it's not running at
100.
Click to expand...

Your modem isn't 100.
And one other thing, this router has a problem connecting. I can get it to
connect and it will work for a while then become disconnected and I have to
power everything off for a while and power up the modem first then the
router and it MIGHT connect where as my pc can connect to the modem and get
a connection right off.
Click to expand...

Welcome to SMC. I have *NEVER* seen an SMC router that didn't crash at least
once a week.
Is this just a poor quality product from SMC that I have? If I'm on the
config screen and hit Renew the screen flashes once and nothing happens.
There's nothing in the log that says anything about sending any type of
connection renewal to the modem or anything. Then the total reset takes few
moments and does pretty much the same thing, nothing.
Click to expand...

If you can, sell the router to some sap and get a Netgear or anything else.
SMC is JUNK!
 
Noozer said:
Your modem isn't 100.
Click to expand...

Then why does the 100 light on the back come on when connected from the pc?

Is that just saying from the modem to the pc it's 100 but you are saying the
modem is only 10 regardless? This is a SB4220 cable modem.
Welcome to SMC. I have *NEVER* seen an SMC router that didn't crash at least
once a week.


If you can, sell the router to some sap and get a Netgear or anything else.
SMC is JUNK!
Click to expand...

I had a strong feeling that was the problem. I will be getting a new one
soon.

Thanks
 
James said:
Mode SMC 7008ABR can be seen here

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?id=995

I am hooking this to the surfboard modem from Comcast. I noticed that
where
the network cable that goes from the modem to the back of the barricade
here
are 2 lights, one marked 10 the other marked 100. If I am connected
directly
from my pc I'm at 100 but if my barricade is connected it's at 10. The
router says it has 10/100Mbps so I'm confused at why it's not running at
100.
Click to expand...

Probably indicating that its opperating in half duplex mode, over a
crossover instead of a straight through cable.
And one other thing, this router has a problem connecting. I can get it to
connect and it will work for a while then become disconnected and I have
to
power everything off for a while and power up the modem first then the
router and it MIGHT connect where as my pc can connect to the modem and
get
a connection right off.
Click to expand...

Sounds dodgy, take it back
Is this just a poor quality product from SMC that I have? If I'm on the
config screen and hit Renew the screen flashes once and nothing happens.
There's nothing in the log that says anything about sending any type of
connection renewal to the modem or anything. Then the total reset takes
few
moments and does pretty much the same thing, nothing.

I have looked for firmware upgrades from SMC but there's nothing listed
for
this model with the same product number.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Get a new router

hamman
 
James said:
Then why does the 100 light on the back come on when connected from the
pc?

Is that just saying from the modem to the pc it's 100 but you are saying
the
modem is only 10 regardless? This is a SB4220 cable modem.


I had a strong feeling that was the problem. I will be getting a new one
soon.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have a netgear router and it has never crashed in 2 years!
 
James said:
Mode SMC 7008ABR can be seen here

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?id=995

I am hooking this to the surfboard modem from Comcast. I noticed that
where
the network cable that goes from the modem to the back of the barricade
here
are 2 lights, one marked 10 the other marked 100. If I am connected
directly
from my pc I'm at 100 but if my barricade is connected it's at 10. The
router says it has 10/100Mbps so I'm confused at why it's not running at
100.
Click to expand...

The modem is probably 10Mbps. Broadband is only 0.5Mbps. Dial-up is
0.0056Mbps! T1 is about 1.5Mbps. My broadband modem can accept up to an
8Mbps connection (fastest available at the moment is 2Mbps), so the modem
doesn't need to run at the higher 100 Mbps speeds as it won't need to
communicate that fast for many years yet!
 
Welcome to SMC. I have *NEVER* seen an SMC router that didn't crash at
least
once a week.
Click to expand...

Let me introduce you to the SMC 7404WBRA Barricade all in one ADSL
Modem/Router (incl wireless capability) with built in Parallel Print Server:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/hardware/reviews/2003/q3/smc_7404wbra.asp I have
one of these and in the 10 months or so that I've had it, it hasn't locked
up or thrown a tantram at all (these days it's on 24/7 for other wireless
users in the house). It was very cheap to buy as well as having the most
features at the time so the old saying you get what you pay for doesn't
always apply. Of course I cant speak with experience about every SMC
component out there (just as anyone other than a Netgear sales person won't
be able to talk from experience on all Netgear stuff) but the unit I have
has been faultless as far as I'm concerned. I also have a Netgear USB
Wireless Network Adapter and it seems to run OK too (although I haven't
taxed that very much yet).
If you can, sell the router to some sap and get a Netgear or anything
else.
SMC is JUNK!
Click to expand...
It's not accurate to generalise - see above.

I certainly wouldn't advise the OP to get rid of the router - best bet is to
email SMC tech support about the problem. I did this when trying to
configure Microsoft Flight Simulator to work over the internet and didn't
want all the ports used by the game blocked. The response from SMC (here in
the UK), was extremely helpful. If the OP wants to simplify things an SMC
7404 (W)BRA, could be used in place of the current separate modem setup.

Paul
 
I contacted SMC two weeks ago and they haven't got anything back yet.

I ended up getting a Netgear model and so far it works fine.

I'll probably hang on to the SMC and hook it to the NetGear and see how it
performs then and use the print server.

Thanks
 
The standard of SMC Tech support is clearly very different where you live to
that provided in the UK. I suggest you email them again with a reminder copy
of the original email or try phoning them if its a low cost call. Although
you've bought another bit of hardware to do its job you shouldn't have had
to and such problems should be properly addressed under the 5 year warranty
(assuming that applies where you are).

Paul
 
This won't help...

They give you VERY basic support, then they tell you that they can't help
you. You have to insist on an RMA and when you get the new part back, it
does the same thing. I RMA'd my last SMC device three times before smashing
it.

And before anyone blames my configuration - My Netgear has been running
flawlessly for over a year in the exact same configuration. I couldnt' even
get a week with the SMC hardware. (Multiple models of SMC as well).
 
That's not my experience at all with SMCs UK Tech support. They provided
detailed support to enable configuration of my device for Flight Sim 2002
and no RMA was provided or needed. If I'd RMA'd an item and the new one also
presented the same problem I'd consider 2 things: 1. An operator or
configuration error or 2. A *very slim* possibility of a batch hardware
fault or design problem. Under consumer protection laws users do not have to
put up with hardware which is defective within the warranty period (5 years
for my Barricade here in the UK). All that smashing the equipment does is
deprive the user of any chance of getting a refund for any defective
equipment (that's assuming the equipment was genuinely defective and it
wasn't just a configuration error the user couldn't/didn't know how to fix).
In short, if there's genuinely a problem with an item of hardware then it
needs to be fixed or a *refund* insisted upon if this isn't possible.
Smashing a "suspect" item and replacing it with another brand doesn't get to
the bottom of things. If a user is confident an item of hardware is faulty
then it should be relatively easy to insist on a refund - after all the same
fault would show up under test of the suspect part when it's sent back.

Although other brands of all in one ADSL Modem/Router combo units may have
some (or even many/most) of the same options within a setup menu, its very
unlikely that all of the options are exactly the same in all of the
menus/configuration pages. For this reason I suggest its extremely unlikely
to obtain the "exact same configuration" between two different brands of
similar equipment such as a barricade. All it takes is for one particular
option that's present on one device but not another, to be overlooked or
misunderstood and a problem could be created. My Barricade certainly is a
fully featured product with many configuration options but they're options
which I've found once set correctly result in fault free operation - the
trick was in understanding what they all did/were for. The comprehensive
book/manual which came with it was useful for this.

Paul
 
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