Taking the silver award in our branch router category was the Router 3000 series from 3Com. The 3000 series didn't take top marks in any of our eight criteria, but it scored high for network integration and compatibility; ease of installing, configuring and administering; and ease of supporting multiple services.

The router scored lowest for vendor service and support, however, with 48% saying it was good or excellent and 28% calling it fair.

Users of the 3Com Router 3000 series offered praise such as "3Com is working well for us"; "it is reliable"; and "another good product."