{"id":1865,"date":"2021-10-01T10:08:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T10:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/?page_id=1865"},"modified":"2021-10-05T16:59:08","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T16:59:08","slug":"2wire-homeportal-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/2wire-homeportal-100\/","title":{"rendered":"2Wire HomePortal 100"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>Author: Tim Higgins<br \/>\nReview Date: 4\/5\/2001<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1847\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/homeportal.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"117\" height=\"175\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Model:<\/strong> HomePortal 100<br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;\">Pros:<\/span><\/b><br \/>\n&#8211; Very very fast!<br \/>\n&#8211; Good attempt at simplifying the home network setup experience.<br \/>\n&#8211; Supports Ethernet, USB, and HomePNA 2.0 LAN ports<\/p>\n<p><b><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;\">Cons<\/span><\/b><br \/>\n&#8211; Big and non stackable<br \/>\n&#8211; LAN USB port only for Win98,ME,2000<br \/>\n&#8211; Limited features<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial Narrow;\"><b>Updates<\/b><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial Narrow;\"><b>3\/7\/01<\/b><\/span>\u00a0Corrected LAN port speed to 10BaseT from 10\/100.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial Narrow;\"><b>2\/8\/01<\/b><\/span>\u00a0Now available from\u00a0<b><a href=\"http:\/\/accessories.us.dell.com\/sna\/productdetail.asp?category_id=221&amp;sku=211925\" target=\"_offsite\" rel=\"noopener\">Dell<\/a><\/b>, too!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial Narrow;\"><b>2\/5\/01<\/b><\/span>\u00a0Corrected WAN port speed to 10BaseT from 10\/100.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial Narrow;\"><b>1\/20\/01<\/b><\/span>\u00a0Now available from\u00a0<b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.compusa.com\/products\/product_info.asp?product_code=279770\" target=\"_offsite\" rel=\"noopener\">CompUsa<\/a><\/b>, both via web and in-store.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial Narrow;\"><b>1\/10\/01<\/b><\/span>\u00a0$100 price reduction on all models!\u00a0 Wireless model available soon for $400.<\/p>\n<hr size=\"1\" \/>\n<p align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #ffffff;\">The Stats<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Check\u00a0<b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/pg\/router_details.asp?ProdID=%3C%=strProduct%%3E\">this page<\/a><\/b>\u00a0for a summary of the Home Portal 100&#8217;s capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"450\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"321\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#385CA0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #ffffff;\">The Basics<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"400\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\" valign=\"middle\" bgcolor=\"#E4E4E4\" width=\"90\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica; font-size: medium;\"><b>Indicators<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<td valign=\"middle\" bgcolor=\"#E4E4E4\">\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">Power<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">Broadband Link<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">Home Network<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">Link and Activity LEDs built into rear panel Ethernet connectors<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\" bgcolor=\"#E4E4E4\" width=\"90\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica; font-size: medium;\"><b>Connectors<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#E4E4E4\">\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">One RJ45 10 BaseT WAN<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">One RJ45 10BaseT LAN<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">One USB Type B (square) LAN<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">Two USB Type A (rectangular) for &#8220;peripherals&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">Power<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">One RJ11 HomePNA 2.0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\" bgcolor=\"#E4E4E4\" width=\"90\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica; font-size: medium;\"><b>Comes with<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#E4E4E4\">\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">CDRom with installation software<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">printed Quick Start Guide poster<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">printed User Guide<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">one normal UTP cable<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">two RJ11 phone cables<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">one USB A to B cable<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">modular phone jack Y adapter<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\">100-240V Power supply<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\" bgcolor=\"#E4E4E4\" width=\"90\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica; font-size: medium;\"><b>Other\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#E4E4E4\">\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>NO<\/b>\u00a0Hardware Reset switch<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>NO<\/b>\u00a0Uplink or Normal \/ Crossover switch for LAN Ports, but LAN Ethernet port is\u00a0<b>auto-MDI\/MDI-X sensing<\/b>\u00a0(see\u00a0<b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/port-expand\/\">this page<\/a><\/b>\u00a0for more info).