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Wireless Signal Booster

I admit that I haven't played around with the booster, but I have deployed a few of the WAP/Router combos in the field, and they do seem to be a little on the short-ranged side. It might have something to do with it being a combo - I honestly don't know. Anyway, I'd consider that unit above.

Anyone else see a real doggie thing going on in that picture

Go Linksys!

• Peak Gain +14 dBm
• Receiver Gain +20 dBm (nominal)
• Tx Input Power +5 dBm (minimum) - +20 dBm (maximum)

• Peak Gain +14 dBm
• Receiver Gain +20 dBm (nominal)
• Tx Input Power +5 dBm (minimum) - +20 dBm (maximum)

It seems that it supports standard ethernet out of the box, with 802.11 supported by swapping the ethernet PCMCIA card with an equivilent wireless PCMCIA card.

It plays MPEG1 and MPEG2 video and MP3 and WMA audio over the network. (presumably via SMB fileshare) Not too bad for the price point ($249 MSRP). No mention of anything MPEG-4 based ala DivX/Xvid, so it's highly doubtful.

For my money, I think I'll get a modded Xbox for roughly the same price and run Linux and mplayer or XBMP, which is based on the mplayer code anyway. I don't need 802.11 for this application. If I did, an ethernet to 802.11 wireless bridge (such as the Linksys WET11) would serve quite nicely.

For the not-hackers out there, however, this isn't at all a bad deal, and a bunch of MPEG-2 (ala SVCD, or ripped DVD's) on today's large hard drives, combined with multiple cheap "media terminals" like this one, plugged into your TV's / Home Theatre, is a decent solution. Consider that network mp3 stereo components are going for about this price already, and you get the ability to archive and play your DVDs across your network, too, for the same price.

Not too shabby.

Todd

It's almost so simple, a monkey could do it. The problem is that no one except the more technical people will be aware of the issue and know how and where to get the firmware updates.

Todd

It's impossible to overflow the NAT table with UDP packets on a few sessions. The NAT table keeps one entry per session, not one entry per packet. If I make a connection to a server and get a stream of a trillion UDP packets, that's one entry in the NAT table used to map the session. You would need to sustain 520 sessions to fill up the NAT table.

They say that the router has a 512KB memory buffer, but I'd assume they meant to say that it has 512KB of memory. Most of that memory is probably filled by the OS and settings. I wonder how much memory is actually devoted to the NAT table.

I own this product, so have decided to upgrade the firmware. Since I'm running Debian, I clicked the "Other Operating Systems" link on the firmware download page, only to be presented with a ZIP archive containing a Windows executable! Is this some kind of sick joke?

Referenced file

http://www.linksys.com/download/

Here is the location of the Linksys BEFSR41 firmware upgrade utility v1.43 released Sept 4, 2002. Its the newest one I could find.

http://www.linksys.com/download/default.asp

linksys

I got one to use for my Model 28 teletype server, which runs in the living room.

The Turtle Beach AudioTron has been tempting me for quite some time. I've looked at many other component systems and this seems to be the most solid in terms of support, build quality, and ease of use.

If you don't want to have to run a patch cable to it, simply use a wireless bridge like the LinkSys WET11 or get a wireless ethernet converter to tie it into your SAMBA server.

Could probably use a Linksys WET11 Ethernet bridge for about $100 to $130. No need to crack open a desktop case. :)

Linksys has a fairly good knowledge base article for securing their APs: Here

yeah, they are just introducing those into the market..
LINKSYS WAP51AB $245
DWL-6000AP$275

It's in dual band devices such as this one from linksys http://www.linksys.com/Products/product.asp?grid=2 2&prid=452

And if you're wondering how to hook the ethernet up to is, check this out.

Out can pretty much have a cable line into your PC in one room, for recording, a powerline network to connect your PC to the PS2 in the other room, and the PS2 hooked up to the TV.

I guess if you are really hardcore, you don't even need a cable line in your TV room. Depends on if you can stream programs as they are going (which I imagine you should be able to). With multiple PS2s, you could use this to have cable in multiple rooms.

The only thing I don't like about this is that I do enjoy being able to leave a game running for a day or so because it doesn't have convinient save spots, while switching over to cable to watch something. I guess the fact that the PVR is recording it makes it so I don't have to switch over, though.

I guess it's time to buy one of those 320 GB harddrives.

They advertise up to 72Mbps turbo mode (with other Linksys 5GHz only .
They even have a Dual Band WAP that has both 5GHz and 2.4GHz Bands and is Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi5 Compatibility with 802.11a and 802.11b Technology. WAP51AB WAP54A

They advertise up to 72Mbps turbo mode (with other Linksys 5GHz only .
They even have a Dual Band WAP that has both 5GHz and 2.4GHz Bands and is Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi5 Compatibility with 802.11a and 802.11b Technology. WAP51AB WAP54A

To answer the previous poster's gripe about non-standard replacement PSU's - the case and the power brick cost the same or less than a nice quiet Zalman or EnerMax power supply, so buy a spare and keep it around.

