Tim Higgins, Author at SmallNetBuilder

Head to Head: Slim Devices’ Squeezebox and Creative’s Sound Blaster Wireless Music

Networked music adapters can be a less expensive (though not cheap!) alternative to a Media Center PC for getting your digital music files out of the back bedroom office where your computer sits and into your living room where more comfortable listening options await. Scott Sidel takes a look at two products that both get the job done, but take different approaches in getting there.

LAN & WAN Reviews

QuickView: AlphaShield Hardware Firewall

The product pitch for AlphaShield's Hardware Firewall makes it sound like it provides some pretty heavy-duty Internet security. But while it does perform as advertised, we found there's little to recommend it over less-expensive SOHO routers.

Wireless Reviews

Linksys WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander reviewed

Linksys' Wireless-G Range Expander pitches itself as a painless way to expand your wireless network's range. Unfortunately, we found it to be an interesting concept, but deliver far short of its promises.

Wireless How To

How To: Manually Setting Up the Linksys WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander

Linksys' WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander [reviewed here] is a WDS-based 802.11b / g repeater that Linksys says works only with its WAP54G access point and WRT54G and WRT54GS wireless routers. But with a little effort, you can get it to function with any 802.11b or g product that supports WDS-based bridging and/or repeating.

Wireless Features

NeedToKnow: WiFi PDAs’ Dirty Little Secret – Part 2

It took awhile, but we managed to round up a few more wireless PDA products willing to be put to our wireless speed testing. This time, we have multiple PalmOS-based solutions as well as Dell's fastest PDA for your perusal. We're sure you'll find the results as interesting as we did!

Wireless Features

Can 802.11g APs Handle the Load?

Ever wonder if the extra money you pay for an "enterprise" access point is buying the ability to handle heavier traffic loads than the $100-or-so AP on your local retailer's shelf? We did too until we put six 802.11g APs through some pretty heavy load testing, with some surprising results...

LAN & WAN Reviews

m0n0wall Firewall V1.0 – Part 1

You might think that installing and configuring an Open Source-based firewall / router requires skills far beyond those possessed by ordinary (wo)men... but you'd be wrong. The m0n0wall firewall may be based on FreeBSD, and have a name that's tricky to type, but our reviewer David Cook shows how getting it installed and running is well within the reach of most of us mere mortals...

LAN & WAN Reviews

m0n0wall Firewall V1.0 – Part 2

Wireless Reviews

Buffalo Tech WLA2-G54 Repeater Bridge reviewed

Buffalo Technology's WLA2-G54 AirStation 54Mbps Wireless Compact Repeater Bridge packs a lot of features into a tiny box. Its name is a little misleading, so read our review and learn all that this little wonder will do!

Wireless Reviews

SMC Barricade g High-Powered 2.4GHz 54Mbps Wireless Broadband Router with USB Print Server reviewed

SMC's 'high powered' 802.11g router has a lot to offer and differentiates itself from the pack by including a USB print server. But though the easy things were easy, some of the advanced features may require a little work to figure out.

LAN & WAN Reviews

OvisLink eLive MU-9000VPN Multimedia Server / VPN Router reviewed

Our quest to find SOHO routers with built-in bandwidth management lead us to examine OvisLink's multi-functional router. We found that it does provide bandwidth management - along with a host of other interesting features - but that it isn't all we'd hoped for.

Wireless Reviews

ZyXEL ZyAIR G-2000 802.11g Wireless 4-port Router reviewed

Most 802.11g routers battle to differentiate themselves by touting high speeds that most users will never achieve in real-life use. ZyXEL's G-2000 802.11g router takes a different approach by including a built-in user authentication feature that can add real value to home and small business users.