Excellent buy for under $50.00
Written: Aug 24 '04 (Updated Oct 13 '04)
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Pros: Price, looks, performance
Cons: whats up with the floppy dude?
The Bottom Line: This will meet your most home network needs! Go for it
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| qb_receiver's Full Review: Microsoft Broadband Networking MN-700 Wireless-G B... |
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Pros:
Looks sleek like a gadget from Star Trek! Fast, easy to setup seamless integration with windows platform. Has not dropped connection for days
Cons:
Linux setup, what's up with the floppy? Setup instructions can not be followed letter per letter!
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I bought this router to replace my LynkSys wired router which was working fine.
The configuration has been all windows (Windows Me and Windows XP)
It was one of the most inexpensive, best looking routers with good reviews. I have had it for a week and thus far it has lived up to all the kudos it has received.
Setup:
The router arrived in 4 days (5 stars to Overstock.com) and cost only $48. I did see the floppy supplied with it and remembered one of the previous reviewer's comments on it. My desktop (with Windows Me) has a floppy drive but the laptop does not!
The setup went near-seamless for the desktop. My cable modem however went into stand-by mode when I connected the router. As a result, the install reported an "internet unavailable" message. I followed their instructions (they tell you to power the cable-modem off and then on again) but that did not work either. Then I went a step further. I powered the cable-modem off by pulling the power cord out (complete disconnect) and re-powered it on. This worked like a charm!
It however asked me if I wanted to share the files on this computer with the network. When I said yes, it created a share for the whole c drive! I thought it would create a new folder to share. My interpretation perhaps was wrong! No blame to share here just a word of caution to all the security minded ones here!
Owing to the absence of floppy, I copied the network settings (it is just a small xml file containing the WEP key)
The setup on the laptop was a bit trickier.
I chose the "install software only" option as suggested by the manual. The setup never asked me for the "network settings" disk! I had two options, either use the windows XP to configure the wireless network or use the Broadband Manager. I chose the later.
I found one option where you could enter the key for the network.
I opened the XML file and copied the key (I will update this review later to write the exact procedure)
I went into the Broadband manager and pasted it there.
The nice thing about this software is that it creates a printer share for you during setup. All I had to do was then to go to control panel and setup up this shared printer. It recognizes the printer for you.
Operation:
I have a G type card in the laptop. I get very good signal strength pretty much everywhere. No dropped connections. The speed it claims is 54 MBPS. But I think that is between your laptop and the router. You will see a lot slower connection than that due to the speed limitation of your cable connection.
I love sharing the printer and the resources between my desktop and laptop. The communication for this small LAN is really fast
Broadband Manager Software:
It is an easy interface to handle. I have two issues with it.
(1) I tried to make the network more secure by blocking access to all MACS but my laptop card. There is a security section of the setup that will let you do that. This however did not work. It even refused connection to my laptop whose MAC address was in the "allowed" list. I double/triple checked there is no typo. I will need to investigate this matter further. It could well prove to be mea culpa!
(2) The status bar: The manager keeps showing my laptop to be on the network even when it is shut down. I thought it is just not dynamic and does not ping the router for status; but when I tried "refresh" it still shows the laptop on the network. I think this is due more to the way networking works. I am a bit out of my league here (not being a networking expert!!) but I think once the laptop holds on to an IP address (and does not release it) it will keep showing it to be on the network. There is no separate "heartbeat" checking going on.
Noise/ interference:
I have a 900 MHZ phone. So I can not comment on the 2.4 GHZ interference! I see no problems with the operation of my microwave (which is 2.4 GHZ) It is still heating food fine :-) and no; it is not heating the router or the computers! On the other hand the microwave does not show up on the network either!!
Price:
Folks under $50 this is one of the best deals around. If your laptop does not have a card, I suggest that you buy the "combo" pack from BJs. It has this router (MN700) plus a G type wireless card and two cables. This combo cost $74.00
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Update :
I bought a network printer (Brother MFC5440CN- excellent cheap MultiFunctionCopier BTW) to attach to my home network. All I did was to plug the ethernet cable. The printer got its own IP address through the router. It was recognized by the computers in the network and so far they have lived happily together (hopefully ever after til i upgrade)!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 47.95
Driver Availability: Windows, Linux, and Mac
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qb_receiver
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Reviews written: 17
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