You can also use a tiny LinkSys USB100M dongle if you track down the rtl8150 drivers and get them in your kernel. See http://www.spack.org/index.cgi/LinksysUSB100MLinux for driver info. The usb device will come up as eth0, and the built-in ethernet on the motherboard as eth1.

Well, you should also note that this review you posted is 2 1/2 years old, and Linksys has a competing product that is supposedly better. I am wondering exactly how the technologies compare and if they are using the same methods of data transmission. Does anyone know the difference between this and HomePlug 1.0?

what's the point of having an extra box to do what your computer can do already?

do you even have (a)/dsl?

Checking my log for today I've had over 50 people try and initiate unauthorised connections. The only server I run is HTTP and ident so there's no reason for any of them to try any other ports than those.

nslooking up their ip and I get mostly dial-up users or No such server.

Windows shares are the usual culprit. I did some scanning myself after cable modems launched in our area. I found myself on someone's shared C: drive will full rights. I trawled through some files to try and get some sort of ID. c:\program files\icq\ did me nicely and I was able to get the person's ICQ number. I looked them up on the ICQ whitepages and couldn't believe it when it turned out to be my uncle!

You don't need to waste a whole PC on it either

I've got one of these :

befsx41

Works great, no trouble in 3 years. Not a single piece of software has had trouble with it. Can't recommend it enough for home/soho users.

Linksys makes a unit - the WAP11 Which not only is a wireless access point, but can also work as a repeater / range extender for the Wireless Network. Inside the building isn't going to be a problem for the wireless. Outside, shouldn't be too much of a problem at all if you can place the units by the windows, you can then use these to bridge your wireless networks to extend the range of the network from building to building.

Linksys makes a unit - the WAP11 Which not only is a wireless access point, but can also work as a repeater / range extender for the Wireless Network. Inside the building isn't going to be a problem for the wireless. Outside, shouldn't be too much of a problem at all if you can place the units by the windows, you can then use these to bridge your wireless networks to extend the range of the network from building to building.

...just take one of these and some of these and as long as you are on the same phase, you should be good to go.

...just take one of these and some of these and as long as you are on the same phase, you should be good to go.

Once I was thinking of leaving, but my wife loves my fat pipe. Money doesn't matter to her. She loves the fat pipe. The fat pipe makes me happy too. We will sit up late at night, she and I, playing with the fat pipe.

Remember kids, as much fun as a fat pipe is to play with, use protection.

Linksys PCMCIA 10/100 ethernet card

Power:
5V 260mA, 60mA sleep mode
3V 180mA, 30mA sleep mode

Linksys PCMCIA 802.11b wireless card

Power:
5V or 3.3V
275mA TX, 225mA RX, 20mA standby

Or to put it simply, when operating, the wireless card operates at up to double the power requirements of the wired interface, while giving a maximum of 1/10th the speed. (That's a very optimistic maximum, as well.) There are a few added power drains for wired networks, such as powered hubs and switches, but I'd have to go with the wired net, every time.

Linksys PCMCIA 10/100 ethernet card

Power:
5V 260mA, 60mA sleep mode
3V 180mA, 30mA sleep mode

Linksys PCMCIA 802.11b wireless card

Power:
5V or 3.3V
275mA TX, 225mA RX, 20mA standby

Or to put it simply, when operating, the wireless card operates at up to double the power requirements of the wired interface, while giving a maximum of 1/10th the speed. (That's a very optimistic maximum, as well.) There are a few added power drains for wired networks, such as powered hubs and switches, but I'd have to go with the wired net, every time.

I have a Linksys KVM100SK 2 port KVM. It doesn't do USB, but it carries 1600x1200 video at 75Hz rather nicely. It's also cheap, comes with well shielded cables, supports my logitech wheel mouse in both Windows and Linux (using MS drivers on the OS), and doesn't require external power.

Instant Wireless Ethernet Workgroup Bridge (WET11) - The Instant Wireless Ethernet Workgroup Bridge enables any network device with an Ethernet port to go wireless, including PCs, printers, Internet appliances, gaming consoles such as the Xbox(TM), and even entertainment hardware such as Replay TV(TM) devices. It acts as a wireless converter to bridge Ethernet and wireless. Use this versatile Wireless Ethernet Bridge to transform any of your Ethernet hardware into a wireless device, so you can extend and customize your wireless network to suit your needs. 128-bit WEP capable. Estimated Street Price $149.

