As my small consulting business grows there is an ever increasing need to provide Internet access to various Microsoft-centric servers, both for demonstration and business purposes.  For instance last weekend I built a new *Microsoft Small Business Server 2003* *Edition* in order to provide prospective clients with a demonstration of what the platform can provide, but at the same time I need Internet access for my business -related servers.  So (1) public facing IP address is no long adequate for my needs, hence I have switched to a DSL package that gives me (5) public IP addresses.  In order to manage all five IP addresses, I need more than just a simple DSL modem, I need a router with a four or more 10/100 Ethernet switch and firewall.  So I put into place the **Netopia 3346N** Router manufactured by *Motorola*.      The **Netopia 3346N** is an ADSL 2+ router with enterprise-level Firewall protection, Port Forwarding, and *Network Address Translation* (NAT) capabilities as well as a *Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol* (DHCP) Server, and 4-port 10/100 managed Ethernet switch.   **My Viewpoint ** The ADSL functionality of the **Netopia 3346N** has two functional modes: router and gateway.  As a *gateway* the **Netopia 3346N** passes the public IP address on to another device (router) that in turns provide routing, NAT, and DHCP services.  As a router the **Netopia 3346N** can provide all of the above mentioned services that can be turned on and off.  I of course want to use the full functionality of the device, which as it turns out is quite involved (I needed more than the quick setup guide to help me completely set up the unit), so I turned to on-line documentation for more in-depth instructions.   However, there is technical support number one can call and get excellent help on setting up the router and firewall portion of the **Netopia 3346N.  **They can even remotely log into the unit and configure it for you if need be.   Since I set the unit up I have a few problems with it dropping synchronization with my ADSL connection.  But in all honestly I don't know whether it's the unit or AT&T's equipment, but I am leaning towards the latter.  I have had AT&T out to the house on two occasions to diagnose the issue, and both times they could find nothing wrong (scratching head).  But for the most part the **Netopia 3346N **does its job rather well and I have few complaints. The router and firewall portion of the box work as advertised; I turned off the DHCP server, because for security reasons I assign the IP addresses on my network manually.    The **Netopia 3346N** is a reasonably priced full-featured enterprise-level ADSL router, Firewall, and 4-port managed switch that supports NAT, DHCP.   With varying levels of configuration, the **Netopia 3346N** is highly flexible and certainly robust enough to provide advanced levels of IP Security for any size network.    

TheBard

Aurora, IL