Networking Reviews

I have a Dell Dimension 4100 that I bought 6 months before Dell began installing frontside usb ports. The installation was very easy, provided that you are comfortable inside of a computer. The unit fits into a 3.5 inch drive bay and the holes are pre- drilled to secure the hub into place. The power cable in my system is a ribbon that goes to my two cd drives, the a drive and the hard drive. That plugs in to the back of the Startech hub. The internal usb cable that is supplied with it is long enough to run through a pci slot cover to the back of the cpu to hook into a usb port on the back of your computer (all older cpu's have 2 ports). I have a Belkin 4-port usb hub in one of my pci slots and that hub has 1 internal usb port that I hook the Startech hub into. So between the Startech and Belkin hubs and the two usb ports that were on my system, I have cornered the usb market with TEN usb ports. If you want to see the installation manual (which I highly recommend) go to the startech.com website, navigate to the usb components section and then find item # ST3504USB and download the manual in pdf format.

I needed a means to copy stuff to my Nokia 5100 GSM phone, which has an infrared adapter. this item fits the bill perfectly. No drivers required for Windows XP. It even comes with a 6-inch USB extension cable in case your usb ports are at the back of you PC case.

I have never had any problems with it and I have owned it for 6 months to date. it os only USB 1.1 compatible. but given the transfer rate of an infrared device in only 1Mbps (compared to USB 1.1's 12Mbps) it is no issue. I recommend it. It's the cheapest infrared adapter you'll get on amazon.com anyway.

This is the only USB hub that I know of that allows you to connect to two computers simultaneously and uses a switch built into the hub to manually switch between them. I bought this because I recently bought a laptop and want to share USB devices with my desktop. This hub is self powered (comes with a power adaptor) so it allows you to connect any USB devices. The only additional feature that I wouldn't mind having is a switch to turn the power off but its something I can live without.

The TRENDware TE100-S8P is a compact, aggressively-priced, no-frills switch well-suited to home or small business use. Setup is trivial since the ports are auto-sensing as to speed (10/100) and connection type (computer or uplink). Just connect the power cord, plug in your devices with Cat5E Ethernet cables, and you're in business. Front panel indicators are clear if a bit small. The switch has underside holes for vertical surface mounting (screws not included) or you can easily attach 4 included rubber feet and sit the switch on a desk or other work surface. If you don't need more than 8 ports or remote management, this is a great choice that will be easy on your wallet!

The CompactCard Ethernet 10 provides Windows Ce users high-speed, enterprise-wide E-mail access, Internet browsing and data synchronization. Give you access to 10Mbps Ethernet networks in the office. Browse the Internet and access E-mail from anywhere in the office via your WinCE devices. Synchronize and exchange data with a Windows desktop and enterprise system at speeds close to 200 times faster than a 56k serial connection. Has a very low power operation, it uses BatterySave. BatterySave power management power down the CompactCard when it is not in use to extend the handheld battery life. Windows style setup wizard make it quick and easy the install. It supports Windows NT/95/98 synchronization via TCP/IP. It includeds CardCaddy converter. which enables you to use CompactCard in handhelds equipped with PC Card slots. It has Miniport WinCE driver compatible with Type 2 CompactFlash Card and Type 2 PC Card

I have never left a review for an item on Amazon before, but this PCMCIA card is worth it! I bought a D-Link 650+ for my older IBM Thinkpad 380Z and found out after delivery that it wasn't compatable. The tech. specs. said nothing about the 300+MHz processor requirements... Anyway, this 802.11b card from Zonet loaded in less than 10 min. on my older laptop running Windows98, with no need to visit a website for drivers and no tweaking other than to setup the right SID. I have only been using it for a few hours as of this review, but its working great right now from a floor away from the WAP. I highly recommend this card for under $30!

ZyXEL makes a full line of VPN firewalls that go by the name ZyWALL, and are generally considered the best products out there for the SOHO and small business market that needs VPN (Virtual Private Network) communication with remote offices or individuals. The Prestige 324 is a full SPI firewall with a 4-port switch that provides virtually everything that their ZyWALL product line does, only without the VPN circuitry. As a result, it is perfectly suited to most home users that want industrial-strength security for their always-on DSL or cable connections. It supports X-Box, Instant Messenger, UPnP, and virtually every Internet game out there. If you want to, it also provides all the settings that you will need to set up servers, web sites, etc.

The firmware that controls the product is taken directly from their enterprise level products. Because of this, it is subjected to a level of testing and evaluation by networking professionals that no consumer product would ever get. As such, the product has evolved to be virtually "bullet-proof".