Yes, I love the Xbox, Yes, I hate Microsoft, Sorry !

How would this affect ZoneAlarm and Linksys and D-link routers?

I've had a PSX since about a year after it came out and got a PS2 the very day it came out, so I have also had a PS Underground subscription for close to that time for the regular demo discs it comes with. Recently, it started being bundled with the Playstation Magazine. They are doing a PS2 Broadband thing as that's due out soon, and listed configurations of how to hook up a PS2 to the Internet.

The one that may interest you is using a Linksys Wireless Ethernet Bridge here

LimeWire, a gnutella client, has allowed users to browse a person's shared directory in the past, but it doesn't seem to work if you're behind a firewall.

Besides, it's possible that they (the RIAA) could write or modify their own gnutella client that searches for all of the songs to appear on the Billboard Top 40 in the past five years and keep track of the IP addresses returned. If one particular IP address is sharing more than some magic number of those songs (100? 1000? 10000?), the red flag goes up and the ISP is notified.

However, I'm wondering what they're going to do in cases where individuals are at a university or organization behind a firewall, or even those individuals behind their own firewalls at home (like a LinkSys Cable Router). If my girlfriend is sharing mp3s using LimeWire on her computer, am I going to get sued because the cable service is in my name? How are they going to know it was her and not me? I just don't see how they can hope to pull this off besides sending cease & desist orders to everyone on every high-speed internet service in the U.S. or by suing people with the expectation that they'll just want to settle out of court because they can't fight the music industry.

And one last question - why are they spending all this time and money on plans to sue individuals when they should have had working, legitimate online music services years ago? If consumers could download any song they like for $.50 each and know that they were getting a good-quality encoding, there wouldn't be as much of a need to go after individual mp3 swappers. Yes, there will always be individuals who will trade mp3s and software for free, but I can think of a number of people (especially in my parents' generation who are just getting into the internet and high-speed access) who would legitimately pay for music if those services were available.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Gandhi

My microwave oven kills my home 802.11a network every time I turn it on, and my cordless phone frequently kills it, depending on what channel it happens to be using. It also dies from time to time for no reason I can detect, possibly from my neighbors' microwaves or cordless phones. I've replaced my wireless links with a few of Linksys's new powerline bridges. So far, they work perfectly.

It says right here (warning, PDF) on page 4:

Minimum Requirements
One Pentium Class, 200MHz or Faster, PC equipped with Windows 98, Millennium, NT version 4.0, 2000, or XP, 64 MB RAM...

And on the card homepage it says (in the last paragraph):

"Ready to run in Type II or III PCMCIA CardBus-equipped notebook PCs running Windows 98, Millennium, 2000, and XP..."

It's not likely that many people who want fast wireless would still be running Windows 95 or NT4 on a laptop anyway, so that makes sense.

I'm going to resist the urge to question why you would want to run Windows 98 or ME over Windows 2000 anyway (I'd give up the 10% speed increase for stability any day), but either way, you're wrong about their driver support.

By the way, if you want to be taken seriously with your letter of complaint, avoid the use of "kinda" and "sorta".

It says right here (warning, PDF) on page 4:

Minimum Requirements
One Pentium Class, 200MHz or Faster, PC equipped with Windows 98, Millennium, NT version 4.0, 2000, or XP, 64 MB RAM...

And on the card homepage it says (in the last paragraph):

"Ready to run in Type II or III PCMCIA CardBus-equipped notebook PCs running Windows 98, Millennium, 2000, and XP..."

It's not likely that many people who want fast wireless would still be running Windows 95 or NT4 on a laptop anyway, so that makes sense.

I'm going to resist the urge to question why you would want to run Windows 98 or ME over Windows 2000 anyway (I'd give up the 10% speed increase for stability any day), but either way, you're wrong about their driver support.

By the way, if you want to be taken seriously with your letter of complaint, avoid the use of "kinda" and "sorta".

I think more along the lines of what you are talking about is this voip solution, it's just what you are talking about. Yeah you have to pay a monthly fee but it's really not that bad. Linksys also makes something that plugs directly into the phone and your cable modem. It uses the net2phone service.

It seems the downfall (at least for me) for the creative unit and the linksys is that I want to have an incoming number for these things. Having to mess with multiple phone lines to make long distance calls seems like switching phone companies all the time to get the lowest rate. A pain in the keister.

actually if we're going to recommend things then I always suggest spending the 150 quid on the Linksys BEFSR41
no bulky / noisy PC to deal with
no trouble getting the right NICs
blinkenlights

I was in a very similar situation myself! I have a MAC tower, a Dell portable, and a HUGE Dell screen. I was appalled by the over-priced boxes out there, but here is my cheep-but-effective solution:

My keyboard and mouse I use is PS/2. (I do have MAC issue keyboard and mouse, but you'll see why I use PS/2.) from there, it travels to my $50 (w/o cables) Linksys PS2KVM2 switch with my screen connected. To my Dell PC, I connect the switch up using some double male patch cords. For the MAC, I got a USB to PS/2 adapter for $15 at a computer show.

