elbereth's Full Review: Microsoft Broadband Networking MN-100 Wired Base S...
There are lots of routers out there. Why did I pick this one? Two main reasons:
1. It was cheap. I got it from J&R Music World - it was around $52 retail but with a $20 rebate.
2. I was new to the world of routers. I figured I would need good tech support.
The first day that I got the router, I fooled around with it for four hours trying to get it to set up on my two computers before I gave up and called Microsoft Tech Support. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but, to my surprise, at 2 AM PST in the morning, I got hold of this American accented person (as opposed to say, the more ubiquitous Indian or Irish accented Tech Support person).
The guy was very friendly, patient, and tried everything he could think of to get the router to install for the next hour and a half. I was thinking, WOW! Am I getting my money's worth from Bill Gates or what, tying up this very expensive American citizen on the phone for an hour and a half. The guy is probably getting paid at least $20-30 per hour by the Evil Empire to talk to me. Already, I've more than made up the cost of the router with my need for Tech support.
Well, sad to say, the end conclusion of this long session was a declaration from the MS Tech guy that my router was DOA, and that I would need to get an exchange.
I called J&R and got the RMA, and mailed it back and about 3-4 weeks later, got a new router.
This time, I almost got through the installation process on one computer, but not completely. So I started on our second, older computer, which I did manage to get installed. Sort of. A few thing still didn't work right.
Another call to MS Tech Support, this time at 4AM PST. An American woman answers!!! (Where do they find these people?!!!) Another hour on the phone working through the bugs. I finally got the first computer installed on the router. A few thing still didn't work right, but the MS lady tech signed me off by saying, both your computers are running on the DSL network now, that's about all we can do. Over the next several days, I called MS Tech Support, trying to get them to help - each time, it was the same reluctance to get involved, now that I had gotten things to work somewhat. But eventually, I got enough hints from these Techs to figure out what the problems were.
I was running Windows XP on both computers. It turns out that with Windows XP, setup with the MN-100 router and networking into the DSL modem are virtually automatic. The key to gaining compatibility with the SBC Yahoo DSL software was to delete all the unnecessary parts. Unfortunately, when you set up the initial SBC Yahoo software, you have to go through the entire setup and install all of the software. So, you have to delete the programs that interfere with the MN-100 software. The main culprit is the SBC Connection Manager, which is sort of a rival piece of software that desperately tries to take over the running of the DSL connection when in fact the XP networking software automatically links with the MN-100 software to run the DSL modem. If you don't want to delete this software, you can prevent it from automatically loading at startup by going to the Start, Run menu and typing in "msconfig" and then going to the "Startup" tab and un-clicking all the non-essential SBC software from the Startup list. The only piece that you want left is the DSL modem software, which in my case is Client Foundation (or "CFD" in the Startup menu).
Another incompatibility I worked out on my own time with some hints from the MS Techs. They had asked me if I had any firewalls in place, mentioning Zone Alarm as an incompatibility. I did in fact have Zone Alarm on one computer, but thought that I had disabled it by shutting down its startup . In fact, as one of the MS Techs suggested, just having Zone Alarm installed, but not activated, would be enough to interfere with the MS Broadband Utility that came with the MN-100. Anyway, un-installing Zone Alarm and then re-installing the MN-100 software allowed me to get the MS Broadband Utility fully functional. Once the MS Broadband Utility was fully installed, I discovered that I could re-install Zone Alarm Pro and get everything to work together. So, Zone Alarm interferes only if it is installed first on the computer, before the MS Broadband Utility. Everything works fine if Zone Alarm is installed after the Utility.
Finally, the Norton SystemWorks Live Update stopped working on one computer (but not the other) - MS Tech Support was no use here, obviously, but I did find the answer on the Symantec website. The URL for that webpage is at:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/docid/2000071310294913?Open&src=hot&docid=2000071709543913&nsf=sharedtech.nsf&view=docid/2000071709543913?opendocument&src=hot&prod=norton systemworks&ver=2002 professional edition for windows 2000/nt/me/98/xp&stg=2&base=http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/nsys&dtype=&prod=Norton SystemWorks&ver=2002 Professional Edition for Windows 2000/NT/Me/98/XP&osv=&osv_lvl=
Update
I have since discovered that if you use Windows XP, the MN-100 router, and SBCYahoo DSL, you don't even need to use the SBCYahoo install disc, as long as you know what the parameters are for your SBCYahoo Internet connection. After the first computer is set up, you don't even need the set up disc for the MN-100 router either. Windows XP has all of the set up features to set up both the network DSL and a Dial-UP modem (for back-up Internet access) to SBCYahoo. Norton Live-Update and Zone Alarm also are not a big problem if you let Windows XP install the MN-100.
Which is not to be construed as a recommendation of Windows XP. This is a truly bug-infested piece of garbage Operating System designed for one thing only - to make lots of money for Bill Gates and to prevent anybody from trying to steal even a nickel from him or to build a rival OS that can decipher its complex, slow, and secret processes and emulate it. Yes, what the world needs is a Unix based OS that is simple to use, free of virus security flaws, and can emulate Windows. Windows XP is designed to prevent any sort of emulation through an increased complexity of operation.
One thing about Windows XP and network DSL I discovered while re-installing Windows XP on my latest computer, a Dell Inspiron-8500 laptop (see my review of that machine) - Windows XP currently has over 25 Critical Security Updates that have to be downloaded from the Internet after re-installation. I made the mistake of connecting the Inspiron to the Internet to download these updates BEFORE re-installing my anti-virus software, Zone Alarm Firewall, and turning on the built-in MN-100 firewall. A worm pinged the Inspiron and snuck in during this very brief period of time. What a pain - I had to download the de-wormer from Symantec, and re-do the whole re-install process again!
Anyway, this episode did get me acquainted with the firewall features of the MN-100. There is an anti-ping component which needs to be turned on in the MN-100 to prevent these worms from slipping into your network. This messes up certain network games.....but that's another story....
As for the Inspiron, the one thing that is still not working perfectly on this, the third computer in my little home network, is the file sharing. I can paste files into the other two computer's Shared Docs folders on the Inspiron to transfer file, but the other two computers cannot access the Inspiron's Shared Docs folder. I don't know if the problem is the Inspiron, Windows XP, or the MN-100.....
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 32 Driver Availability: Windows only
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