USB200HA USB to PhoneLine 10M adapter
link
Reviewer: Chris Kaminski
Date: Mar 21, 2001
Includes:
1 USB to PhoneLine network adapter
1 phone cable
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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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1 USB cable
1 instruction manual
1 3.5” disk of drivers
This unit is the ultimate in network installation ease. One cable goes into your USB
port, one cable goes to your phone jack. Simple. No cases to open, no resource conflicts
to worry about.
The adapter is powered by the USB port so no external power supply is necessary.
Some of the pictures I have seen of this unit make it look huge, but it is actually
quite tiny. This is the kind of thing you can let drop behind your desk and forever
forget about.
Because it plugs into the usb port of your computer, you don’t have to worry about
having a free IRQ. As long as your USB ports work, this should work. 4 Status indicators
on the adapter make diagnostics a snap. A quick glance will tell you if the unit
is hooked up correctly.
The 22 page manual is very detailed and covers Windows 98/ME and Windows 2000. No
drivers are available for Windows95, Windows NT or Macintosh.
No additional software was included in this package, but no other software is needed.
Linksys kept the install light and simple. I applaud them for not trying to overcomplicate
the installation with wizards and utilities.
Although no Macintsoh support is available at this time, it is my hope that someone
will soon bring out a version soon..
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Advanced notes about USB bandwidth:
USB ports operate at 12Mbps, or 2Mbps faster than the peak of the USB port. I would
not plan on loading your USB port with too many high bandwidth devices like scanners,
camera’s and network adapters. Operating more than one high bandwidth will cause
performance issues.
Bandwidth scenario 1: USB scanner, USB mouse, and USB network adapter. In this scenario,
do not try to copy large files wile scanning. Using both the scanner and network
at the same time will max out your USB bus.
Bandwidth scenario 2: USB Web Camera, USB Mouse, USB network adapter. In this scenario,
you could probably use your web camera and surf the web, but don’t try and copy
large files.
What can you do about USB BUS bandwidth? Add another USB bus.
There are many USB cards available for around $30 or $40 (us). This cards give you
a second USB bus with its own dedicated 12 Mbps.
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Linksys USB200HA
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