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Thursday, 31 May 2001
- We just posted 1.37.2b BETA firmware for
the Linksys BEFW11S4 wireless router. Go to
the Help
page to download.
- Our review of Linksys' EtherFast Wireless AP + Cable/DSL
router with PrintServer is up. Read
the review and see if it should be on your shopping
list!
- We've posted 1.1 Rel 02 BETA firmware for
Linksys' BEFW11P1 Wireless router & print
server. Go to the Help
page to download. Make sure you download the new
Update Utility to use with it!
Wednesday, 30 May 2001
-Buy.com
has the D-Link DI-713P wireless router for
$200. [Thnx Eric Keller!]
- The Wireless
Networking Product Guide is now up. It'll be awhile
before we have all the data loaded in, but it was too much of
a hassle maintaining both the old chart and the new database,
so we just said the heck with it and are throwing the switch!
Let us know if you find problems!
Tuesday, 29 May 2001
- As promised, our review of NETGEAR's just-released
RO318 router is up. Go
take a look!
- 3Com has posted unsupported version
1.97 firmware for their Home Ethernet Gateway Router (3C510) [Read
our Review].Go here
for the download. [Thnx Pete!]
(Revised from earlier post.)
- We've removed the 1.37.5 BETA for the BEFW11S4
router at Linksys' request. Seems that
it if you load it, you can't downgrade to an earlier
version of the firmware. They're working on a
new version, which we'll post when we receive it (no, we don't
know the timeframe).
Thanks to the friendly folks at Asante,
we now have a nice logo to point out our Recommended
products. What? You mean you haven't seen
the Recommended list? Well,
go right on over and take a look!
- NETGEAR has released the RO318,
an 8 port version of their new-generation RP114 router. Pretty
aggressively priced, too, with web
pricing about $165. Go check out the
details and check back with us later for the review.
[Read
Press release.]
Saturday, 26 May 2001
- Asante has posted 2.11 BETA firmware
for their FriendlyNET routers. Go to the Help
Page for the download info.
Friday, 25 May 2001
- Just posted a correct version of the Linksys HPRO200
BETA. Earlier version was the old 1.37.1 version. Sorry!
Go and download
again!
Thursday, 24 May 2001
- Nexland has posted V1 Rel 29 firmware
for their ISB router line. Go
to their site for the downloads. [Thnx Marc Williams!]
-Egghead.com
has the D-Link DI-704 4 port router for $60
after $20 mail-in rebate. Offer expires
this Sunday 27 May. [Thnx Gib Gahan!]
- SMC has released 1.92E firmware
for their Barricades. Go to the Help
Page for the download info.
Wednesday, 23 May 2001
- Linksys just let us know that their WUSB11
USB 802.11b adapter has just received WiFi
certification, joining their previously certificed
WPC11PC card and WAP11
Access Point. They tell us that the wireless
routers are in progress.
The rebates expire May 31, but MaxGate says
they'll probably continue the rebates through June.
- If you're a DSL or satellite broadband customer
and have a USB modem, and have been frustrated
that you can't use a hardware router, help may be on the way!
Draytek's recently introduced Vigor2200USB,
slated to start shipments to European customers in September,
supports the Alcatel SpeedTouch USB ONLY, and
the company is considering adding more DSL modems to the list.
Let us know
which ones you'd like to see, and we'll pass the info to Draytek.
Tuesday, 22 May 2001
- Linksys' 1.38.6 BETA release
for their best-selling four and one port routers is available
for download.
Monday, 21 May 2001
- If you're trying to reach MacSense's Web
site, it's now reachable at Xsense.com.
While we're on the subject, they just introduced a wireless
4 port router, the XRouter
Aero.
- In response to the queries I received about the previously
mentionedBEFVP41 VPN router, I checked
with Linksys. The reply was a not-too-firm July
time frame, but your guess is as good as mine as to
when it will really come out!
- Got another Best
Buy deal for ya. Get a NETGEAR
RT311 single port router for $50 after
sale and rebate! [Thnx again Brian Rose!]
Sunday, 20 May 2001
- Linksys has finally released 1.38.5
firmware for their 1, 4 and USB port routers.
From the reports from BETA users, it sounds like this version
may fix many of the problems that have been plaguing users...especially
gamers! Go to our Linksys
Help pages for the download info. [Thnx to the many
alert readers who for their tips!]
- NETGEAR is running a number of mail-in rebates,
good on purchases from May 18 to June
30 with this
coupon [Thnx Bryan Deutsch!]
- Best
Buy has the NETGEAR
RT314 for $70 after $30 mail-in rebate
(different from the rebate above). [Thnx Brian Rose!]
Friday, 18 May 2001 OOPS!
- Those of you who responded to yesterday's news about the new
AMIT firmware may have noticed that we reversed
the links for the Wireless and non-Wireless routers.
They're fixed now, so go
check and make sure that you've loaded the right stuff
into your box. Sorry for the error!
- If you're looking for a HPNA2 to Ethernet bridge,
get on over to NETGEAR's
on-line store. They're selling their PE102
for $100! [Thnx Mike Natrella!]
- NETGEAR has a new 802.11b Wireless
PC Card to go along with their ME102 Access Point.
Read the review
and see if it should be on your shopping list!
