A little black box that changed my life forever

By PETER GRIFFIN


A few weeks back a wireless router moved into my house and the place has never been the same since. I'm serious. The way I use my computer at home has changed forever and it's all thanks to a little black box with two pointy antenna sticking out of it.

Think about this, those of you who still have to traipse off to the "study" to send an email or surf the web.

You're sitting on the couch and want to check out what's on the TV later in the night. Your copy of eg has been swiped and you can't bring yourself to turn to the chunky clunkiness of Teletext.

You reach for the laptop and type in www.tvnz.co.nz, www.sky.co.nz or tv3.co.nz.

Suddenly you have an electronic programming guide at your fingertips. A few more clicks and you've got Instant Messenger, or email or the web. All from the comfort of the couch.

The wireless router I've been using is the 9106 from US Robotics, which is designed to convert my 256Kbps DSL (Jetstream) connection and blast the connectivity around my house and section.

Set-up was surprisingly easy and initially involved plugging it into mains power, connecting the DSL cable, installing the software and using my laptop to detect the wireless router. A series of web-based set-up screens guided me through configuring my connection. I was walking around my house connected to the internet within 15 minutes.

The only problem was, my network was open for all to use, the only annoying feature of the 9106 - it doesn't prompt you to take care of security from the beginning.

With the bad reputation wireless has for being insecure, it's about time manufacturers starting prompting you from the beginning to add a layer of security.

Don't bother with the manual for help in securing yourself - the few pages in English are light on information. US Robotics' website is the best bet.

The 9106 does have hefty security features. There's a built-in firewall which can be used just like the one on your computer to block certain types of web traffic or alert you to unwanted network probes. There are 64 and 128 versions of WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy).

A good way to check security is to search for your wireless router using your laptop and software such as netstumbler. Mine comes up as "PETE'S WLAN" with a little padlock next to it meaning security is activated.

Security keys can be programmed so every user attempting to connect to the router has to authenticate. By turning off "SSID" you stop broadcasting your existence to anyone other than those authorised to connect.

The 9106's other features stack up well. The router handles the 802.11g standard, which in theory has data throughput up to a massive 55Mbps. That's enough to stream video, should you have the equivalent card installed in your laptop.

The web interfaces will support Mac and Linux machines. The router has a two-year warranty. It has a generous four ethernet ports to feed other computers by cable as well as wireless.

The only glitch so far came on day three, when the wireless gateway fell over. I rebooted it dozens of times, checked all the gateways and tried to query it with the laptop, but nothing. A call to Renaissance, the product's distributor and a firmware upgrade did nothing.

I'd tried resetting the gateway a couple of times by sticking a pin in the back, without success. I later found out you have to hold the pin in for more than 40 seconds - it did the job, but it was a tedious process to get to that point.

Since then it's been a smooth run. The laptop sits on top of my stereo and feeds a constant stream of digital mp3 music into my stereo system. Through Windows Media Player I stream radio stations from around the world - from the BBC in London to ad-free classical stations and New York talkback. The quality is exceptional.

I can sit in bed, on the deck or anywhere else around the house and get a good connection. For a computer nut and web junkie it is almost as good as it gets.


THE WIRELESS HOME

What you will need:

* A broadband connection, preferably a minimum of 256Kbps. (From $40 per month.)

* A wireless router - US Robotics, Linksys, Netgear, D-Link and 3Com are respectable brands. (From $150.)

* A laptop or handheld computer with an 802.11x standard card installed. (Entry-level laptops can be bought for $1800 with a wi-fi card setting you back around $100.)

US ROBOTICS 9106

* Price: $392

* Herald Rating: 7.5/10

Pros - Reliable, fast connection, unobtrusive.

Cons - Fiddly to configure, poor documentation.