It works like a charm! For the Linksys switch, I just have to hit Ctrl twice and I switch computers. It really confuses some of my friends when one minute they are looking at OS X and the next Windows XP. I do have a few notes:

If a switch does not plug into the wall for power, it will draw power from keyboard and mouse inputs. In other words, you can expect things to work unless one powered keyboard and mouse are connected to the switch. If you removed video from the switch, it will still operate as long as the keyboard and mouse are plugged in.

The other note I have is that even though I can still use all the keyboard functions on the MAC. The Windows key functions like the Apple key. The only thing I can't seem to do is do boot-level functions. (Example: If I hold down C at booting, it will not boot to the CD drive.) That's why you should keep your old mac keyboard and mouse around.

I know this isn't a pure USB solution, but it may be cheeper than finding a box that uses USB natively. Hope this helped someone!

Second, at 2.4 GHz a signal doesn't follow a wire (or a circuit board trace) like it does at 60 Hz. At 2.4 GHz a wire is more of a 'suggestion' than a 'command'. This is why (radar | microwave ovens | certain satellite communication systems) use waveguides instead of wires. It's also one of the reasons everything isn't running at the same clock speed.

Third, one of the Ten Commandments of /. -- Thou shalt query Google.

• Arcowave AWL-1100P
• D-Link DWL-520
• Intel PRO/Wireless 2011B LAN PCI Adapter
• LG Wireless PCI Card
• Linksys WMP11
• Proxim Harmony 802.11b PCI Card
• Samsung SWL-2000P or SWL-2100P

PCI Cards are installed with the PCB facing in the general direction of the processor (in the ATX spec). I don't know the shielding capabilities of circuit board material, but it sure isn't a solid conductor -- and... many of your traces are exposed to the radiation inside the case. This is where I expect problems and performance degradation to have their roots.

Perhaps you remember a few years ago when it was trendy to install shielding around your audio card for a greater Signal/Noise Ratio? I saw people use copper flashing (the stuff you use to keep your roof from leaking) to construct a box, doing a very nice soldering job, use stand-offs for installation... all to remove a little static. The whole trick was to construct a Faraday cage that would allow the ISA connector (remember those?) as little clearance as possible, without actually shorting it.

We may see a resurgence of that technique.

WMP11 - Instant Wireless PCI Card

For those that already purchased TivoNet or TurboNet... I read that you can buy the WAP11 from linksys, run the ethernet from your TivoNet/TurboNet into the WAP11, and set it up so that it acts like a client instead of a normal wireless hub... connecting to your real hub. Since I have a couple items in my living room that can be internet connected, I was looking into this. I wonder if you can connect a regular ethernet hub into the WAP11, and then run all your devices into the hub. Or is the WAP11 limited to one IP address negotiation...

WAP11

Anyway, I've been doing this since the moment I owned more than one computer. Everything networked (local, 192.168.x.x) was either fast and running xdm, or slow and just running "X -indirect hostname" so it was only an Xterminal for the faster boxes.

Today, I am rewiring my house with CAT 6 everywhere and a few wireless access points (big house, 3 story, full basement, so lot's of space to cover. As far as Comcast knows, I have 1 computer. In fact, I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 on the cable modem. Result? 2 fast computers, and a lot of slow old boxes around the house, but even the slow ones have a good vid card and monitor, so it doesn't matter. I added a couple cheap laptops to the mix with wireless cards, and there isn't ANYWHERE (including the neighbor's back yard at a BBQ) that I can't go, and have the fastest box ever...

May sound odd, but now I grab a cheap laptop insted of a magizine when I go into the bathroom for a, well.... Anyhow, I can read slashdot insted of TV Guide in there now, and, if I want, there's always tvguide.com!

This is old school UNIX stuff. It's always been terminals on a server. Now, a cheap P200 laptop with a decent display and wireless for $250 total will get you access to your killer linux box, from anywhere, any way... And, you can show how easy KDE is and convince people to try Linux at the neighbors BBQ (even though I use BlackBox myself....).

Building VPNs is a pain in the ass, regardless of whether you're using windows NT/2k or linux. Microsoft's documentation is sketchy (and in some cases completely wrong), and there are very few sources for building a VPN in Linux.

This book may make it easier to build a VPN, but it's kind of obsolete, now that the Linksys VPN router has been released, making it a matter of plugging in and turning on. Of course, if you have plenty of free time, but very little money, you might go for the book instead.