Hardware ReviewsWebBeetle Internet Sharing Device Don't let the cute name fool you. The WebBeetle from Protec Microsystems is a solid device that provides shared internet access across your home network. In theory, setup is quite simple. You attach an external modem to the Beetle, connect the Beetle to your network hub and use a Win95/98 program to set it up. Then, with just a few minor tweaks to the other PCs on your network and their internet configurations, you have shared access across the network. Although we had some minor difficulty with the configuration steps, some of that can be attributed to the older software we were using. We highly recommend you download the new software and firmware updates. Once we made those upgrades, it didn't take long for us to get shared internet access up and running on the WebBeetle. As one of the lowest cost internet routers we've seen (we found it for $149), the WebBeetle deserves some serious consideration. For another perspective, make sure to check out what one homePCnetwork visitor said about the device in our Feedback page. Overview The WebBeetle is a small, white device that looks quite like a small external modem. Along the curved front it has a row of green LEDs to show status and data transfers, etc. On the back it has two serial jacks (they look like network jacks, but in fact connect to external modems via included serial "crossover" cables); one RJ-45 network jack; and a power jack for an external power brick.
The WebBeetle comes in a small box with English on one side and French on the other, portraying the Beetle's Canadian heritage. Inside the box, you'll find:
According to Protec, WebBeetle's key features include:
We primarily evaluated the device's ability to surf web sites and did not thoroughly investigate all of the features such as SMTP (internet mail) or FTP (internet file downloads). Still, based on our experience with internet access, we have no reason to doubt all of these capabilities. Installation For the most part, installation followed along with the included installation manual steps, although the manual stopped short of being useful for troubleshooting and for setting up specific client programs. We installed the hardware exactly as instructed in the "Easy Installation Guide." That included connecting one of the enclosed serial crossover cables to the 25-pin adapter and connecting the adapter to the external modem. (Be careful, by the way, the serial cables look like twisted pair Ethernet cables, but they are not. Used the cables included with the kit). Next, we used a normal Ethernet cable to connect the WebBeetle to a 10Mbps port on a hub. Finally, we connected power to the Beetle using the included power brick. Next, we turned to the software installation. You start by installing the WebBeetle configuration utility, called SohoView, to a Win95/98 machine on the network. Once the utility is installed, you use it first to change the IP address of the WebBeetle to something compatible with your current network TCP/IP addresses. Next, you select the Internet configuration menu in SohoView and configure the WebBeetle based on your dialup account, including the phone number, sign on name and password and DNS settings. (Actually, the DNS settings were NOT part of the version of SohoView that we received with the hardware. We highly recommend you download the upgraded utility. At the same time, you can download new firmware for the WebBeetle and install it using the new version of SohoView.) By the way, during software installation and configuration, we found useful, if not necessary, to reboot our machine after making any changes. Finally, you must go to each computer that will share internet access and make sure TCP/IP is installed and working correctly. Under TCP/IP properties you must set the WebBeetle address in the Gateway tab AND as the only entry in the DNS configuration section. Finally, you need to set your internet browser to use the "LAN" setting, but you don't need to make any proxy settings. That's it. If everything is working correctly, you can go to anyone of your client machines, start the Internet browser and watch as the LEDs on the WebBeetle flash (indicating data transfers to and from the Beetle) and the modem begins to dial up your ISP number. One minor issue is that although the device does feedback on its own functions via the series of LEDs on the front, it does not provide any direct feedback on the modem operation. Thus, you don't get immediate feedback if the line is busy, the phone line is not connected, etc. Sure enough, the WebBeetle will automatically redial until the connection is made, but you may be figuring out any problems without help from the device. Performance We haven't settled on any specific ways to measure and compare performance of internet sharing devices. Once we have tested several of these devices using our same test machines, we may be able to better provide some comparisons. For now, we can tell you that the WebBeetle compares favorably with our normal internet sharing setup...a fast NT Server running Winproxy. In fact, we measured the length of time it took from launching MS Internet Explorer to the time the modem began dialing up between the two systems. We did NOT look at time differences between loading web sites, etc., because of difference's in modems attached to the two systems used in our test. Here's what that comparison looked like.
Clearly, the WebBeetle takes a little more time from the time you launch Internet Explorer to get the first web site up on the screen v. the server. One factor may be that the WebBeetle connects to the network via a 10Mbps port and our server uses all Fast Ethernet connections. Much more importantly, we have a very fast server (450mhz Celeron and 128 megs of RAM) that cost us upwards of a $1,000 even when buying it in pieces and building it ourselves. Compare that to the WebBeetle price and you'll begin to figure out how good a deal this is. Of course, you don't need a dedicated server to run most proxy software; any machine on your peer-to-peer network will work. Or you may have other reasons for a dedicated server. Either way, though, you'll have to keep the computer with internet access on ALL the time for everyone to have that shared access. The WebBeetle avoids that and avoids needing to build or dedicate a computer if you don't want to run a proxy package on one of your client machines. Also, keep in mind that once we actually began browsing web sites, we noticed no "real world" difference between the WebBeetle and our NT Server using Winproxy software. Summary Overall, we liked the WebBeetle. We had a few minor set up problems, but again some of that is attributable to the older software. We would have liked a troubleshooting section in the printed manual and more specific instructions for setting up clients and client software. We also wonder if the speed (specifically of the initial connection) could have been faster, but we won't know for sure until we test some other, similar products. For now, we think anyone looking for inexpensive internet access sharing should seriously consider the WebBeetle. Yes, it is more expensive that a software only proxy solution, but avoids the necessity of using a computer on your network to share internet access. That means you won't have any software issues, as you can with proxies, once the initial configuration is complete, and don't need to keep the computer with internet access on all the time. Thus, the WebBeetle could well be the least expensive option for anyone who, for whatever reasons, doesn't want to use a computer on their network to provide shared internet access. Grade = B+ Details
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Photos courtesy of Protec