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Netgear DG834B ADSL Firewall Router
by stuleg
Or rather not quite £66, more like £61.99 – but then I wouldn’t have been able to pun on the famous Rolling Stones track in the title and that would have been an opportunity missed! So what is a router? And why am I writing a review about one? Well, a router is used when you want to share an internet connection between two or more ... computers, and I find myself writing about the Netgear ADSL Firewall Router DG834 thanks to my Sister asking me to set up a network on her two computers so that her AOL broadband connection could be shared. Of course therein lay the first issue, AOL is not like other ISP`s in that it has up to now been impossible to sign on with more than one screen-name, but thanks to AOL finally embracing the whole Networking ethos and offering support to a handful of routers there was to be no more barriers in spreading the connection around. Of the three wired routers that AOL offered support and instructions for I settled on the Netgear DG834 because it seemed to offer the best features at a reasonable price. However, rather than buy it from the AOL recommended retailer for £89.99 I did a little price comparison work and chose Simply.co.uk who were offering the same product for £28 less – always worth shopping around then!
What’s in the box?
A couple of days later the router arrived and I could finally start to setup the network. Included is the router which is roughly the size of a cheese sandwich, an installation CD, a two page installation leaflet, one broadband filter socket, a frankly pitiful length of Ethernet cable, and an assortment of warranty, licence and amendment leaflets. The installation leaflet is about as much help as a two page leaflet can be but thankfully I printed more detailed instructions directly from AOL. It should be noted that Ethernet adapters or cards for the computers you wish to network are NOT included; typically these can be bought as PCI cards for around £10 each. Luckily the two computers I was networking together came ready supplied with Ethernet ports to save the time and trouble of buying and fitting them.
Why the Netgear DG834 router?
Well, I wish there was some technical explanation as to why I decided on this particular router but the truth is that it simply looked the best. AOL only support 3 wired routers and this one is the mid priced of the trio. It also has double firewall protection (NAT and SPI) built in to stop unwanted security breaches, this and the fact that it is future proof and upgradeable to ADSL 2+ means it really was the only choice to have. Also worth noting is the fact that an access point can be added should the desire for a wireless network become too much. The router has four Ethernet ports for connecting any combination of computers, games consoles or printers and as detailed below is simplicity itself to get up and running.
Setting up the physical connections
Of course before you can install the software and configure the router to work with your ISP you have to physically join it to the computers you wish to network. I elected to stand the router next to the phone socket and joined it using the filter socket provided. For some unknown reason only one length of Ethernet cable is provided despite this being a networking product, it is also ridiculously short at just 2 meters! A quick bit of measuring between the router and the two computers ascertained that I needed two lengths of Ethernet cable measuring 20 and 15 meters respectively, and that they needed to be of the non cross over type. A trip to PC World soon told me that they would want £56 for that amount of cable, however I live about ten miles from a small concern called AUT Distribution where I was able to get the exact same lengths for just £8 – How do PC World get away with it! Some nifty hammer and cable grip work later the computers were connected to the router which in turn was connected to the phone line, and thus we were ready to setup the system to work harmoniously together.
Installing the Router to work with AOL
Now that the hardware is in position it is time to insert the installation CD and let it do its work. I have to say that this part of the operation was simplicity itself thanks to good and detailed instructions from AOL. A default username and password need to be entered on the first screen to protect all of your settings from unauthorised access, then a few simple instructions need to be inputted such as country and language. A smart wizard then does the hard work by detecting the type of internet connection available and then auto configuring itself. Once this has completed it is time to input your AOL master screen name details, it is worth noting that a new master screen name should be created as this will be connected to the internet all of the time, if you use your current master screen name then there could be problems if you log into your AOL master screen name from another location. Once this section is completed the router has enough information to enable a network connection and it displays two screens for you to check against instructions, if all is ok and the screen matches the pictures in the printed instructions then the router has authenticated itself and is ready for use. The good thing about this whole process is that you do not have to do it on both computers; the first computer that is configured simply sends all of the relative information to all other computers connected to the network.
Getting AOL to connect via the router
This is the last part of the whole setup process and simple involves a few mouse clicks. The two computers being networked were both running AOL version 8 so it was a simple matter of clicking setup on the sign on screen and clicking add modem from the four options displayed. The detection process is automatic and takes little more than twenty seconds, once finished there should be displayed the option to connect via TCP/IP (transmission control protocol / Internet protocol). When you go back to the sign on screen and select ISP/LAN connection under the select location tab and you are off and running with a fully networked setup.