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h3 align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Style and Substance<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>2Wire has hyped their Home Portal series since this year&#8217;s CES show last January.\u00a0 The product looked sexy and had interesting specs, but months came and went and nothing shipped.\u00a0 But now product is finally hitting the streets, so I lined up a review unit to see if it really lived up to the buzz that 2Wire&#8217;s PR folks had been generating.\u00a0 Since we don&#8217;t have access to DSL service, we chose the Ethernet WAN port model, the HomePortal 100 (HP100).\u00a0 (2Wire also has the 1500 series with DSL WAN ports, too.)<\/p>\n<p>The quick take is it more than lives up to the hype in routing speed!\u00a0 But the feature set still needs to evolve.\u00a0 Let&#8217;s go see why!<\/p>\n<h3 align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #000000;\">It&#8217;s all in the Setup!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>2Wire&#8217;s focus is to make it easy to setup a secure LAN and share it via a broadband connection.\u00a0 Their approach is similar to that taken by Microsoft, NETGEAR, Intel and others: put another interface on top of that nasty networking setup stuff.\u00a0 However, 2Wire comes the closest that I&#8217;ve seen to pulling it off, and even does it for MacOS and Windows machines!\u00a0 How do they do it?<\/p>\n<p>First, their documentation is decent.\u00a0 It contains connection diagrams and explanations of 5 different types of LAN connections, including wireless and HomePNA.\u00a0 The manual also tells you how to add additional computers for each type of connection.\u00a0 It even has a useful &#8220;FAQ&#8221; section, which can also be reached\u00a0<b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.2wire.com\/support\/faq_hp.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on their Web site<\/a><\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>Second, they give you connection options.\u00a0\u00a0 If your computer already has a HomePNA adapter built in, you can use HP100&#8217;s\u00a0<b>HomePNA2.0 port<\/b>.\u00a0 No HomePNA?\u00a0 Then use the\u00a0<b>USB<\/b>\u00a0port&#8230; they even supply the cable!\u00a0 If you&#8217;re already Ethernet housebroken, then plug into the\u00a0<b>10BaseT Ethernet port<\/b>. The only thing that isn&#8217;t built-in is a wireless connection, but you can add an access point or even one of the USB wirless client adapters using any of the LAN ports.\u00a0 You can connect devices to all three port types and they&#8217;ll be connected via an internally switched connection.\u00a0 If you need more Ethernet ports, just connect up a hub or switch (but make sure it&#8217;s a 10\/100 autosensing switch since the HP100&#8217;s LAN port is only\u00a0<b>10BaseT!<\/b>).<br \/>\n<img alt='big_smile-2733317' src='https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/big_smile-2733317.gif' alt=\"I like it!\" border=\"0\" \/>\u00a0No matter whether you use a normal UTP or crossover cable, or whatever kind of port you connect to, the HP100 will figure it out and connect you up!<br \/>\nThird (and most importantly)\u00a0<b>they did a good job with the software<\/b>\u00a0(and firmware)!\u00a0 Let&#8217;s examine this one a little more closely.<\/p>\n<h3 align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #000000;\">It takes three&#8230;<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>There are actually\u00a0<b>three<\/b>\u00a0pieces to 2Wire&#8217;s management suite, although they&#8217;d really like you to use only the first two.\u00a0 (Of course, I&#8217;ll tell you about all three!)<\/p>\n<p><b>1) The Installer:<\/b>\u00a0Comes in Win 95\/98\/NT\/ME\/2000 and MacOS 8.5 or better flavors (nope, no Linux).\u00a0 It took awhile and required one reboot.\u00a0 The\u00a0<b>Key Code<\/b>\u00a0that the installer asks for is very important and is part of 2Wire&#8217;s ease-of-setup. 2Wire&#8217;s products are mainly sold direct via phone (a web form just brings up a phone contact form) and the sales person will ask you for information about your ISP network configuration.\u00a0 This information is keyed in, and out pops a KeyCode that is printed on your HomePortal box and install CD sleeve.\u00a0 The Key Code tells the Installer how to configure the WAN side of the box without your needing to futz with IP addresses, domain names, etc.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1848 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/hp_inst_name.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"433\" height=\"386\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\">(sample Installer screen)<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">The disadvantage is that if you give them the wrong info, or 2Wire&#8217;s ISP database information is wrong, the box may come up with no WAN connection, as mine did.