Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 10:59:37 -0400 From: Ed Padin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Here's my review of the Diamond Homefree wireless solution Synopsis ======== A good wireless solution on the cheap (meaning $60-something ) but not for those willing to spend money for good performance and Linux compatiblity. Acquisition and Configuration ------------------------------ I got my home-free kit with an ISA and PC card from an ebay auction at $60+ship. I hooked it up to my desktop adn lib 110. The installation was pretty idiot-proof. You just follow the prompts and it sets everything up. You have to tell it which machine is a NAT to the Internet and which will be a client, etc. Performance ----------- In a word, 'slow!'. The web browsing is tolerable but file transfers will take some time. I was able to use it at about 100 feet distance in a NYC suburban area. They advertise a 1Mb thru-put but the actual figure is a lot lower. I have a 600kbit DSL hookup and the browser on my desktop is still a lot faster than the browser on the home-free client. The webgear aviator is probably a better/faster solution at 2.4mb. They also probably come close to actually achieving that speed. The home-free system does not use a real eterhnet card. They use something that's like an IR transceiver hooked up to a 2.4Ghz radio. They emulate the ethernet MAC protocol in software so it also hogs more CPU resources. The end result is that the 1mbit transfer is effectively lower. They also do not support linux. There are linux drivers for it but they only work in linux->linux not linux->windows. Conclusion ---------- At $60 I feel I got my money's worth. I was not able to find a webgear kit for less than $130. If you need a speedy solution (and real linux support) then spend the extra pennies** for webgear. If you want something that works okay under 98, is cheeeeep, and all you really want is remote web browsing then the homefree is okay. Here's a good example of how high some webgear prices can go: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=325300716 Btw: The prices I'm talking about are from ebay auctions where 'caveat emptor' is the name of the game. That's also the reason I like to keep things under $100. ************************************************************** http://libretto.basiclink.com - Libretto mailing list http://libretto.basiclink.com/archive - Archives http://www.picante.com/~gtaylor/portable/faq.html - FAQ -------UNSUBSCRIBE------- mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=cmd:unsubscribe --------UNSUBSCRIBE DIGEST------ Use above but add DIGEST to the subject line... **************************************************************