Final thoughts
Well, my sister is delighted with her newly setup network so in turn I am happy. She elected to upgrade to AOL Platinum at the same time and enjoys download speeds of around 120 kbps even with both computers using the internet. Some good shopping around on my part meant that the whole network cost a few pennies short of £70 all in which really is a good price to share an internet connection. A 2 year warranty means that the router is well protected in the event of a fault and its smooth and thus far trouble free performance means it gets four stars out of five from me.
www.netgear.co.uk
www.simply.co.uk
www.autdirect.co.uk
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Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch BEFSR41
by Nibelung
Not so much an opinion on the Linksys Cable/DSL Router, after all, it's a blue box with twinkling lights, but more what you can do with one! Many people are cutting over to a broadband Internet connection of some kind, either courtesy of their cable TV company, or, if the prevailing conditions are right, through their BT ... telephone line using a service called ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line). The 'asymmetric' bit relates to the fact that downloads speeds are higher than those of uploads. As you can imagine, symmetrical DSL lines, i.e. with the same speed both ways tend to be for business use, and much much dearer.
If you have more than one PC at home, it is then a logical step to share this new faster connection between the PCs, since, unless they both make a demand on the Internet at EXACTLY the same time, there is no real loss of speed to either, thereby maximising your 'investment' in telecomms.
It is possible to create a minor home 'network' by keeping the existing primary broadband connection in place, and simply linking the two PCs together, either by wire or as in more commonly the case when starting from scratch, by radio link (also called wi-fi). This approach has one advantage - its cheapness. Its disadvantage is the fact that the main PC must be running to allow the second one access to the web.
This is where a Cable/DSL Ethernet Router/Switch like the Linksys comes into its own. My own version, called the BEFW11S4, looks exactly like the one pictured above, with one notable exception - it has sprouted ears, or rather a pair of radio antennae. This model is all of the "Cable/DSL Ethernet Router/Switch", with the added complication of being called a Wireless Access Point too. Quite a mouthful. In reality, it means that I can connect my cable company's modem to up to four wired-in PC's via the router/switch bit, and to practically as many as I like wireless-linked PC&
#39;s as well. That's some network capacity there for a four-bedroom house!
I'm writing about this now, rather than eight months ago when I bought it for two reasons. One is to alert you to how cheap this stuff has gotten, and two to keep you up to date with new developments since I bought it. The box itself can now be had if you shop around for a mere 50 quid. What has happened in the meantime is that a new higher speed standard for 'wi-fi' has been established of 54 megabits/second compared to the original 11, now known as wireless-G and B respectively Bear in mind, that even the original 'slow' version is still 22 times faster than most people's basic broadband connection, so this needn't be a problem.
FIRST STEPS
So what have I done with mine? Firstly came the installation, which involved loading some software, following the step-by-step instructions for connecting a first machine. This involved breaking the link between your broadband modem and PC network card (note: if your modem only has USB outputs, you'll need a new one). My, or rather Telewest's Motorola modem had both types of connection so this was not a problem.
Then you restore the link, by reconnecting the modem, this time to the router instead. The router, in turn, is connected back to the first PC's network card, so instead of one single cable from modem to PC, you now have two, one leading INTO the router from the modem, and the other leading OUT of the router to the PC. They give you the extra bit of cable that you'll need to carry this out. If you've ever connected a VCR somewhere in the aerial lead to a TV, then this 'daisy-chaining' concept will be familiar to you.
You then return to the software set-up, and bingo, your first PC can still talk to the Internet - 'whoopee, it could do that before!' I hear you say.
Ah yes, but I can add in another three PCs as long as the ca
bles from the back of the Linksys box will reach. OK, I didn't have three PC's but I did have an old one sitting around gathering dust, which has now been pressed back into service as a back-up 'server' for all those items that we spend huge amounts of time creating - documents, address books and the like. I don't run it all the time, just when a back-up is (over)due! Thanks to Windows' ability to identify shared drives AND printers, I am able to drag-and-drop files from
one PC to another using the Linksys' switching and routing facilities, and seamlessly too, I might add.
Connecting the second hard-wired PC merely involved running the set-up disk again under the banner of 'Install extra PC'. All that sharing stuff is a Windows function - the Linksys box merely supplies the route between terminals, and to be honest, you don't really have to get too involved.