\u00a0 My 2Wire contact traced the error to an incorrect assumption that he made about my ISP (he thought I had a PPPoE connection), when he generated my Key Code.\u00a0 If this happens, you&#8217;ll need to access the\u00a0<b>secret Management and Diagnostics Console<\/b>\u00a0(see below) to reset the box to factory defaults.\u00a0 You&#8217;ll then need to go to the 2Wire Support site and generate a new Key Code, hopefully this time with the right info.\u00a0 I just answered &#8220;Other&#8221; to the\u00a0<b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.2wire.com\/keycode\/default.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Key Code generator&#8217;s<\/a><\/b>\u00a0ISP question, and received a Key Code that asked me about all my WAN parameters&#8230; just like setting up other routers.\u00a0 Note that Host and Domain names are supported for @Home users, but RR TAS login and MAC address changing or &#8220;spoofing&#8221; is not available.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Things I didn&#8217;t like about the installer:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>a)\u00a0<b>It reset my browser Home page<\/b>\u00a0to the HP&#8217;s internal HTTP admin server.\u00a0 It also created a duplicate &#8220;Default&#8221; Netscape User profile to do this.<\/p>\n<p>b)\u00a0<b>It also changed my network logon<\/b>\u00a0from Windows to MS Networking.\u00a0 Given the target audience, I understand the reasoning for this change, but the browser change could be very confusing to an inexperienced user.\u00a0 I think installers should\u00a0<b>at least<\/b>\u00a0tell you when they make changes like this, a preferably\u00a0<b>ask permission<\/b>!<\/p>\n<p>b)\u00a0<b>It made me give them registration info.<\/b>\u00a0 At first I didn&#8217;t dare bail out of this because I didn&#8217;t see any Opt-out option and I was still in the install process.\u00a0 But the program took a long time between screens and finally hung, so I had no choice.\u00a0 The setup still took and I didn&#8217;t get any nag screens later, though.\u00a0 To be fair, the program displayed the 2Wire privacy policy, but again, didn&#8217;t give you the option of &#8220;No thanks!&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>2) The Home Portal Monitor:<\/b>\u00a0This is a System Tray app in Windows (I don&#8217;t even know if it installs in the MacOS version) which lets you take the actions shown in the screen shot below.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1849 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/hp_monitor.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"245\" height=\"358\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: small;\">The &#8220;Change Mobile Computer&#8221; location feature lets you store two network profiles for a computer.\u00a0 This will make it easy to move a laptop between your 2Wire and work networks, for example.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: small;\">The Monitor also has a web portion, which comes up if you select most any of the System Tray icon options, or\u00a0<\/span>by typing<b>\u00a0http:\/\/172.16.0.1\/<\/b>\u00a0 (<b>http:\/\/home\/<\/b>\u00a0 or\u00a0<b>http:\/\/homeportal\/<\/b>\u00a0should also work due to the DNS built into the HP100) into your browser.\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: small;\">The screen shot below shows the &#8220;View Home Network&#8221; screen.\u00a0 (I&#8217;ll explain about the &#8220;grayed out&#8221; network members later.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1850\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/hp_mon_net.sm_.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"433\" height=\"451\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Like everyone else, 2Wire wants you to make\u00a0<b>their<\/b>\u00a0home page,\u00a0<b>your<\/b>\u00a0home page, and three of the four icons have nothing to do with the management of the box.\u00a0 I&#8217;d have liked to see more features on the network tab (see below), but hey, 2Wire&#8217;s gotta pay the bills whatever way they can!<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><b><br \/>\n3) The (secret) Management and Diagnostics Console (MDC):<\/b>\u00a0This little guy (which my 2Wire contact told me about when I couldn&#8217;t get my install to work) saved me from sending back the box unreviewed.\u00a0 You reach it by typing<b>\u00a0http:\/\/172.16.0.1\/management<\/b>\u00a0(again, you can substitute &#8220;home&#8221; or &#8220;homeportal&#8221; for the IP address) into your browser.\u00a0\u00a0 You can mostly just look at stuff (those text boxes are READ ONLY), but you can set some important parameters for the WAN port and set up Application Hosting (port mapping) for Client machines.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1851\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/hp_mnd_isp.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"433\" height=\"452\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">I got the feeling from my 2Wire friend (and from the fact that it&#8217;s not documented anywhere) that they really don&#8217;t want customers to use this interface unless directed by 2Wire support.