I started with the first-generation ISA card in the early '90s and have migrated upward through the PCI card, the USB "modem" and the 2-way dual-send/receive USB modem setup -- all required a Windows PC as host.
I've been using a DW6000 for well over a year, and I can tell you that it is a totally apolitical device. It doesn't care whether you've got a Mac (OS9-OSX+), a PC or a Linux box. It's just like a cable or DSL modem in that respect.
Prior to the DW6000 -- and we're talking consumer/home use machines -- DirecPC/DirecWay one-way or 2-way "modems" required a Windows PC to act as the "host", as I said. The DW6000 is self-hosted, and will accept any Mac or PC client you connect to it. Burrow into www.direcway.com to learn more.
I personally have both Macs (9.x and 10.2.x/10.3.7) and PCs (98 SE, XP Pro and Win 2K) connected to my DW6000 via a hybrid ethernet and 802.11b wi-fi home LAN. All machines sit behind a Microsoft MN-100 wired base station, which serves as a firewall/DHCP server/router and is connected to the DW6000 via ethernet. The Macs and PCs connect either via an Asante ethernet hub or a Netgear wireless access point to the MN-100. FWIW, I've tried connecting Macs and PCs directly to the DW6000, and I haven't detected any difference either way in download/surfing speeds.
It's a very simple thing for me to swap out OS9/OSX Macs on my test bench and hook them up, one after the other, to the Internet. They get their IP addresses on my local subnet automatically. Windows ICS isn't needed. DAVE isn't needed. DW6000 doesn't care. It couldn't be easier and simpler.
My average download speeds are in the 500-600 kilobits per second (kbps) range, though various Internet test sites show them to be higher. As with any other broadband technology where bandwidth is shared, I've seen speeds much higher and somewhat lower. Unlike cable modems, DirecWay does have a bandwidth use policy called Fair Access Policy or FAP. I've exceeded its limits only once in the last year, and suffered dialup speeds for a few hours as a penalty. But the policy prevents a handful of users from hogging all the bandwidth, and I appreciate that protection.
Yes, DirecWay is slower than cable modems (what isn't for home users?), but it's comparable to mid-level DSL and it's lots more reliable (I had DSL for a while). Macs appear to be a bit faster than PCs where downloads and web surfing are concerned, judging by my tests of download speeds of identical files during a recent beta test cycle.
Despite what a poster quoted below says, I have had absolutely no problems or other downtime caused by DirecWay's automatic updating of the DW6000's software. That includes months of service as a volunteer "guinea pig" tester of beta software, where I expected to have problems but didn't. Yes, DirecPC and early DirecWay users experienced operational problems, much as do DSL and cable modem users. Show me a technology that doesn't have flaws/weaknesses.
But I can tell you that the DW6000 is an extremely stable, bug-free and "invisible" device, and is OS platform-agnostic/apolitical. Which means I have found it to be very Mac friendly, both for downloads as well as for uploads. It's also a true plug and play device. All software/firmware for its operation is downloaded and maintained via satellite by DirecWay.
After years of fooling around with prior generations of DirecPC and DirecWay Windows-only software and the inevitable crashes, lockups and general annoyances caused by any changes, or by Microsoft or hardware incompatibilities, I find the DW6000 as reliable as a refrigerator, but much more exciting to use.
All that said, there are other technologies, including satellite competitor Starband (which is in bankruptcy, FYI), all of which have their supporters and advocates. Some are cheaper, some are more expensive, some are faster, some are slower. Do your due diligence and take your pick. I chose DirecWay's DW6000 and am very pleased with its Mac and PC friendliness, ease of use and overall reliability. If I lived somewhere other than in a rural Northern California coastal area, I might go with DSL or even a cable modem. But the DW6000 fits my current needs and situation just fine.
Jim Scott
-----Original Message----- From: iMac List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 12:48 To: iMac List Subject: Re: DirecWay DW6000?
Now, I wrote the above in August 2004. Since then there have been some "changes" to the service. Most importantly, the DW60xx series boxes are now available. Some of DirecWay's marketing information calls the DW600xx a "modem". It is not. The manufacturing info calls it a "terminal". That's closer... It's essentially a more tighly embedded Windoze/PC in a prettier box. It looks like they replaced ICS with something of higher performance. I could find no information as to the "terminal's" security or virus succeptability (and my fav clients aren't going to test until Q4 at the earliest). ---------------------------------------------------
Do you have any info on the DW6000 that shows that it is Windows based, or are you just assuming that based on the fact that the old equipment required a Windows PC?
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