Hardware ReviewsLinksys Switched 10/100 Network in a Box Once again, Linksys has put together a solid network kit. We liked the first Linksys kit we tested (see Linksys Fast Ethernet Network Starter Kit) and this one is a significant upgrade and less costly. That's what we call a great step forward in value. The kit provides good performance, well-built components and both quick guides and detailed instructions. And, add in the low price (we found it for an incredibly low $96 + shipping at buy.com), and this is a very, very good deal from Linksys. Overview The Linksys kit comes in a large box chock full of information. You not only find out about the kit, but also about how to set up, how to take advantage of networked computers and what difference a switch makes over a regular hub. Inside you'll find: two NICs (the same LNE100TX we reviewed earlier), a Wake-On-LAN (WOL) wire for each; their driver diskettes, the 5-port 10/100 switch, two 15-foot category 5 cables, LanBridge Internet sharing software, an 8-page step-by-step guide on setting up the kit, one-page quick installation guides for Windows 95 and Windows 98, and a complete 80-page manual. Our package also included a full, multi-player version of Descent 3, an outstanding network game worth $30-40 on its own. If you are considering buying the game, this kit becomes an unbeatable deal. We really liked the Windows quick installation guides that even suggest you might need to tell the install program twice where to find the files. That's been one of our pet peeves with network card installation and Linksys solved it with a single instruction line. Great thinking for beginners. We liked the included switch. It has front panel LEDs to indicate which ports are active, when the port is active with data, whether the switch is using 100Mbps mode, whether the switch is using Full Duplex mode and whether any data collisions are occurring. The switch has the ports on the front which can be a bit of a pain if you have it on a desktop. The switch does not use a fan for cooling. In our mind this has plusses and minuses. We've had some people complain about fan noise, for example on D-Link's hubs and switches, but we know that electronics are pretty simple...heat can affect performance and component life. However, the Linksys switch has plenty of ventilation and we didn't detect any heat build up.
Installation Installation was an absolute breeze with this kit. As mentioned above, the included instructions provide all from short, simple guides to full, detailed instructions, depending on which you want or prefer. And, most importantly, installation on our Windows 98 test machines went EXACTLY the way outlined in the instructions. That seems like a no brainer, but if you've read many of our reviews, you've probably already noted that this is the exception not the rule. Absolute kudos to Linksys for getting it right on a kit primarily aimed at home, and often beginner, networkers. Performance Once again, to test the true performance of a network kit with a switch, we ran a number of tests. First, to test basic network performance between two computers we used Qcheck, a freeware networking testing utility, that uses software "endpoints" on both test computers and a small utility to actually run the tests. For all tests, the utility sends data packets back and forth between the two computers. The utility tests true network performance and tries to avoid complications from the actual performance issues of the computers. For a response time test, Qcheck returns the minimum, maximum and average number of seconds it takes to complete a transaction. For our tests, the transaction we use sends 32,000 bytes back and forth 10 times. We report the average response time in milliseconds reported by Qcheck. We run the test using both IPX and TCP/IP protocols. For comparison, we show the results here against the recently reviewed ALFA AFS05 switch and the D-Link DFE-910 kit. Obviously, based on Qcheck, the kits and ALFA switch performance nearly identically. In fact, this might be a limitation of Qcheck and we've asked the software developer to see if they agree.
For a throughput test, Qcheck returns the amount of data that was successfully sent between the two endpoints. For our test, we sent 1 megabit across the network. Again results were nearly identical with the Linksys kit falling ever so slightly behind in the IPX test.
For a streaming test, Qcheck returns the rate that streaming data was received by the second endpoint, the amount of packet loss that occurred and the CPU utilization for both endpoint computers. In short, the test reveals whether your computers and network connections are "capable" of streaming video performance. For our tests, we ran a 1Mbps test for 30 seconds. The result: the Linksys kit resulted in no data loss. CPU utilization, a good test of the network interface cards, was 32% and 26% for our T266 and T400 test machines respectively. This is similar to other cards we've tested. Next, we used our standard file copy test to check performance of the network interface cards and switch with just two computers on the network. In this case, we use our two test machines and copy a 30 meg file back and forth between the two. We use TCP/IP, IPX and NetBEUI in turn, making sure to remove the other protocols before each test. Here we compared Linksys kit to the D-Link kit with a switch and the Linksys setup outperformed the D-Link kit significantly. You likely still would not detect these differences in real-world use, but, at the very least, the Linksys kit is a very good performer out of the box with two computers on the network.
Next, to test the true full-bandwidth performance of the switch, we used a test that we devised earlier. We used four computers connected to the switch. We'll call them Test1, or T1, T2, T3 and T4. From T1, we copied a 30 meg file to T2. From T2, we copied a 13 meg file to T1. From T3, we copied a 30 meg file to T4. And from T4, we copied a 13 meg file to T3. In short, two 30 meg files and two 13 meg files are transferred across the switch at the same time. We ran the same test twice and averaged the results, shown below in seconds to complete all file copying. Oddly, the Linksys kit...and here it's really only the switch being tested...fell down a bit on this test. We might call this a fluke, but the switch also fell down a smidgen in our two subjective tests. Running AVI (movie) files over the network (again four machines run the AVI file at once...each running a file on a different machine across the network) we found some choppiness in one of the playbacks. And, finally, in our subjective tests using a high-bandwidth game (in this case Quake 3 Arena) one of the players reported just a bit of hesitation once or twice during an hour-long game. Significant? Not really, but it might be worth considering if you're going to use this kit right out of the box with 5 machines and heavy data sharing (such as intense gaming).
Technical Support Based on feedback from homePCnetwork.com visitors, our reviews now will include a short summary of technical support available from each manufacturer. Unfortunately we don't have the resources to actually rate the technical support, but you'll at least have a quick way to find out what the company offers. Linksys has extensive on-line technical support, including FAQs and driver downloads, as well as e-mail, fax, BBS and phone support. Phone support is available during normal working hours on the West coast, Monday through Friday. Summary Overall, this is a very solid kit. We have no complaints. Quality of components looks good, instructions are perfect, installation was a breeze and performance was certainly very good in most cases. Yes, there were cases when it showed less than top performance, but we doubt those cases would reveal themselves in many real-world applications. Against the other network kit with a switch that we've tested (the D-Link DFE-910 kit), we'd have to call it a toss up. The D-Link seemed better in some performance cases and not as good in others. Plus, the D-Link does not have the full-range and complement of instruction guides and instructions that the Linksys includes. Before checking prices on the Linksys, we would have given D-Link the edge on price because we've seen it several places for about $100. We were convinced the Linksys kit was closer to $125..and still believe it is many places...but the buy.com price blew us away. If you can find the Linksys kit for that price (less than a $100), we think you've found a great deal. It's an especially outstanding deal if you get the package with Descent 3 and were already considering buying the game. That makes the kit net price about $70. If you can't find the kit for less than a $125, don't care about the game and $25 is important to you, we think the D-Link kit is probably the way to go. Thus, we're calling these two kits a dead heat. That dead heat may result in dual Editor's Choice awards once we get a chance to review any other switch-based kits out there. For now, we'd call the Linksys kit a great buy and recommend it without hesitation. Grade = A Details
All content © 1998-2007 by homePCnetwork, inc.
|