\u00a0 But since it accesses information and functions that you can&#8217;t get through the HomePortal interface, you should know about it, and use it if you need to.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>A few words on Linux and other OSes&#8230;<\/b><br \/>\nIt&#8217;s possible (although not recommended by 2Wire) to install the HP100 without installing the HomePortal software by just using the M&amp;D console.\u00a0 You can even access the Web part of the HomePortal interface, although if your browser isn&#8217;t handy with Java, you may not get a very satisfying experience!<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Firmware updating is done via the web browser and Java.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Any client whose OS includes a TCP\/IP stack should be useable with the HP100.\u00a0 If you have problems getting an address from the mandatory DHCP server, you can manually assign TCP\/IP info if you start at the high end of the subnet range and work down.\u00a0 Note that you don&#8217;t have to install the 2Wire HomePortal software when you add MacOS or windows clients to your network either.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In all, these Management Interface components should give novice networkers a smooth installation experience.\u00a0 If not, Tech support is available 24\/7 via a toll-free number or email.\u00a0 The contact info is printed in the User Guide (ignore the old Mon-Fri limited hours info), and is clearly shown on the HP Monitor&#8217;s Troubleshooting screen, something I&#8217;d like to see all manufacturers do!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"321\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#385CA0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #ffffff;\">I&#8217;m connected. Now what?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p align=\"left\"><b><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">NOTE: Opening holes in your firewall can compromise your LAN&#8217;s security if done incorrectly.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Once your shared connection to the Internet is up, you may need to get things other than web browsing and email working, such as web phones, games or servers.\u00a0 For you, the HP100 has its &#8220;Hosted Applications&#8221; feature.\u00a0 This is port mapping, but with a very nicely designed interface and much of the nasty work handled automatically.\u00a0 As you can see from the screen shots below (click on them to see a larger view), you set the Hosted Applications by choosing a network client by name and choosing from an extensive pick-list of applications.\u00a0 If your application isn&#8217;t in the list, you can set the mapping yourself, but only\u00a0<b>one port at a time.<\/b>\u00a0 You should also tell 2Wire, because they&#8217;ve made the list updatable by clicking on a link in the Hosted App window, and they&#8217;ll be expanding the Hosted App list for popular applications.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1852\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/hp_add.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"433\" height=\"451\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1853\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/hp_addapp.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"433\" height=\"442\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1854\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/hp_appdet.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"433\" height=\"442\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">I was curious about what 2Wire did for the tough apps like NetMeeting and Direct X games, which require many ports to be opened.\u00a0 I was surprised when I saw only\u00a0<b>one port<\/b>\u00a0listed for each of these apps!\u00a0 2Wire said that they actually write &#8220;Application Layer Gateways&#8221; for complex maps, which do the heavy lifting.\u00a0 The simple single port Hosted Apps I tried all worked, but I didn&#8217;t try any of the more complicated stuff.\u00a0\u00a0 So I can&#8217;t comment on how well 2Wire does at achieving their goal of making one of the toughest parts of Internet sharing easy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"321\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#385CA0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #ffffff;\">How secure?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p align=\"left\">I ran a few TCP port scans for common server and Trojan ports on the HP100 and didn&#8217;t come up with anything open.\u00a0 On the other hand, none of my scans were picked up in the MDC&#8217;s Security log, either.\u00a0 The log can be cleared, but not saved, emailed, or sent to a syslog server.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"321\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#385CA0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #ffffff;\">What&#8217;s not to like?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p align=\"left\">Although 2Wire&#8217;s management interface is better than many others, it has its share of quirks and missing features&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Browser Bugs:<\/b>\u00a0I used both Netscape 4.75 and IE 4.72.3110 (the one that comes with Win98SE for my testing and found differences between them.