CONNECTING VIA WI-FI
Where you do have to get involved is when setting up a wireless link, in my case to a PC in the dining room. Wireless brings with it advantages and disadvantages in equal measure. On the one hand, you've got flexibility, and the lack of damage to the decorating. However, the downside of having something in the house that can be picked up from 500 yards distant is exactly that - you don't know who's trying to eavesdrop on your 'traffic'. The first thing you DON'T do is give your network an ID like '15AcaciaAve'. That's tantamount to saying 'hey guys, come and burgle me, I've got a house full of gadgets!'
The other 'must do', is to set up the digital encryption to block overhearing, preferably the 128-bit variety as this is much harder to hack. There is however a slight speed penalty.
Let's assume that you've already fitted a wireless network attachment to your distant PC and have installed it as a piece of hardware. It's own set-up has
confirm
ed that it can see a
network or two, one of which is 15AcaciaAve (OK, so ignore my advice - see if I care!). You confirm that this is the default network, and get the basic unencrypted system working, making sure that the remote PC has Internet access - this is always a good test of your link.
Back to your 'main' PC you go from where you access the Linksys router's setup. This is done from Internet Explorer by accessing the network address 192.168.1.1. You type this
in where you would normally insert a URL. Then up comes a security screen with the default password of 'admin' - you are free to change this. Once you are 'inside' the Linksys box, it is an easy step to switch on the 128-bit encryption for the radio link and to create your own encryption code. You achieve this by typing in a favourite secret password, and letting the machine evolve a code, which is usually a tedious string of 'hexadecimal' characters like ae12f27....blah blah blah. Be sure to write this down correctly. Once you've turned on the encryption, this will be vital to getting the remote PC at the end of your radio link working again.
Then with your code in your sweaty mitt, you rush back to the remote PC (good exercise, this networking lark, innit?), where you re-input the code, which then permits an encrypted radio link to begin working just like the un-encrypted version, only much safer, if a little slower.
THE END RESULT
Our main PC, back-up server and Linksys box are all in the 'little bedroom over the stairs', whereas the remote wi-fi PC is downstairs in the dining room. All three PCs can connect to the Internet (and to e-mail, if you must, but then it ends up spread amongst several in-boxes), irrespective of whether the others are running. The only real snag we have run into is that the Linksys box looks like it's lit for an early Christmas. As I sit here, I'm looking straigh
t at ten LEDs, one of which is flickering non-stop. This is not normally a problem, unless we have a guest sleeping here, then the whole shebang needs shutting down so they can get to sleep! If they like a lie-in, we can't surf the web from the dining room - drat and double drat, Muttley!
FURTHER EXPANSION
To connect more than four hard-wired PCs to this setup, you need to add another Linksys router/switch box, although one with radio access is not necessary. All Linksys router equipment seems to share a common blue/black stackable body shell, so the siting of the extra box needn't be a problem, but don't expect to get a expansion of four more PCs - you lose one connection in joining boxes together, so this is one case where 2x4=7. Don't forget, adding extra 'wi-fi' PCs is not an issue unless you intend to connect dozens of the things.
Another interesting gadget coming on stream at around £150 is the Linksys WMA11B Wireless Digital Media Adapter. This is a Wireless-B adapter for connecting a TV and a hi-fi back to a PC where media files are stored. The implications are great. Not only could you show all your jpeg digital photos stored on the PC as a slide show on the TV, but mp3 music files stores similarly can be played elsewhere in the house through a decent hi-fi, not the PCs speakers. Not only that, you get to hear music away from the constant background hum of the PC. Navigation of the mp3 files uses the TV screen as a substitute for Windows Explorer. The only downside I can see is that I'll need to run upstairs to boot up the PC just to listen to music, but on the plus side, I'll be able to reclaim some more lounge from CD racks. Mind you, it means another bloody remote control in the lounge - that's makes about eight so far.
Note: I had previously tried, and written about a similar device called SliMP3, but this required either hardwiring from lounge to PC, or a clumsy add-on wireless bri
dge.
This new Linksys kit covers the lot in one, and is 100% compatible with my existing wi-fi kit.
For those of you who are still awake but befuddled by this stage, I've added a link to a diagram of my home network.
http://www.billynibbles.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Nibbleslan_files/slide0001.htm
That'll teach you to be nosey!
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