HomeLink Phoneline 10M Network in a Box
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HomeLink HPN200 PCI PhoneLine 10M Card
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Review Type: Hands On
Reviewer: Chris Kaminski
Date: Mar 21, 2001
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HPNA Notes
HPNA 2.0, or phoneline networking moves networking into a realm of accessibility
reachable by every home with multiple computers. HomeNetHelp recently examined a
couple of HPNA offerings from Linksys that make a strong move in the direction of
easy home networks.
These offerings from linksys will connect computers in your home using standard
10Mbps phoneline networking. As long as the computers are near a phone jack, the
HomeLink Phoneline adapters do the rest. Like all PhoneLine network offerings, they
do not interfere with voice, modem, or DSL communications on the same wire.
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Linksys Phoneline 10M Network in a Box.
Kit includes:
2 PCI PhoneLine 10M adapters (HPN200)
2 phone cables
1 instruction manual
1 CDROM of drivers
This kit contains two HPN200 PCI Linksys 10M PhoneLine adapters, everything you
need to connect a couple of computers together. If the computers are in the same
room, simply string one of the included cables between them. If they are in different
rooms, just plug the included cables into a phone jack.
One of the nicest features of these cards is the link lights. A set of four lights
on the back of these cards let you know the status of your network connection. Linksys
could have easily excluded them, but the fact that they are there is a testament
to the quality of the product.
 After
plugging these network cards into your computer, windows will as you for a driver
disk. Use the included CD and away you go! Use the included documentation to configure
a NETBeui network or follow the HomeNetHelp networking tutorial to configure an
IP network that can later be used for Internet connection sharing.
I can not express how easy it was to get this product running. Linksys made the
smart move of not forcing the installation of a bunch of other ‘utility’ programs
with the network card drivers. Because they did not force the use of custom ‘wizards’
or other utilities, following an
on-line tutorial about home network setup should be a snap. The install
for the HPN200 is sweet and simple.
Techie Note: This product uses the BroadCom BCM4210 chipset.
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Linksys HPN200
Menu:
Linksys 
Latest Drivers: 
