Networking Reviews

Hi,

I bought this device to transfer my cell phone address book to my computer. With this in mind, I heartily recommend the Bluetooth USB adapter. The only negative point of this product is the high price. Read my detailed comments below:

Easy to Install
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The installation was really easy! I just popped in the CD and followed the directions! I have Windows 2K, by the way.

Actually Works
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Better yet was the cool way that the transfer worked w/o any whack errors!

Familiar User Interface
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There is a set of "folders" called something like "Bluetooth neighborhood" that shows up in the explorer bar. This shows you the devices connected by Bluetooth to your PC etcetera!

My limited use has already made me so happy, that I am DYING to find out what else I can use Bluetooth for.

Still Costs Too Much
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The only bad thing is the PRICE. It seems like something like this should cost like 5 bucks. But I guess Linksys has to pay for Research and Development or something. I think the price should drop, though. So if you are on a budget, wait a few months.

This is a great little adapter. It works great on both PC's and Mac's with Windows XP and OS X. I love it. Simple to use, no drivers needed for mac's. It has a really good signal, too, enabling me to use my phone 2 floors away from my computer! Its great!

After researching different websites on an inexpensive way to connect my Sony Ericsson T610 and PC via Bluetooth I ended up choosing this product over others...I made the right choice! While the software involved isn't the most user-friendly, it does the job relatively well. I was able to synchronize my phone contacts and notes from Outlook with my phone which took literally seconds to transfer. Like I mentioned before, the software (especially initial configuration), takes some time especially if this is your first experience with Bluetooth. But once it is setup, it is very easy to keep your phone's information up to date. I definitely recommend this product!

I chose this just because I wanted something cheap. I have heard bad things about some other brands overheating or having various problems, but I have been using this a few months and found no problems whatsoever.

It remains room temperature and has had no bandwidth or power problems for me. It appears to have a place to connect a power supply (not included), but that doesn't seem to be listed as a feature so I cannot guarantee it. It has two USB plugs so you can get the power from a second USB port if you need it. I have only needed one. My only complaint with the device is having that extra plug sitting around (attached to the cord), but of course that isn't a problem if you use it.

It's cheap and it works, so I recommend this item.

I am totally loving this little thing! Very slick design with those blue lights and the ability to put 4 different USB devices all into one super-mini hub. A must have for this price...

This is an excellent usb hub for the price. Very compact and very light. It doesn't take up too much space at all. Also, it's powered thru USB so you do not need to deal with an AC adaptor.

I have a couple of USB devices that are powered through the USB port as well and my concern was whether they would still be active through this hub. I plugged both into the hub and both were powered up!!

And the 4 ports light up with a nice blue led color that's looks really cool!! Targus should show this in their ads/marketing material because it definitely makes the hub look much cooler!

This is a great bargain and perfect for people that need a simple & compact USB hub for all their gadgets.

Definitely recommended!!

I chose this just because I wanted something cheap. I have heard bad things about some other brands overheating or having various problems, but I have been using this a few months and found no problems whatsoever.

It remains room temperature and has had no bandwidth or power problems for me. It appears to have a place to connect a power supply (not included), but that doesn't seem to be listed as a feature so I cannot guarantee it. It has two USB plugs so you can get the power from a second USB port if you need it. I have only needed one. My only complaint with the device is having that extra plug sitting around (attached to the cord), but of course that isn't a problem if you use it.

It's cheap and it works, so I recommend this item.

I am totally loving this little thing! Very slick design with those blue lights and the ability to put 4 different USB devices all into one super-mini hub. A must have for this price...

This is an excellent usb hub for the price. Very compact and very light. It doesn't take up too much space at all. Also, it's powered thru USB so you do not need to deal with an AC adaptor.

I have a couple of USB devices that are powered through the USB port as well and my concern was whether they would still be active through this hub. I plugged both into the hub and both were powered up!!

And the 4 ports light up with a nice blue led color that's looks really cool!! Targus should show this in their ads/marketing material because it definitely makes the hub look much cooler!