\u00a0 You won&#8217;t see the &#8220;Access shared files&#8221; hyperlink on the &#8220;Networked Devices&#8221; display in Netscape, but will in IE.\u00a0 I also got Javascript errors\u00a0 and &#8220;File not Found&#8221; errors for all frames of the window when I tried to access the MDC with IE, but Netscape was ok.\u00a0 The Help screen index displays in IE, but not in Netscape, too.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Sticky Network:<\/b>\u00a0I did some moving around of Network clients during my testing, but try as I might, I couldn&#8217;t get rid of the icons for the no-longer functioning devices.\u00a0 They at least were &#8220;greyed out&#8221; and the 2Wire console didn&#8217;t nag me about them.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>No Status:<\/b>\u00a0Other than the big steadily glowing LEDs on the front of the 2Wire box, you have no idea of whether traffic is really moving, or whether devices are even linked.\u00a0 The Ethernet connectors on the rear of the box have Link and Activity LEDs, but the HomePNA and USB jacks have none.\u00a0 Nothing to help you in the Home Portal Monitor display either.\u00a0 This needs work, folks.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>No Admin password:<\/b>\u00a0Seems like a glaring omission to me!\u00a0 Anyone on the LAN side of the router can bring up the HomePortal web screen by typing<b>\u00a0http:\/\/172.16.0.1\/<\/b>\u00a0into their browser<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>No Remote Administration:<\/b>\u00a0If you&#8217;re not on the LAN side of the HP100, you won&#8217;t be able to access either the HPMonitor or even the MDC.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>No Real Time :<\/b>\u00a0You can&#8217;t set the time of day in the HP100, so all logged events are timed relative to the last boot-up.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"321\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#385CA0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Missing in action<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve used other routers, you may be looking for some features that you&#8217;re used to.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s what you\u00a0<b>won&#8217;t<\/b>\u00a0find:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Access Controls:<\/b>\u00a0No way to keep users from accessing network services.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Content Controls:<\/b>\u00a0You&#8217;ll have to find another way to keep objectionable material from being accessed from the net.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>Static Routing:<\/b>\u00a0You can&#8217;t set static routes to communicate with other routers&#8217; subnets if you have them.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>DHCP Disable:<\/b>\u00a0You can&#8217;t shut off DHCP and you can only control the private IP\u00a0<b>range<\/b>\u00a0(but not the number of clients) that&#8217;s handed out via the MDC<\/li>\n<li><b>VPN Server support:<\/b>\u00a0You won&#8217;t be able to host either PPTP or IPsec servers on your LAN.\u00a0 2Wire says that PPTP\u00a0<b>client<\/b>\u00a0passthru presently works and the IPsec client passthru will be supported in a firmware update that is due out in a few weeks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You should also know that the two USB &#8220;A&#8221; (rectangular) connectors (described as being for &#8220;peripheral support&#8221;) currently can&#8217;t be used for anything. The one &#8220;B&#8221; connector isn&#8217;t supported for the MacOS, too.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"321\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#385CA0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Smmmmokin&#8217;&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p align=\"left\">The HP100 blew right though my manual file transfer test, which maxes out at about 5.0Mbps.\u00a0\u00a0 So I had to rely on my trusty\u00a0<b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/qcheck.htm\">netIQ Qcheck<\/a><\/b>\u00a0utility to give me the real story, which was blow-my-socks-off impressive!<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><b>(Tests run with 1.1.2.2 firmware)<\/b><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"400\" cellspacing=\"1\" bgcolor=\"#D7D7D7\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" bgcolor=\"#000066\" width=\"248\">\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial;\"><b>Test Description<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" align=\"center\" bgcolor=\"#000066\" width=\"138\">\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial;\"><b>Qcheck Transfer Rate (Mbps)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" align=\"center\" valign=\"top\" bgcolor=\"#000066\" width=\"138\">\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial;\"><b>Qcheck Response Time (msec)<br \/>\n[10 iterations 100byte data size]<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" align=\"center\" bgcolor=\"#000066\" width=\"138\">\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial;\"><b>Qcheck UDP stream<br \/>\n[10S@1000Kbps]<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"center\" bgcolor=\"#000066\" width=\"69\">\n<p align=\"center\"><b><span style=\"color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial;\">(Actual