I've used, tested and discarded every competitive product that I could find while searching for one that actually did what the marketing people said it would, but there was always some fatal flaw. The search ended when I met with some networking professionals. They unanimously suggested that I leave the department store brands and get into a professional product, especially since it was actually less expensive than most of the consumer-quality products. Finally, it looks great too -- it's not just an old tin box that is better suited to a laboratory than a home. All-in-all, this is a winner!

Amazon.com seems to carry the product on an inconsistant basis, but when it's available, their price is generally the best around, if you get the free shipping. I have a few friends and relatives waiting for it to come back into stock so that they can order one for themselves.

Thinking of setting up a network? Wish yours would run faster? If so, this is the product for you. Installation is simple. If you can plug a network card into your pci slot you can have your network up and running in minutes. (If you dont know how to plug in a network card, it will take about 5 extra minutes) Anyway, Don't buy a hub. A switch is full duplex meaning it can send and recieve data at the same time. Also with a hub, all ports share the bandwith. ie a 5 port 100m hub w/ all five ports being used = 20m per port. while a switch runs 100m per port, reguardless of how many ports are being used.. And in full duplex mode 200m per port. Also if your looking for computer y on a hub, it must check each port until computer y is found. This switch will know that computer y is on port 4, so you will go right to it, and save time. all n all a great product, as are all linksys products...

First off, in case anyone out there doesn't know, there are a few advantages to purchasing a switch rather than a hub. The main advantage, for most users anyway, is that a switch provides optimal bandwidth to all ports, whereas a hub splits available bandwidth between all active users. This means that if you are sharing a cable modem for example with others in a house/office building, connection speed will not be reduced when multiple users connected to the switch are online.

Now, as for this little baby, as soon as I saw the price I grabbed it instantly. The Linksys name had been mentioned to me favorably before, and the going price was within a few dollars of most 5-port hubs. I have been using it for 5 months now to share the cable modem in my apartment, and I can honestly say I have never had a single difficulty. Setup was quick and easy, I was online in less than 5 minutes. The whole device is smaller than most alarm clocks, so storage is hardly an issue. Overall, this is a best buy hands down, anyone out there who needs inexpensive networking equipment, this is the way to go.

This switch does exactly what it's designed for, sharing an Ethernet connnection. Don't expect to be able to configure VLANs, multilayer switching, VLAN trunks, load balancing, etc. This does not have any routing, NAT, or firewall capabilities. You would use this switch when you already have a router between your internal network and the Internet, and you need additional Ethernet ports. This gives you a full duplex Ethernet connection at wired speed, and it delivers! Perfect for the home office/LAN or for technicians needing extra Etherenet ports for their workbench, as this is what I use mine for. Thanks for reading! Hope this helps!

I have used this router for about 6 mos. Initially satisfied, but then tried inbound VPN access, and found that even with static port/address mappings, connection drops in 5 to 10 minutes. Wife uses DSL for outbound VPN to office, and connection will drop after about 10 minutes. Replaced with Linksys BEFSR41 (with no static maps, no special configuration) and VPN works fine. Netgear support says I need to open 3 ports, change her client DNS, etc. Didn't do any of this with Linksys.

I originally bought the DLink DL701 router and had a horible time with it. But, there was always a chance that my problem with the it was due to pilot error. I am just not that experienced when it comes to PC networking. So, with that thought in mind, I bought the Netgear RT311 and boy was I surprised! This product worked right out of the box! I connected my two pcs to a hub and then to the router. I was rock'n and roll'n in less than an hour, sharing internet connection between the two machines and even starting to get my currently running webserver exposed to the internet. Now, for heavy duty configuration, you have to use the telnet interface (their new web-based interface only does the basic config). But having played with the settings extensively, I can honestly say that, while its' interface is cluncky, it does its' job. You have access to tons of configuration options. I've even uploaded new firmware into the device and it also worked like a charm. The router has a wealth of features from port forwading to packet filtering for those who require more sophisticated configurations. I've had it for over 3 weeks now and have had not problems with it. My web and ftp server running just fine behind the firewall and I've even shut down a few security holes with this device. So, in the end, it was not pilot error that foiled my previous exprience. The RT311 is just an excellent product. Sturdy and well built, it runs just as well as it looks. I am very pleased with this product and would recommend it to anyone.

