Rating: Summary: Good at first.. then.... Review: I purchased the Intel Anypoint 1.6MB wireless USB for the desktop and PC card for the laptop. Currently use digital cable Internet. This wireless network uses the same type of 2.4Ghz system that wireless phones use. Setup was flawless on the desktop. Laptop took a little support from the Intel web page. It seems that this system and Mcafee VirusScan has some conflicts that have to be adjusted by the user. After that, everything worked great. I can see and access the other computer's drives with ease. Internet downloads requested from the laptop go from the Internet, through the desktop, through the air from the desktop's adapter, and received by the laptop's adapter. I took my laptop outside and reception was still excellent. I would estimate that I could go 60 ft in open space or 40 feet through walls and still get excellent reception. If you are looking for a lower cost home networking system that is wireless, this would be a good one for you. I do recommend something faster that 56k for Internet though...56k on one computer is bad enough. Imagine sharing it between two or more computers on the same network. Yuck!Revised- I got tired of dealing with the problems and sold them. 1 desktop device and 1 laptop device. The network would stop connecting every time I would install some new software like Netscape 6.1, IE6.0, Office 2000 pro, and JDK1.3.1. Three time I had to unistall....remove devices...delete left over files and reinstall. I also used the new software that you can download from the intel site.... when it was working, it was great.... excellent internet access from my laptop and file swapping was easy.... But, once it went down...you are in trouble.... I got tired of it....so tired that I got rid of it for good.
Rating: Summary: Works Well Through out the House E-Z Install Review: I realized when I bought it that there were other networks out there that had faster speeds. However, heavy downloads I can use the direct connected server computer on broadband. Thought I'd step up to one of those 11mmps models but found that I had to purchase three items... to do such and then read that the speed max advertised speed was proportional to how close you were to the server. 100 feet 11mbps, over that 5.5mbps and over that 1mbps... I've the base (server) in the basement of my house and it reaches well to the third floor bedrooms. Have had a few problems with errors coming up now and again, but simlply reboot the notebook primarily and things iron out... EZ to install... EZ on the pocket-book... like I mentioned only two items to purchase... a card for the notebook that was capable to the network base... it does what I want for a home computer. Printing to the downstairs printer is a snap... Wish I could now find a way for the printed material to walk upstairs to me. Read where Tech support is a long wait... have not tried them yet... it is so simple to install and use I'd just revert back to a clean install if real problems occur. Which have not truly happened. Step by Step picture instructions made the install NICE and EZ. Have looked on line at the Intel Anypoint product. Suggest you might do the same :-) IT supplies my needs... Oh yeah, talked with a customer at the store and he mentioned that he had two sons that worked off their notebooks in their rooms. He was right about the ease of the system install which made me nervous. Did install/download a program over the internet and it took 8 minutes where the server directly connected computer would have been much faster... Convenience is what I wanted with the smaller price. Might upgrade in the future but for now it's OK !
Rating: Summary: Great Product - Easy to load and set up Review: I too, feel that I must be one of the lucky ones who have had absolutely no problems with this product. Set up and use was very easy and I have had no corruption problems. My "server" is a Dell 8100 and my "client" is a Dell Latitude CPi (using the Laptop PC Card). I have been using the wireless network for three months without any issue. I would recommend / re-buy this product without hesitation.
Rating: Summary: Great Product - Easy to load and set up Review: I too, feel that I must be one of the lucky ones who have had absolutely no problems with this product. Set up and use was very easy and I have had no corruption problems. My "server" is a Dell 8100 and my "client" is a Dell Latitude CPi (using the Laptop PC Card). I have been using the wireless network for three months without any issue. I would recommend / re-buy this product without hesitation.
Rating: Summary: Great Product - Easy to load and set up Review: I too, feel that I must be one of the lucky ones who have had absolutely no problems with this product. Set up and use was very easy and I have had no corruption problems. My "server" is a Dell 8100 and my "client" is a Dell Latitude CPi (using the Laptop PC Card). I have been using the wireless network for three months without any issue. I would recommend / re-buy this product without hesitation.
Rating: Summary: Works well, but painful installation Review: I work with PC's everyday for a living and know a lot about setting up networking software and hardware. In my home environment, I have a more complicated setup than most home users, so I'll cut Intel some slack on the installation process, but I don't think this product is quite ready for the typical home user. In any case, allow yourself at least 3-4 hours for installation and setup for 2 PCs. Once it is installed, it does work rather well. I specifically wanted to test its performance in a gaming situation running a Quake 3 server. I setup my second PC as the game server, and connected to it on my primary PC. The gameplay was actually pretty good (40 ping), with just a little bit of lag, although I was the only one connected, and the server was running 3 bots on the map I played. I don't really intend to use it in this manner, mainly just so my other PC has access to my local files, printer, and internet connection.
Rating: Summary: Some bugs to work out, but a cheap wireless alternative Review: Installation was easy enough, but my server PC kept freezing up on a blue screen error message. I contacted Intel tech support, which has limited hours of operation, and did not hear back from them for several days. I had the units packed up and ready to return when they finally called with a fix. I've noticed the newest release of the Anypoint software contains the fix for the problem I was having. Although the system has speed limitations and you can't usually run programs installed on a different machine, it is still a good and cost effective alternative for a home network when a hard-wired network is problematic.
Rating: Summary: Bill & Ted's UNexcellent Network Review: Like another reviewer, I could list a host of problems that would let someone with knowledge decide for himself whether or not to risk a purchase. The reason I'm instead giving a blanket warning to steer clear results from 1) Intel's amateur response to hard- & software difficulties and, more concerningly, 2) the product box's misleading claims regarding compatibility and applicability of use. Many of the latter were only discovered thru calls to tech support -- on my dime because they've shut down their tollfree line -- and do not appear in any documentation that is available pre-sales. You may get lucky if you have a simple configuration to install; if that is at all in question, you're likely to be [dissatisfied]... . The one detail I will share. An install on a corporate laptop totally wiped out all prior networking information and necessitated tech support at my office creating a new account for me in all those domains.
Rating: Summary: Junk, pure junk Review: This product ... I ordered 2 USB and tried to network them over about 50 ft. Everytime I picked up my 2.4 Ghz phone the network dropped. On normal use, the best I could get was to be able to see files on my other computer. Spend a little extra money to get an IEEE 802.11b compliant adapter.
Rating: Summary: Easy to use. Review: Using this product was my first experience with networking 2 home computers. Installation is easy if you have a little bit of basic computer knowledge. I have a cable modem connection and the service is just as fast on the client pc as it is on the server pc. The only problem I've encountered is that the server pc occasionally loses the network connection and both computers must be restarted. But I think this is a problem with the computer itself and not the wireless networking. I'd recommend this product to anyone who wants an easy way to network their computers.
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