Monday, September 30, 2002

Verizon DSL users at home can partake of new bargains to be announced by the company starting in December. Verizon will offer a number of discounted Linksys products, including a $99.99 router, a $179.99 wireless router, and wireless USB and PC Card adapters for $89.99 each. Get more details at 802.11 Planet.

Thursday, September 26, 2002

Microsoft's MSN 8 service will have no problem letting its broadband subscribers let multiple, networked computers share the pipe and will not require an extra charge. In fact, Microsoft is offering MSN Broadband subscribers 20% if they purchase the brand new Microsoft Broadband Networking Wireless Base Station, the Ethernet router they introduced last week. Read the full story at internetnews.com.

Wednesday, September 25, 2002

Compex has released the PS2216, a low-cost 16-port 100Mbps Ethernet Switch with features like VLAN and port trunking for expansion and shared network traffic load. The company has also launched an online store for purchasing their products direct, plus an e-newsletter for keeping up on Compex promotions and reviews.

D-Link has announced an entire line of USB 2.0 products, but the most interesting product in the line to network builders is the DUB-E100 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet Adapter, which plugs into a USB 2.0 port to provide an instant Fast Ethernet connection. It will cost $69.99 MSRP.

The Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA) has a release out today saying that many of the major national broadband Internet connection providers are now offering phoneline based networking options to their customers. The providers include BellSouth offering a 2Wire HomePortal 1000 to connect to phone jack, Earthlink which has a various co-branded versions of the 2Wire HomePortal, SBC, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon Online (also using HomePortal).

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

SMC Networks has announced the first 802.11a/b dual-band wireless adapter. The EZ Connect 2.4GHz/5GHz Universal Wireless CardBus Adapter (SMC2335W, $139) fits a 32-bit PCMCIA slot in any notebook and will let the users work on the 54Mbps 802.11a ( 108Mbps in turbo mode) or 11Mbps 802.11b, whichever is available. It supports up to 152-bit WEP encryption in 802.11a, and 128-bit WEP for 11b. It has Plug-and-Play support when used with Windows 98/ME/2000/XP.

Monday, September 23, 2002

Boingo Wireless is teaming with Pronto Networks so that all Pronto-powered hotspots will support Boingo's network. You can read the whole story at 802.11 Planet.

Friday, September 20, 2002

More good news for Canadians -- Linksys has entered a co-marketing relationship with Bell Canada to provide education and products for sale to users of Bell Sympatico High Speed Internet. As part of their new cobranded site for sales and home network education, the companies are creating a Home Networking Learning Center which will include the Linksys Network Builder tool for automatically figuring out the types of products a user needs to buy. The site will be available in English and French.
   In addition, Bell Sympatico high speed and dial-up customers can also sign up for automatic antivirus and firewall services provided by Zero-Knowledge Systems. It will also include a pop-up and pop-under ad manager, cookie manager, and alerts when your confidential information is about to be sent to the Internet. The services cost a monthly rate of $5.95.

Thursday, September 19, 2002

Microsoft has finally taken the plunge -- today the company announced its entire line of wired and wireless home networking products. They include a Wireless Base Station router (MN-500, $149.95) with integrated 4-port switch for Internet sharing, a Wireless Notebook Adapter (MN-520, $79.95), and a Wireless USB Adapter (MN-510, $79.95), plus some cheaper combo kits. The wired end consists of 10/100Mbps Ethernet products. There's a Base Station router (MN-100, $79.95) and a 5-Port Switch (MN-150, $39.95), plus three Network Interface Cards: USB (MN-110, $29.95), PC Card (MN-120, $39.95) and PCI (MN-130, $24.95). You can read more details about the Microsoft Broadband Networking line at 802.11 Planet.

SMC Networks has introduced a Certified Reseller Program for Canadian resellers. This is a support system tht will help resellers in Canada grow their "expertise and loyalty." There's three tiers: Silver Certified Reseller, Gold Certified Reseller and Platinum Certified Reseller, depending upon the level of sales. There are more details on each level at SMC.com.