Thursday, 17 May 2001
- AMIT has 1.92E firmware
posted that can be used on the SMC and Asante routers. This
rev looks interesting with the addition of port range
blocking for the DMZ host! Go
here for the download details. [Thnx Flu!]
- NETGEAR's a little late to the 802.11b party,
but their new ME102 Access Point is a welcome
addition. See our
review for details.
- Forgot to mention in the NW+I
report that Linksys is going to be
coming out with a new version of their much-maligned WPC11
802.11b PC card later this year. Dubbed the WPC11 V2.5,
we suspect it will use the
Intersil PRISM 2.5 chipset. Remains to be seen
whether it will solve the range
problems that many users report.
Wednesday, 16 May 2001
- Looking for a Compact Flash dialup modem for your PocketPC?
Read our review
of the TRENDnet CF 56K Fax Modem card and see
if it'll end your search.
- The folks at DSLWebserver have done another
network adapter survey article. This time they compare
four USB-Ethernet adapters. Go
on over and see who won!
Tuesday, 15 May 2001
- Our NW+I show report
is up. Take a look, even if you've read the previous coverage,
because there's even more new networking product info!
- Amazon
has the Linksys 4 port router for $95
after discount and mail-in rebate.
Monday, 14 May 2001
- Norbert Desautels has written a log utility
that he says will work with routers manufactured by AMIT. This
includes the SMC Barricades, Asante
FriendlyNet and 3Com Home Internet gateway.
Go
to the Tools page for the download info.
- The bug in the Router Product guide multiple comparison
feature has been fixed. Thanks for your patience
and to the folks who told us about it so that we could fix it!
Thursday, 10 May 2001 NW+I Update 2 - Some highlights from yesterday's travels. More
details in the final NW+I report that will be up in a day or
so:
There was a pretty good level of activity in the
WECA/WiFi area in general. Saw both Xircom's
Springport and Symbol's Compact Flash
802.11b's cards. Also had an informative visit with
Z-Com, who OEMs 802.11b products to a lot
of companies you know. They also have a CF
802.11b adapter that will be shipping (via their
OEM customers) shortly. The Xircom
adapter will come with the "Blaze"
web-browser. Sounds like a few months until you'll be able
to get your hands on these products though.
Only had a quick look at it, but it isn't based on web-clipping
and looked similar in function to PocketIE for PocketPC
machines.
SMC's new 2582W 802.11b bridge
will support both wireless AP to AP and AP to client
connections. SMC is also fielding three antennas
and the cabling and brackets you'll need to use with them.
One of the antennas has been tested for a 9 mile
range! Also saw a new "face-lifted"
4 port Barricade router (the 7004ABR) that besides
having the lights and ports moved to the front of the box,
will sport a new, faster processor with more memory.
Saw Proxim'sHomeRF2
demo, which was showing a streaming video type demo that's
typical for anyone who's trying to show off high bit rate.
They say that product will be in the sales channel in Q3.
Netgear says they are still going ahead
with their "multimedia wireless" (formerly their
11X)
Sharewave-based product, in addition to the recently introduced
802.11b line. The first products shipped won't
be based on the new 802.11b compatible "Bodega"
chipset, though. Don't know why they'd do that... but that's
what they said!
- A correction to the info posted yesterday about UPnP.
Turns out that UPnP devices like switches, routers, etc. don't
need a WinXP machine to set themselves up. WinXP will
support UPnP so that a PC's NIC will be able to talk to other
UPnP devices to configure the PCs connection. We'll be
getting more info on this next week when we talk with Microsoft.
- There's a bug in the Product Guide multiple comparison
feature that causes data to get mixed up between product
on some of the specs. Until we get it fixed, double
check any product you're interested in by looking at
its details individually! Sorry for this problem and we'll
let you know when it's fixed.
Wednesday, 9 May 2001 NW+I Update - We'll have the full report for you next week, but
in the meantime, here are a few highlights from the show so
far:
Linksys' deal with Trend Micro
and ZoneLabs is more than just a bunding
of their anti-virus and personal firewall products with
Linksys' router products. The functionality will be
more like Sonicwall's anti-virus capability, but in Linksys's
case will include both anti-virus and personal firewall
capabilty. Both products will be licensed on a per-seat
basis and updated firmware in the router will check
for current, running copies of the applications when a client
tries to get out through the router. This capability
will be rolled out on the 1 and 4 port routers next month,
with firmware updates for all Linksys routers available
by the end of the year.
Buffalo Tech's AirStation Pro is definitely
aimed at the "enterprise" market...at least for
now. Pricing will be around $600, but Buffalo will
also be sourcing a nice assortment of outdoor uni-directional
and omni-directional antennas.
From my conversation with the folks at Atheros'
booth, it sounds like there really could be 54Mbps 802.11a
wireless products that you can buy by the end of the year.
(They actually said "end of summer", but we all
know how that one works by now.) I'll be visiting the guys
who are actually making the products today and see what
they say...
Ositis is movin' on up to serve the enterprise
market with their new hardware products, the AccessNow
VBN, AccessNow Firewall, and AVStripper.
Final pricing hasn't been set yet and they won't be shipping
product until August, but Ositis said that pricing will
be in the $3000 - $5000 range.
- We didn't quite know what to make of the UPnP
press release that we received from Linksys