This is a great bargain and perfect for people that need a simple & compact USB hub for all their gadgets.

Definitely recommended!!

I chose this just because I wanted something cheap. I have heard bad things about some other brands overheating or having various problems, but I have been using this a few months and found no problems whatsoever.

It remains room temperature and has had no bandwidth or power problems for me. It appears to have a place to connect a power supply (not included), but that doesn't seem to be listed as a feature so I cannot guarantee it. It has two USB plugs so you can get the power from a second USB port if you need it. I have only needed one. My only complaint with the device is having that extra plug sitting around (attached to the cord), but of course that isn't a problem if you use it.

It's cheap and it works, so I recommend this item.

I am totally loving this little thing! Very slick design with those blue lights and the ability to put 4 different USB devices all into one super-mini hub. A must have for this price...

This is an excellent usb hub for the price. Very compact and very light. It doesn't take up too much space at all. Also, it's powered thru USB so you do not need to deal with an AC adaptor.

I have a couple of USB devices that are powered through the USB port as well and my concern was whether they would still be active through this hub. I plugged both into the hub and both were powered up!!

And the 4 ports light up with a nice blue led color that's looks really cool!! Targus should show this in their ads/marketing material because it definitely makes the hub look much cooler!

This is a great bargain and perfect for people that need a simple & compact USB hub for all their gadgets.

Definitely recommended!!

I agree with the other reviewers, in that this is a very solid built and reliable product. I've been using mine for six months now and have not had to touch it. It performs very well, as I've ran multiple file transfers simultaneously among four computers and it was amazingly faster than when using an older 10/100 hub.

The one complaint that I have about Netgear switches and routers is that many of them have the ports on the front of the unit instead of the back. If you're installing this in some out-of-the-way place like your attic or basement, or if you're installing in a computer rack where you want everything facing front, this is a non-issue. If you want to put this on your desktop it is a major inconvenience, because the cables coming into the switch will either be strung across the front of your desk, or will snake over and behind the unit. In either case, you have cables on your desktop and it's quite unsightly.

All things considered I'm still happy with the Netgear switch, but if I had it to do over again I would have probably bought one that worked better in my home office.

With switch prices coming down to about $10-per-port, it's hard to justify buying anything less than a 10/100-switch for all but the most cost-conscious buyer.

As most 5-port 10/100 switches have the same capabilities and cost about the same, there's not much to distinguish one from another. Still, I particularly like the Netgear FS-105 5-port switch. Like other products from Netgear, this switch is a little nicer than the competition because it has:

- Nice sturdy metal construction instead of plastic. The case also has a grounding tab in case you're using the switch in a (electrically) high-noise environment.

- Connection status indicators built into the jacks, so you can easily tell which cable is connected and is active. (The "vistajack" feature.)

- Right-angled barrel power connector which reduce the likelihood of disconnecting power accidentally.

- An easy-to-access switch to toggle port 1 between station mode and uplink mode. Unlike some hubs where two jacks are wired together, this design prevents accidentally shorting a station to an uplink.

- Screw-mount notches on the underside allows for easy attachment to the wall, underside of a counter, etc.

With a 1000-MAC address buffer and 200 Kbytes-per-port packet buffer, this switch can easily handle the typical traffic load of small- and medium-sized networks.

The Netgear product is not the cheapest 10/100-switch (check out the D-Link Fast Ethernet Switch, for example), but for overall design and value-for-money, I still like the Netgear the most.

With the growing number of PCs and Laptops in my house I decided it was time to install a network. I need a cheap solution that what easy to install and required NO maintanence. The Netgear 5 port switch was the perfect buy for my solution. It sits quitely in the roof of my house with the server and has not failed me yet! It is incased in a hard steel shell making it very strong and reliable. If you're looking into setting up a home network I recommend you buy this switch as you cant go wrong!

