Friday, September 20, 2002
Microsoft Hardware Shares the Broadband
Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 12:00 PM
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/1466201
And so it begins - Microsoft has entered the networking arena. Remember that rumour about them offering PCs as well? We'll have to see if that comes true, but for now, you can buy Microsoft-branded Wifi gear. The question is, will you? I'm not that familiar with prices (I bought my gear a while back), so do you find the Microsoft offer compelling?
"Long expected and finally arrived (though not on sale for a couple more weeks), Microsoft today made public its Broadband Networking line of products. The line includes both wireless and wired components targeted at home and small office networks looking to share a high speed Internet connection. The wireless side of the Broadband Networking line are all Intersil PRISM-based 802.11b products capable of 11Mbps. They include a Wireless Base Station router (MN-500, $149.95) with integrated 4-port switch for Internet sharing, a Wireless Notebook Adapter (MN-520, $79.95), and a Wireless USB Adapter (MN-510, $79.95). You can save $10 by buying a kit, which will include a Base Station with either the USB or PC Card adapter.
The wired end consists of 10/100Mbps Ethernet products. There's a Base Station router (MN-100, $79.95) and a 5-Port Switch (MN-150, $39.95), plus three Network Interface Cards: USB (MN-110, $29.95), PC Card (MN-120, $39.95) and PCI (MN-130, $24.95)...Microsoft hopes to deliver unique ease of use with features such as a Setup Wizard which detects the ISP or modem settings to automatically configure the products. The Setup Wizard copies all the network settings to a Set-up Disk for storage and easy reinstall if needed, and can be used to transport settings to your other PCs on the network. An included utility provides access to software updates and network status."
And so it begins - Microsoft has entered the networking arena. Remember that rumour about them offering PCs as well? We'll have to see if that comes true, but for now, you can buy Microsoft-branded Wifi gear. The question is, will you? I'm not that familiar with prices (I bought my gear a while back), so do you find the Microsoft offer compelling?
"Long expected and finally arrived (though not on sale for a couple more weeks), Microsoft today made public its Broadband Networking line of products. The line includes both wireless and wired components targeted at home and small office networks looking to share a high speed Internet connection. The wireless side of the Broadband Networking line are all Intersil PRISM-based 802.11b products capable of 11Mbps. They include a Wireless Base Station router (MN-500, $149.95) with integrated 4-port switch for Internet sharing, a Wireless Notebook Adapter (MN-520, $79.95), and a Wireless USB Adapter (MN-510, $79.95). You can save $10 by buying a kit, which will include a Base Station with either the USB or PC Card adapter.
The wired end consists of 10/100Mbps Ethernet products. There's a Base Station router (MN-100, $79.95) and a 5-Port Switch (MN-150, $39.95), plus three Network Interface Cards: USB (MN-110, $29.95), PC Card (MN-120, $39.95) and PCI (MN-130, $24.95)...Microsoft hopes to deliver unique ease of use with features such as a Setup Wizard which detects the ISP or modem settings to automatically configure the products. The Setup Wizard copies all the network settings to a Set-up Disk for storage and easy reinstall if needed, and can be used to transport settings to your other PCs on the network. An included utility provides access to software updates and network status."
