Decent wireless gateway lacks needed features.
Written: Nov 23 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to set up, good signal quality, good for inexperienced users
Cons: No port forwarding, bad signal range, not enough settings
The Bottom Line: This unit is easy-to-use and gives good short-range connections. However, most power users should stay away.
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| franny644's Full Review: 3Com Home Wireless Gateway |
I got this unit as a prize in a contest. I plugged it into my cable modem. My computer got an IP address from DHCP almost instantly. I opened up my web browser, and set it up using the easy-to-use web interface. This is when I ran into my first problem: even though the "WAN" light on the front of the unit was on, the web interface's status page still said "Not connected". I had to power-cycle both the modem and the gateway to get it working.
After getting it set up, I could stand next to the unit with my laptop and get a full 11Mbps speed connection to the Internet. I also got similar results in the adjacent room. However, in a room about 25 feet away from the router, my connection would get rather bad. In another room about 35 feet away, my connection flickered between "very low" and "no signal" in Windows XP's wireless network status window.
I later discovered another problem: the unit doesn't offer any port forwarding or incoming connections. I couldn't connect to many IRC servers (including all of DALnet) because I couldn't run an identd program. I couldn't send any files over AIM or Windows Messenger. I couldn't share any files in Kazaa. This is a serious problem with the HWG.
However, the unit has some good things. I get good wireless signal quality staanding next to it. The LAN ports on back offer great 100Mbps connections, and both my home computer and my Xbox work fine on it. The setup program is easy to use, and the included printed manual is great. Overall, it is an average wireless gateway.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
franny644
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Reviews written: 1
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