Ideal choice for me ...
Written: May 21 '02
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Pros: Cost, ease of use, footprint
Cons: Instructions could use some tweaking ...
The Bottom Line: No product is perfect, but this is perfect for me. For a $100 and 30 minutes of effort, it should suit the needs of most customers.
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| whhherndon's Full Review: 2wire HomePortal 100 (1000-200002-000) Gateway |
After studying a variety of home-networking solutions, I finally settled on 2Wire. Generally, I was seeking the easiest setup at the lowest price – even though I am quite knowledgeable about all this stuff. I simply don’t want to spend hours upon hours any more to install/fix something on my computer.
Another reason I chose 2Wire was because of my unique situation. Computer A has no available PCI slots or USB slots left. Which meant I would have had to upgrade the motherboard – basically spend $600 or more to buy a new PC – or go the route of an Ethernet hub and Ethernet wiring, which I wanted to avoid (PC 2 is in the basement).
The 2Wire 100 solved that problem because I didn’t need to install any more cards or USB devices in the main computer. Here’s what setup involves.
-Sit the 2Wire on the desk. It's not as big as some people say. About 1 1/2 thick (less than I thought), 10-12 inches high, extending back 12 inches. It doesn't take up much space and can be put out of the way. I was expecting a lot worse.
-Attach one provided Ethernet cord from the 2Wire Portal to the Verizon DSL modem.
-Attach another provided Ethernet cord from the Portal to the PCI network card in the back of my PC (where the modem had been connected.)
-Attach the included two-way or three-way phone splitter to the only jack near my main PC.
-Run one provided phone cord from the splitter to the Verizon DSL modem (brand: Westall).
-And run another phone cord from the splitter to the back of the 2Wire Portal (to enable the house for home phone line networking).
-Then plug in the 2Wire (plug end first, then power end).
After that’s done, three green lights turn on. It may take a minute or two, but all the lights have to go on for the Portal to work. At that point, slip in the 2wire Home Portal software disk and follow the brief online instructions. You may have to reboot. A few minutes later, presto. The house is ready for home networking.
To hook up the second computer, I bought a 2Wire USB adapter from Verizon for $50 (same as the Home Portal, which was sharply marked down from $150 to $50 for current DSL users). I plugged a phone cord into the 2Wire USB device and plugged the other end into the nearest jack. Slip in the disk with the 2Wire adapter, turn your PC own, and let the computer find the driver on the disk. You may have to reboot. Afterward, install the Home Portal software on the second computer as well. All done.
After two weeks, I can say that my Home Portal has worked exceedingly well. It hasn’t lost a connection and actually boosted the speed I was getting (roughly 700 kbs) by an average of 25-30 kbs. Oftentimes the second computer (Window XP, 1800 AMD XP Chip) is faster than the main one (Windows 2000, AMD 600 chip), which probably shouldn’t be a surprise. I like how 2Wire software automatically configured both computers to talk with each other. It’s not always easy with different Microsoft operating systems.
I haven’t tried online gaming with other players, but I have heard that it is a concern. For gamers, you may want to approach 2Wire more cautiously, as the previous reviewer makes clear. But if your gig is web browsing, email, file sharing and print sharing, 2Wire is a terrific choice. Now I can work at either computer, save a file and have the changes show up when I work on the same file at another computer later on.
File sharing, however, takes a bit of effort if you are using different operating systems. 2Wire doesn’t give much help if you have Windows 2000 or XP. They tell you to consult Microsoft Help documents. While it’s easy to share Word documents – just open the file from its actual location -- it’s not as easy to share files on, say, cooking software like Mastercook, or file-capturing software like Clipmate. In those cases, you have to map those folders to their own network drives.
Aside from wanting help in more complex file-sharing arrangements, I almost didn’t buy the 2Wire because I couldn’t figure out one simple question. Could I use a splitter to connect my DSL modem AND enable the house for home phoneline networking. Oddly, I couldn’t get a direct answer from Verizon help or from 2Wire’s documents on their web site. The diagrams illustrating how to set the portal up always pictured two phone jacks. I only have one near my PC. It made sense that a splitter could handle both tasks since data and voice are sent on different channels, but I wanted to know for sure. Finally, I sent an email to 2Wire and they responded a day or two later in the affirmative.
One last caution: If your house phone wiring was ever rearranged to suit two different phone lines, the home phonline networking may not work on each zone of the house.
In my case, the basement was at one time set up for a different phone line (No. 2). Yet even though I re-attached the two wires (red and green) of the basement phone line to the two screws designated for the rest of the house, I couldn’t get the phoneline to network in the basement. It would work on any jack on the two upstairs floors (both connected to the original phone wiring of my 70-year-old house). But not in the basement.
The solution: I ran a 100-foot (needed 75) phone wire from the basement to the triple splitter near my main PC upstairs. While I could have done the same for Ethernet, the phone wire slipped under the rug, basement boards or edging around the doorways much more discreetly. In most cases, it was invisible. And for me, the speed of the phone wiring is as fast as I need. Files and music transferred very quickly from one computer to another.
The only thing I’d want is a simpler process for more complex file sharing. Or at least more 2Wire help (basic instructions, links to MSFT help pages). And while 2Wire has built in a well regarded hardware firewall into their device, I think more software control of the firewall is essential down the line, especially for gamers.
Until I upgrade my main PC and buy a new laptop, 2Wire is the perfect solution. Next year, I’ll give their wireless version a look-see. Hopefully, their simple solution will prompt other home network developers to continue to simplify their approach as well. If home networking is going to take off, vendors need to make the process as dumb as can be. Most people who can’t set the clocks on their VCRs can’t be bothered to master intricate details or spend hours setting up a network. The intimidation factor has to be eliminated.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
Driver Availability: Windows, Linux, and Mac
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whhherndon
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