I am in the process of setting up a Multitech wireless RouteFinder Broadband router for test purposes. I will test it on the laptop and on a desktop computer. I will attempt to use the Lucent/ORINOCO PC Card in the laptop and the Multitech PC Card in the desktop. More to follow on this project. My plan is to run this setup on the both the SBC DSL connection and the Time Warner Road Runner direct cable.

The Road Runner Wireless setup sort of covered over my attempt to get the Multitech router up on the Direct Cable network here in my house. Right after my interview with Jeff Henry of Time Warner Road Runner, they sent a technician out to install the new wireless offering from Road Runner. This set of equipment included a Netgear wireless router, and one each Netgear wireless PC Card, PCI network interface card, and USB network port. It was fairly easy to setup, especially  with the advice from the Time Warner technician. The actual setup and operation of this equipment will follow in an extended review next month. I will have two months of operational experience by this time and will be able to provide an extensive report on the equipment, service, and wireless benefits. The Road Runner package and setup routine caused me no problems in keeping my network up and running.

I tested the IEEE 802.11b standard with the installation of the Netgear router by installing my Lucent/ORINOCO and Multitech PC Cards on it. I had no problem running either with the Netgear router. Each PC Card has an installation driver that must be installed in the laptop, a Toshiba Satellite 2100 CDT in my case. A signal strength program is also installed for each PC Card to be used as a means of checking the throughput of the connection as the computer is moved about from the router access point. One point about the Netgear PC Card that may be a negative is it’s transmit/receive antenna. There is no place to attach an extend range antenna for better reception from remote locations. The Lucent/ORINOCO PC Card unit has a place to attach an extend range antenna. This may not be a problem with temporary operations from remote locations in the network, but if a computer is located on a permanent basis, then I would opt for the extend range antenna.

I later installed a Sony Wireless laptop into the system with no addition problems. We tested this unit for signal received by moving it in a car down the street. It lost the signal at nearly 380 feet from the router. This was also through one wood and glass wall. I estimate that the signal throughput was about 1 Mbps transmit speed. The signal strength test program shows that all the PC Cards operated at 100 percent when they were installed in the Toshiba in the office space. This equates to 10 Mbps transmit speed under the IEEE 802.11b standard.

I installed the supplied Netgear PCI network interface card (NIC) in one of my computers and moved it to my shop area. It installed via the NIC driver CD with no problems. Network and browser checks indicated that the computer, one of my network desktops, would function from the shop area without large problems. Signal strength seems to be the major drawback with remote operation on the network. The shop area is on the same floor, second, that my office is on, but, with two walls to penetrate by the signal. The signal strength was at 67 percent. This probably equates to 5.5 Mbps transmit speed. Since the computer was already on the domain, I had no problem logging onto my network. The PCI NIC does have a four inch antenna.

I have not set the USB network node up as yet. It should not be a problem. It is connected to any computer via an available USB port. The unit and cable are included in the Road Runner basic wireless kit. The Road Runner kit provides components for at least three separate computers, however, each is connected in a different way. One by PC Card, another by PCI NIC, and finally, the last by USB port. If your network consists of two or more desktop computers, then the PCI NIC should be used in each one. If the network consists of laptops, Netgear USB Port then the PC Card should be used in each. I would use the USB port as a means of last resort.

Netgear Router Setup
The Netgear Wireless Cable Modem Gateway GC814W router front panel contains lights for port and router activity, cable connection, and power. Green LEDS indicate 100 Mbps and yellow LEDs indicate 10 Mbps. The router has four host connections for wired network devises. If a hub or switch is used, then one of the ports must be connected to a cross-over port on the other device. I have my network printer and domain server connected as well as a cross-over to a eight port 10/100 hub for the remainder of my computers.

The back of the router contains ports for power, wireless card, RJ45 cabled devices, and direct cable connection.

The router is accessed for setup by setting one computer to receive DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) IP (Internet Protocol) addressing, and then use the browser of choice to enter the router basic IP address. It comes set to 192.168.2.1. I changed it to read my in-place domain network in order to minimize any problems making my network recognize the router and to keep as much of the IP addressing the same as before. The main page is accessed by using the browser to open it by entering the IP address. The Basic Settings page lists the remainder of pages that can be accessed and provides a view of the connection to the WAN (Wide Area Network) side of the router. The router has the ability to receive either DHCP WAN addresses or static addresses. Road Runner uses DHCP to set the WAN side for most home or small business connections. All of the pages on the router are divided into three parts. The index, each page settings, and the instructions on how to do the setup make up the three parts.

The Index Section contains four sub-headings: Settings, Content Filtering, Maintenance, and Advanced. Each section contains one or more sub sections that move to additional Web pages for specific settings in the router.

The Settings section contains Web page links to the Basic Settings and Wireless Settings pages. Basic Settings has sections for the Network Configuration WAN IP information as received by the router, Cable Network settings, including Host and Domain fill-in boxes if required, radio buttons for selecting Dynamic or Static WAN IP addresses, and Check Box for MAC cloning if necessary. The Wireless Settings page contains three sections. The Wireless Network section contains a type-in box for the SSID Name (name of the wireless network), and a pull-down menu to set the Channel (1 - 6). All wireless devices on the network must be configured to these two items. The second section is the Wireless Card Access List with a check box and Setup Access List button. This section is the first of the built-in security factors. When the check box is Checked, The Setup Access List button must be activated to go to the next page. This Wireless Card Access List page contains three table sections. The top table named Access List contains the device number and name, and MAC address of all included devices. There is a radio button to highlight the device and a Delete button to remove any of the listed devices. The middle Connected Wireless Devices table contains the device name, assigned IP address, MAC address, and Interface standard, i.e., 802.11, etc. The bottom Add Access Filter table contains write-in boxes for device name and MAC addresses. Add and Cancel buttons are included for the appropriate action. I have included the MAC addresses of each device in my network.

The Content Filtering sub-heading contains Web page links for Logs and Block Sites. The Logs page contains write-in boxes for e-mail address and SMTP server name. When activated by a Check box, alerts can be sent to the administrator.

The Maintenance sub-heading contains Web page links for Gateway Status, Connection, Set Password, and Diagnostics.  The Gateway Status page contains two tables containing router information and up-time status. The Connection page contains three tables; Startup Procedure, Downstream Channel, and Upstream Channel.

The Advanced sub-heading contains router setup pages for network security to keep unauthorized users out and to protect your data from within. There are six Web page links that provide setup features in the router to make the network secure from either direction. MAC filtering, Port Blocking, Port Forwarding, Port Blocking, Port Triggering, DMZ Host, and LAN IP are the six setup pages. MAC filtering is the method of restricting computers (hosts) on the network from using the Internet. Port blocking is used to block specific outbound ports such as FTP ports 20 and 21. Port forwarding makes specific network computers available for specific Internet functions such as allowing computer 1 at 192.168.2.15 available for FTP on ports 20 and 21. Port triggering is used to dynamically establish port forwarding for certain functions such as FTP on ports 20 and 21.

The advanced features require some knowledge of the TCP/IP port scheme and what you want the router to do for the network. NAT (Network Address Translation) and DHCP server functions are built-in the router for their security reasons.

Conclusion
The Road Runner wireless equipment is up and running in my network. It functions with my domain structure, providing me with increased capability in my network. The added cost of this service remains one of the factors that my final review will need to look at. My next test will be to install the Multitech wireless router on the system in place of the Netgear unit and see if there are problems. Wireless definitely adds efficiency and mobility to the network.