throughput- kbps)<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\" bgcolor=\"#000066\" width=\"69\">\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial;\"><b>(Lost data- %)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"248\">\n<p align=\"left\">WAN-LAN<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\" width=\"138\">\n<p align=\"center\"><b><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">7.5<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\" width=\"138\">\n<p align=\"center\">&lt; 3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\" width=\"69\">\n<p align=\"center\">999<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\" width=\"69\">\n<p align=\"center\">0%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"248\">\n<p align=\"left\">LAN-WAN<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\" width=\"138\">\n<p align=\"center\"><b><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">7.9<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\" width=\"138\">\n<p align=\"center\">&lt; 3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\" width=\"69\">\n<p align=\"center\">988<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\" width=\"69\">\n<p align=\"center\">0%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p align=\"center\">(Details of how we tested can be found\u00a0<b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/measure_router.htm\">here<\/a><\/b>.)<\/p>\n<p>This puppy\u00a0<b>SCREAMS<\/b>\u00a0in either direction,\u00a0 whether it&#8217;s TCP, UDP streams, or whatevah. &#8216;Nuff said!<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"321\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#385CA0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><span class=\"HEADER\" style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Summary<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p align=\"left\"><b><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Update 1\/10\/01<\/span><\/b>: The HomePortal 100 price has been cut to $199, so it&#8217;s an even better deal now!<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">2Wire packs a lot into its stylish box for $200, but is it worth it?\u00a0 I tried to assemble an equivalent box from separate products, just to do a sanity check on pricing, and came up with the following (pricing data was from\u00a0<b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pricegrabber.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pricegrabber<\/a><\/b>\u00a0on 10 Jan 2001):<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<p><b><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Updated 1\/10\/01<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"300\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p align=\"left\">NETGEAR RT314 router<br \/>\n(for its speed and ports)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"middle\">\n<p align=\"left\">$130<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p align=\"left\">NETGEAR PE102 HomePNA2.0 to Ethernet bridge (less $ than Linksys HPB200)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"middle\">\n<p align=\"left\">$145<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p align=\"left\">NETGEAR EA101 USB to Ethernet adapter<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"bottom\">\n<p align=\"left\">$ 28<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"middle\">====<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\"><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"><b>$303<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>This tells me that 2Wire has done their pricing homework.\u00a0 They&#8217;ve certainly done their bandwidth homework, since the HP100 is now the\u00a0<b>fastest router tested to date!\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>If the firmware that handles their Hosted Applications is solid, that would be another advantage over many competing boxes who either can&#8217;t get it right or who forward a smaller number of ports.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2Wire pumped up the hype volume as high as they did, I really felt they had a lot to live up to, and for the most part, they did.\u00a0 But they&#8217;ll need to improve the feature set and keep an eye on the competition who are starting to roll out their multi-flavored port products, too!<\/p>\n<p>Bottom Line: If you&#8217;re looking for a blazing fast router that can handle Ethernet, USB or HomePNA2.0 connections out of the box at a competitive price, the HP100 is definitely worth a look!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author: Tim Higgins Review Date: 4\/5\/2001 &nbsp; Model: HomePortal 100 Pros: &#8211; Very very fast! &#8211; Good attempt at simplifying the home network setup experience. &#8211; Supports Ethernet, USB, and HomePNA 2.0 LAN ports Cons &#8211; Big and non stackable &#8211; LAN USB port only for Win98,ME,2000 &#8211; Limited features Updates3\/7\/01\u00a0Corrected LAN port speed to 10BaseT from 10\/100. 2\/8\/01\u00a0Now available from\u00a0Dell, too! 2\/5\/01\u00a0Corrected WAN port speed to 10BaseT from 10\/100. 1\/20\/01\u00a0Now available from\u00a0CompUsa, both via web and in-store. 1\/10\/01\u00a0$100 price reduction on all models!\u00a0 Wireless model available soon for $400. The Stats Check\u00a0this page\u00a0for a summary of the Home Portal <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}