If you're not sure what a router is for, it provides a DSL or cable modem user with flexibility and security. Flexibility, because in conjunction with a local area network setup (ethernet cards in your computers + an ethernet hub, or one of these wireless or phone-line based networking systems), it will allow you to share your fast network connection between several computers simultaneously (even if your internet service provider only gives you a single IP address). Security, because the default configuration keeps your network safe from external hack attempts. The router hides your networked machines from the outside world, so all an external hacker can see is the router (which they can't really do anything to). If you're running a network in your home with file or print sharing, and your machines are directly on the internet, you really need to get a product like this or turn off all of your file and print sharing.

This product provides you with a lot of flexibility. You can either use their web-browser type interface to configure and control the router, or you can telnet directly into the router and use a simple but powerful text based interface.

I work with computers, but I am by no means a hardware or networking expert. The manual that came (on cd-rom) with the router was relatively easy to follow, and reading it gave me the confidence to go for using the direct telnet interface. Like I said in the title of this review, it only took me one try to get absolutely everything running correctly.

I recently upgraded my internet connection from a regular 56K modem to Verizon's DSL service, and wanted to share my new connection with my secondary computer in a bedroom. I looked at several different options including running wires through the attic, but the resounding choice was to go wireless.

I have had over 6+ years dealing with computer hardware and software, but networking I have never had real formal experience dealing with, so I was a bit ansy when it came to purchasing and setting up my first wireless network. The wireless hardware market is relatively consolidated between Linksys, Netgear, DLink, and to a smaller extent, Microsoft. I chose to go with MN-500 over the others because of my excellent previous experience with other Microsoft hardware.

I purchased it, got home, opened the box - was surprised that the router could stand up or lay flat on it's side - a great feature. Came with all necessary cables and great instructions. Hooking up cables and driver installation was a breeze on Win98. Then it came to setting up my wireless information: my SSID, base station password, channel, WEP key, and some other information. Having not worked with wireless before, it was very intuitive. Got everything correct, then went through the painful process of setting up my wireless USB adapters. Had to reboot the MN-500 once in order to get the USB adapters to recognize the network, but after doing so it worked perfectly.

The MN-500 configuration page shows what computers are hooked up to your network, and the management page has all the usual options: WEP, NAT Firewall, Mac and Client Filtering, LAN and WAN setup, and logging. Very easy to use.

In terms of performance - the MN-500 has been reviewed by many major sites and has been called the slowest in terms of performance of any wireless router. I don't transfer files often between computers so that is not much of an issue. The speed it does transfer files at is more than adequate. In terms of download speed over the internet, the speed is the same on the wireless computers as it is on the wired computer.

The base station itself - features 4 ports for wired access, and status indicator lights showing if the router is having problems, what port is using the network, and so forth. The MN-500 automatically assigns DHCP IP Addresses, so there's no need to manually do it unless you enjoy the challenge. Also, the MN-500 is XBox Live! and XBConnect compatible, so getting your XBox online is as simple as plugging it into the router.

My only gripes about the router: you cannot turn off auto broadcast. That might be a security concern to some, especially if you live in an apartment. (My router is next to a window so I'm kind of concerned) My other gripe: this might be wishful thinking, but you should not be able to lock yourself out of the router through mac filtering, which unfortunately, is possible with this router. (Easily avoided by doing a hard reset on the router)

Overall however, this router is great for the newbie wireless user or even the advanced. It's a great piece of hardware that's easy and simple to use and I'd recommend it to anyone.

I recently bought a new IBM Centrino powered laptop (R40) and wanted a wireless broadband connection for my home. After reading all the reviews on the $50 - $75 routers I picked the Microsoft MN-500 based on customer service. After installing the software I was unable to connect to the internet. My computer recognized the wireless connection but could not connect to the internet. I had a 10 minute wait in primetime to talk to a customer service rep at Microsoft. Within 15 minutes I was running full throttle throughout my small condo. Full signal, regardless of where I went. Needless to say I am very happy with my purchase. And you get a 2 year warranty. I hope Microsoft keeps the customer service in this country. I will avoid offshore customer service companies. And no, I am not in the tech business. My limited experience with offshore customer service has been very negative. You could give me a wireless router and if they have poor customer support I would give it back to you. You get what you pay for!

I bought this router from Amazon based on the reviews I've read after my Netgear router pooped out after about a week and a half. The router couldn't be easier to set up. My whole wireless network was up in about 10 minutes. After I had it up and running, it informed me of a software and firmware update, which was extremely painless, and it was worked flawlessly since. Has good security features. I actually liked the Netgear web-interface better for stuff like MAC address filtering, but this one works too. 2 Thumbs up!