Home networking, no experience necessary

Issue #22

from Chris Kaminski  

Here is the big news from last month: Proxim is acquiring Agere Systems wireless division. In case you don’t know, Agere is better known for their ORINOCO wireless line, previously known by many as the Lucent 802.11b line. Yikes! Although not known real well in beginners circles, Orinoco wireless equipment is practically the standard with many business and professionals.

In other news, D-Link is bringing out a broadband router that will retail for $49. That is the price of the average computer game – and the price of most home firewall programs! Other than certain advanced applications, there’s no excuse to be without a router anymore. I wonder what this is going to do to the router industry…..

On the HomeNetHelp front, we got a chance to look at D-Link’s 22Mbps line. The Access point and PC Card review is on-line with the router review to follow shortly. Twice as fast AND downward compatible with 802.11b - with very little price difference.

Actiontec was kind enough to send out some 802.11a 54Mbps equipment too. Stay tuned for a review.

The home network ‘Installer Directory’ recently went through a major change and is now a separate entity called the FutureHome Guild – the association of Home Network Installers and Digital Home Consultants. You can reach the directory here: http://www.homenethelp.com/dir. Official launch is August First.

Last month, I picked up a SLIMP3 player. This is a device that sits in your stereo rack and reads MP3’s from your computer network and can even decode streaming audio. It has inspired me to rip my entire CD collection into MP3s (using CDEX of course). If you are into music, the SLIMP3 is a GREAT device.

Download unlimited MP3's LEGALLY

P2P MP3 trading is mostly illegal but EMusic lets you download an almost unlimited number of MP3s for less than the price of a single CD per month.  Great selection of artists too!

Editor, HomeNetHelp.com