This is a great router. I have been using the 4-port Linksys and I was very hesitant about buying this router. I was not having any problems with my Linksys so you can tell why I was apprehensive. There were two things that attracted me to the SMC, one: Great Price-after rebate, it was like stealing! two: Built-in print server. I had the whole thing set up in my SOHO, network printer included, within 10 minutes! No problems. No glitches. So far, the speed is as fast if not faster than the Linksys and the print server is awesome! I did not need to buy an extra piece of hardware and it saved me from using an extra plug in my APC UPS!--You know how valuable outlet space is on those power strips esepecially if you live in CA like me. I have not tested it with the advanced features but if the future performance is indicative of how it is now, I'm not worried. I recommend anyone interested in internet sharing and SOHO networking, to buy this router.

Summary: works well and I recommend it based my personal experiences.

I can't get high speed access yet where I live even though I live in a very metropolitan area, so I selected this unit because of its analog dialup support (now both kids can surf with two PC's on my one phone line) in anticipation of finally being able to get cable modem access early next year. I also have been wanting a print server and DHCP (DHCP for convenience because of my laptop going back and forth to work and always having to change network info). I didn't care about the integrated switch as much because I already had a switch, but I did put it to use to eliminate a component.

I powered the unit up and configuration is pretty much how it calls for in the manual. DHCP was a snap to set up, and I chose to fix addresses based on MAC address to I'd know which PC triggered my analog service (logged in the Barricade log by IP address). Configuring the dialup connection was easy, and there seems to be no problems with throughput compared to a modem directly connected to the PC.

The only "issues" I have are all related to dialup, not because of the Barricade itself. These issues should mostly be eliminated when (IF?) I can ever actually get high-speed internet at home. If you do try dialup with such a device:

(1) I occasionally have to power the modem off and on in order to have the Barricade be able to talk to it again, but that could be a modem issue since powering off the Barricade doesn't help.

(2) To hang up the modem before the inactivity timeout (configurable) you have to open up a browser window on the Barricade and click on the hangup button for the modem. But this is just a few more clicks and keystrokes more than closing an open dialup networking connection.

(3) Windows Me doesn't seem to want to give up on trying to do a dialup networking connection if you have one configured despite setting up for a LAN internet connection!!! I've set it to never dial a connection countless times but doesn't want to take.

Again, these are far from being Barricade issues; I mention them here for folks trying dialup.

I upgraded the firmware image to the latest version available from SMC... was a snap to do and, as advertised, my existing configuration was still intact.

Setting up the printer took just a little more work. I couldn't get my HP DeskJet 720 to print until I diabled bidirectional communications on the printer settings on the PC; then it worked great. I haven't tested for communications throughput issues yet while printing. NOTE: if you're currently sharing the printer via Windows print sharing, disable all print sharing first before moving the printer to the SMC printer server port. My PC's got confused and were hanging on the printers window until I got it all squared away, and I think I would have avoided this had I un-shared the printer first.

One last note. SMC's support has been nothing short of great. I haven't had any technical questions for them, but I called them for pre-sales opinions and advice from a nuts-and-bolts perspective. The biggest plus is you can actually reach a body!!! Second plus is they try to help you and don't hurry you off the phone!!! Third is they speak frankly and give honest opinions. The SMC7004BR has been superceded by the SMC7004ABR, but support will still be there for the 7004BR for a few years to come, it sounds like they're still working the kinks out of the 7004ABR, and I didn't need any of the new features being offered by the ABR. The only negative is I sent an email support request for any known issues for connecting to my particular ISP several days ago and still haven't heard back, but I'll forgive them 'cause I can call 'em on the phone anytime. Longest on-hold time for me has been less than 10 minutes... most times much less.

I've used it for a year now on a single computer. If you have a single computer, you still need one of these. It works without a PPOE client and logs in all on its own. When I turn the computer on the ol' DSL is ready and waiting. When I visit the security checking services I grade at the top of the class without a piece of firwall software wasting memory. I'd give up DSL as easily as giving up a router...and that ain't a gonna happen...

