Hardware ReviewsKingston Fast EtherRx 3-User 100Base-TX Ethernet Bundle (KNB4100EU) Solid. That's the word that comes to mind with this kit from Kingston. Installation was fairly easy and performance was among the best we've tested. Interestingly, this is the only kit (Kingston calls it a "bundle") that includes three adapter cards and a hub. Don't expect a bargain because of that, however. When you can find the bundle for sale (we checked two of the vendors recommended by Kingston and neither had it), you should find a price around $244 + shipping. That was the price we found at www.buymicro.com. While we wouldn't consider that at all expensive for a kit of this quality and performance, it certainly will make most home PC networkers pause. After all, you can get other two-user kits for close to $100 and add a third card for $30-50. In fact, it makes us wonder if Kingston has seriously targeted this kit at the home PC user or is looking for more sales from small businesses. Either way, if you're looking for a solid kit and need or want three adapter cards right off the bat, read on. Overview As we mentioned, the Kingston kit, or "bundle," is the first we've reviewed that includes three adapter cards, the well-performing Kingston EtherRx VP 10/100Base-TX PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter (KNE110TX) which we've tested and will soon review separately. The adapters include the full range of features we now expect in fast Ethernet cards, including auto speed negotiation, half- or full-duplex mode and bus mastering to reduce CPU utilization. The bundle also comes with the EtherRx 4-port Workgroup 100Base-TX Fast Ethernet hub. We liked this hub a lot. It's one of the larger 4-port hubs we've seen, but once it's on or behind your desk we don't see that as a problem. In return, you get large, easy-to-read LEDs that provide the basic link and flashing activity indicators for each port. The hub also has a row of LEDs to indicate utilization percentage. And, to top it all off, the hub tested as the fastest (although by only a slight margin) when we put several hubs head-to-head (see our feature - Does hub matter?)
The bundle also includes three 25-foot, category 5 cables; a very brief installation guide for the adapter cards; and a 20-page manual for the hub that provides a lot of technical information. Importantly, there is no "welcome to networking guide" or overall manual for the kit. That may throw some first timers, but experienced networkers will have no problem getting the kit up and running in short order. Installation Installation was darn near flawless on Windows 98 and Windows 95. The only fault we have is one of our pet peeves. Namely, that once you point the installation program to the driver diskette, it copies a few files and then ask for the Windows CD-ROM. If the CD is already available it will automatically copy the needed files, but then hangs because it can't find a file from the diskette on the CD-ROM. The routine then asks, AGAIN, where to find a file and once you point it, AGAIN, to the diskette, installation continues perfectly. We know this is a minor point, but for a product targeted at home users, many of whom may be installing this type of equipment for the first time, that seems like an easy problem to fix...particularly for a top dollar kit like Kingston's. Performance Once installation and network set up (protocols and file sharing) were complete, the kit performed extremely well, coming in second (to the Linksys kit) in the kits we've tested. As most of you familiar with our tests know, we copy a 30 meg file from the basic machine to the advanced machine (what we call reads for lack of a better word) and copy the same file from the advanced machine to the basic machine (writes). The average of the four tests for the Kingston kit at 24.68 seconds (v. 23.35 for the Linksys) is very good.
With a near top score for the kit and a top score for the hub (see above), there is no doubt that if speed is what you seek, the Kingston kit would be a good choice. We expect our tests and reviews of the EtherRx cards to prove that they, too, are among the top performers. Stay tuned. Summary Overall, we don't think you can go wrong with this kit. Obviously, there are cheaper bundles out there, even when considering that you'll need to add another NIC to most kits (at retail price) to complete the network you can set up with this bundle. As regular homePCnetwork readers know, we place a high rating on the "value" of a bundle. That's because we think many, if not most, home PC networkers will want to network their computers for as inexpensively as they can. Still, if an extra $50-100 doesn't faze you, the Kingston bundle clearly offers speed and may offer other advantages in return. Those "other advantages" include the quality that seems obvious to us and may include reliability based on what we hear from others. (We can not, of course, offer any real-world experience with reliability since we haven't run the bundle for any length of time). Bottom line, this bundle just misses a homePCnetwork Editor's Choice because the price does not seem "targeted" at home PC users. That's taking nothing away from the kit or the possibility that the $50-100 premium over other kits isn't worth the money for small businesses or others. If speed or other factors weigh more heavily than those dollars for you, then by all means go for this bundle. Grade = A Details
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