Monday, September 16, 2002

Symantec has announced Norton Personal Firewall 2003 ($49 or $29 to up grade from previous versions) with intrusion detection and Norton Internet Security 2003 ($69 or $39 to upgrade), which includes the firewall as well as antivirus, spam alert, and content filtering. Preorders are being taken now, with product to ship later this month.

Thursday, September 12, 2002

SMC Networks will be bundling Ashley Laurent's Bsecure Internet Security Package with some of its broadband routing products in the coming year. Bsecure contains anti-virus, content filtering, and usage reporting software.

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

ZyXEL has upgraded its firewall/VPN product the ZyWALL 10 to the ZyWALL 10 II. It features 3DES VPN performance throughput up to 5Mbps, and a lower price of $399 list.

StarBand, the company behind the two-way satellite broadband service and that declared bankruptcy in May, has cut its workforce by 20% (about 36 people). Read the full story at dc.internet.com.

D-Link has new firmware and software available for the networkable DCS-1000 Internet Camera and the D-LinkAir DCS-1000W Wireless Internet Camera (see the review). The firmware upgrade adds support for FTP of still images, and the software (IPView Software Version 2.0) will now record one or more video streams from cameras as AVI files. The upgrades are free and can be found at the company's support Web site.

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

SMC Networks has announced a dual-band router, the Barricade Turbo 2.4GHz/5GHz Universal Wireless Cable/DSL Broadband Router (SMC2304WBR-A). It supports 54/108Mbps 802.11a and will also provide 11/22Mbps 802.11b wireless simultaneously to users if a SMC2435W EZ Connect Turbo 11/22 Mbps Auto-Sensing Wireless Cardbus Adapter is inserted. It has MAC filtering, logging, VPN pass-through, 64/128/152-bit WEP in 802.11a mode and 64/128/256-bit WEP encryption in 802.11b mode. The $299.99 router should be available in October.

Belkin will ship new versions of its Internet routers, the Ethernet F5D5231-4 ($79.99) and wireless 802.11b F5D6231-4 ($149.99) in November. Both will come with a new Easy Setup Wizard. The software for Windows 98 up to XP and the MacOS 8.6 or higher will reportedly allow a user to insert a CD that will step them through broadband setup for one or more computers. The routers will retain their Web based configuration for more advanced users.

Anyone looking to analyze a wireless network based on 802.11a now has some help -- WildPackets has released upgrades to AiroPeek ($1495) and AiroPeek NX ($3495) to support 11a, as well as VoIP, 152-bit WEP, and more.

Verizon DSL is getting into sharing: Users of the service can up to a $100 rebate on the Linksys Wireless Broadband Router (BEFW11S4) if they have 768Kbps or 128Kbps service; those with 1.5Mbps DSL service get a full $180 rebate, which is the list price of the router. (Network cards are left up to the user.) They also offer a free "Small Business Guide to Wireless Networking" by calling 888-704-9635 or get the PDF file on the Web. Read the full story at 802.11 Planet.

Proxim is now shipping the $249 ORiNOCO 5 GHz Kit, a CardBus NIC with high-gain antenna attachment for the dual-slot ORiNOCO AP-2000 Access Point for businesses ($895 list). It provides 802.11a along with the 802.11b already in the product. The kit includes Release 2.0 software with support for Virtual LANs and automatic channel selection. The software is also available free for existing AP-2000 customers.

Sunday, September 1, 2002

There may soon be a new rush of HomePlug based home networking products that use the powerlines in your home to connect PCs. Intellon has new reference designs available for OEM manufacturers looking to create HomePlug products. The designs have FCC, UL, and HomePlug certification and include USB and Ethernet to powerline bridges. The HomePlug Powerline Alliance will hold it's next member conference in Napa Valley, CA, from October 23-24, 2002.

TROY Wireless's WindConnect Bluetooth print adapter now supports Bluetooth Hardcopy Replacement Profile (HCRP), a specification that lets a Bluetooth printing devices emulate all of the functions of the connected printer. The firmware upgrade to the WindConnect is free and immediately available for download. HCRP will be incorporated in all future versions of the product.