P.S. Works great with a cable modem too...

Ok i timed this one, it was exactly 12 mins and 37 secs from pulling the router out of the box until i had 3 Macs using the same internet connection. If you are using a mac this is the router for you. As i said i have 3 macs using different OS's using it (OSX, 9.1, and 8.6). Asante even releases their Firmware updates in a format that Macs can read, so updating the Router is a snap. The manual is set up in an easy to read step by step manner. I have actually seen better d/l rates on my DP 1GHz G4 since using this router, though im really not sure why. Get this product!!!

I ditto all the other comments about ease of use and ease of setup. I bought the FR3400LC, with the print server and modem port, and I found it very simple to set up my 10-Base-T printer for a Mac and PC. Before getting the router, I had the printer connected to a hub. My Mac found the printer easily, but no such luck for the PC. Now, I have the printer hooked up by a 10-Base-T connection to the Mac, and by parallel cable to the print server port for the PC. Prints fine from both machines! Only one caveat, if you're setting up the router on a cable modem, make sure you obtain the FULL name of the cable company mail server. The simple "mail" that I used previously for my Cox@Home connection did not connect.

I use this router with my Road Runner Cable connection and it works flawlessly. I have been using it for over a year with no problems. The setup was very easy with my provider in the list of available providers, so it knew about my DHCP settings already and just configured them for me. In a year my cable has gone out a few times and this router simply needs a reboot to reset the connection, this happened only twice during long outages of my cable service. I had many problems with a Linksys prior to using this one.

After doing much research, I've decided to go with Microsoft Wireless notebook kit mainly because I am running XP both on my laptop and my PC and I didn't want to experience too much compatibility issues. I had experienced problem when setting up my base station with the PC (couldn't detect internet connection), a quick phone call to Miscrosoft's 24 HOURS support at 12 midnight fixed the problem. Turns out that all I had to do was to unplug power cord of my modem and the base station for 5 mins and VIOLA!! everything runs perfectly!!

Setting up the adapter on my laptop only took me 5 mins. No configuration needed, hardware detects base station right away!!

I would recommend this product to everyone who's thinking about setting up wireless and wired lan!! Great product with reasonable price and best of all you get 2 years worth of 24 HOURS customer support from good old Gates! Can't complain with all this.

P.S. Yes!! You do need to download the patch from the support website.

After doing much research, I've decided to go with Microsoft Wireless notebook kit mainly because I am running XP both on my laptop and my PC and I didn't want to experience too much compatibility issues. I had experienced problem when setting up my base station with the PC (couldn't detect internet connection), a quick phone call to Miscrosoft's 24 HOURS support at 12 midnight fixed the problem. Turns out that all I had to do was to unplug power cord of my modem and the base station for 5 mins and VIOLA!! everything runs perfectly!!

Setting up the adapter on my laptop only took me 5 mins. No configuration needed, hardware detects base station right away!!

I would recommend this product to everyone who's thinking about setting up wireless and wired lan!! Great product with reasonable price and best of all you get 2 years worth of 24 HOURS customer support from good old Gates! Can't complain with all this.

P.S. Yes! You do need to download the patch from the support website.

Here in Pakistan, technology is just coming up. Networking is common but wireless networking is just round the corner. Brand new D-Link/Linksys equipment is available but quite expensive. An Access Point/Router with a laptop PCMCIA card (802.11b) costs about $160 here. So purchasing this Microsoft kit for only $39.88 was peanuts. Setting it up was a breeze! And in no time I was up and about, surfing the web (broadband connection) on my Acer laptop. I was in a state of ecstasy, roaming in different parts of my home with my laptop and browsing the web. I heard about it but experiencing for the first time myself was a feeling out of this world. NO WIRES OR CABLES but full web access everywhere!!!
Nobody believes me that I have made this wonderful purchase for such a good price.

Installation was a snap. Installed the card, fired up my Windows 2000 machine, and there it was. No drivers to install, Windows took care of it. No drivers to install for my video camera (Sharp Digital Viewcam). Once I plugged in my camera, Windows 2000 loaded the default Microsoft DV driver, and that worked great. MGI VideoWave 4 SE software that comes with product could be a little better; (more effects, more video formats, etc) but overall, very good product. Total time to install product/software: 10 minutes. I run a Pentium II 350, with 196 MB RAM. It took about 45 minutes for the software to convert a 9 minute AVI file to MPEG. I recommend having as much memory and processor speed as you can have.

I bought this card after trying another Adaptec card - the DuoConnect 3121 - which has Firewire and USB2.0 connectors.

My advise: if you run Windows 2000 - stick with the simpler 4300 Firewire card (this card). It is simple and easy to install. No drivers, and the extra software is only needed for cameras/DVDs (I use my card for my new scanner). I have had troublefree service from it so far.

The Adaptec DuoConnect 3121, on the other hand, looks very tempting on paper - but trying to install it on Windows 2000 is an absolute nightmare (if you already have other adapter cards). I had severe hardware conflicts - which caused operating system driver corruptions in the end - and lots of wasted hours.

This is where Adaptec support came in. They gave me really good support, and refunded my money when we couldn't get the DuoConnect 3121 working under Windows 2000. And I bought their AFW-4300 instead.

In summary: The 4300 is a good card. Adapter cards from other companies are cheaper than Adaptec brand down here, but the Adaptec support is worth the extra money.

I decided to pick up the 4300 to connect my video camera to my Windows XP box. So far, it has been absolutely trouble free.

Installation was as simple as dropping the card in and rebooting. Windows recognized the new hardware and installed drivers for it, not even needing drivers from the included CD. After that I simply plugged in my camcorder and everything just worked. You can't ask for easier than that.

A couple of notes:
- This card comes with a 4 pin -> 6 pin cable, which is nice if you happen to need one to connect your device.
- There is no way to relocate the ports to elsewhere in your case. If you were hoping to wire up some firewire ports on the front of your case, this card isn't your answer.

I had Netgear WT511 card, it worked well in the house but not far from outside the house. Then I read a lot about SMC high power card and bought one, you know what I cannot connect even from within house. Then I checked the signal intensity, Netgear has 50% but SMC only has only 30%. What a terrible card!!!

I bought this card to use with a CompUSA brand wireless router on my home network. Both computers on the network are using WinXP Home Edition.

I've tried Netgear, a lesser SMC card, and Trendware wireless cards with my Sony PCG-FX290 laptop (1GHz,256MB,40GB) and while they all worked, they were very inconsistant in their signal strength and worked only in select areas of my home. THIS CARD WORKS OUTSIDE MY HOUSE!!

Install the drivers first, reboot with the card in the PCMCIA slot. The signal strength may be non-existant until you double click on the signal icon and check the status and configuration. I clicked 'RESTORE DEFAULTS' and rebooted my machine... now it's up and running. About a 10 minute or less setup, strong signal and XP recognized it just fine. XP may ask you during installation if you want to use 'unathorized or unverified' certificates... say OK... and move on.

So far... so good. Don't hesitate to buy this card if you want easy setup with an excellent signal right out of the box.

I've had a wireless network for over a year but the signal strength of my connection has always been poor once I get very far from my router so I thought I'd try this card.

It's great.

I did have some initial problems with it and my router despite following all the directions in their manual. I called SMC's technical support line though and got great help.

Turns out that with my Windows XP SP 1 system, despite directions and suggestions to the contrary, the High Power Utility software that comes with the card caused problems. On my system. While I could see that I had a strong connection between the card and the router the card could not reliably get an IP address back from the router. After uninstalling everything - the utility and driver, and then just installing the driver - no High Power Utility - my Internet connection started working! Reliably.

I can go all over our house and yard and get a good strong signal. It's amazing.

The card works and the support I got from SMC, while I wish I had not needed it, was wonderful.

5 stars!