Netgear's Entry into the all-in-one Ethernet Home Networking Kits.
Written: Jun 23 '01 (Updated Mar 01 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Reliable name. Good manufacturing.
Cons: D-link's version is serious competition for this kit.
The Bottom Line: If what you need are two computers networked together, this is the fastest connection you can make.
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| grimjack2's Full Review: Netgear FB104 Network Starter Kit |
Note: The FB-104 hasn't been available for awhile (or so my local network hardware salesman tells me). It was replaced by the FB-105 towards the end of last year. The differences is only that now included is a new FS-105 Switch, instead of the FS-104 Switch. The FS-104 only has four ports, and the FS-105 has five.
For a job, I got to recently compare a number of home networking kits, and the Netgear FB-105 was one of them. Although there are a number of different ways to link computers together for your home, I prefer Ethernet. This is the fastest and most reliable connection available. The wireless networks do work, but the level of frustration with trying to keep a good signal, and their relatively slow transfer speed, overshadow the advantage of a lack of wires. The USB networks also have a slower speed then Ethernet, and have what I'm told is a safe limit of only 20' per cable. Ethernet can go over 300', which is long enough to connect machines in any home. Even if you go through the walls, or along the ceiling.
Many people want to build a small home network these days. The primary reason to connect your home computers together is usually so that all the machines in the home can share a broadband connection. Some people are probably sharing a regular phone line connection through their modems as well. Other people build the home network simply to share a printer, share files, or just to play games against one another.
Up until the beginning of this year, the majority of these kits didn't come with Switches, but instead Hubs. Hubs look almost the same, and most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference in transfer performance with just two machines. Switches used to be much rarer, much more expensive and usually wouldn't come in anything less than 8 ports. All that seems to have changed sometime last year when I wasn't paying attention. Now, the performance difference is worth the very small price difference. The equivalent Netgear hubs seem to only be $20 less than the Switches. A Hub takes all the information in and out through one channel (the uplink port can be the exception). If you have four machines on your hub and they are all transmitting data, the 100mb speed is divided among the machines needing the bandwidth. With a switch, each connection has a separate 100mb connection, so it is a much cleaner transfer of data, with fewer collisions.
The Netgear FB-105 kit comes with the following:
One Netgear FB-105 Switch
Two F-311 10/100mb network cards with driver disks
Two 10 foot Cat 5 cables (but they used to come with 25 foot cables)
The entire package only costs $100 at my local CompUSA. If I were to buy the parts separately, the switch would cost $70, each network card $25, and the cables are usually very overpriced at about $10 each. The saving for getting them all together in this kit is at least $40. This is well worth it, and this setup is exactly what most people usually need. For the setup I tested, I really only needed cables that were about 4 feet long, and one machine already had a network card, but the whole kit was still a deal rather than buying the individual parts.
The FB-105 Switch has five ports. There is a toggle button that will let you switch the far right one between being an uplink port or a standard 10/100mb port. The other four are just your standard 10/100mb ports. There are lights letting you know when a connection has been made between the switch and a computer. There is a different light depending on whether or not it is a 100mb or 10mb connection. Since these are right next to each other, and the text is so incredibly tiny, you really won't be able to tell which one you have unless you are very close, and have the different speed light lit up to compare. The Switch will autosense 100mb speed if the network card will allow it. There is also a row of lights, one for each port, each which represents a transfer between the port, or a collision. I suppose these are helpful, but really only when trying to determine if a machine or other hardware is slowing down your network somehow.
All of my tests were done by merely transferring files from one machine to the other, so I couldn't really see any collisions or great drops in speeds. I doubt with only two machines you will ever really see the speed drop below the maximum.
Unlike some of the equivalent D-link Switches, the Netgear does not have an internal fan. This means it is certainly quieter, but it becomes extremely warm, extremely fast. This is possibly because it uses the case as a heat-sink. Still, it concerns me that this is almost uncomfortable to touch after a mere 20 minutes! Some people may want to use this in the home near other devices, and the extreme heat could make it necessary to find an out of the way spot nullifying the ability to see the lights.
The included F-311 network cards are more than adequate with an easy driver installation. The drivers included cover about a dozen operating systems, including Dos, Win 3.11, and various Unix versions. These cards are often considered to be the best brand other than the much pricier 3-Com cards. They install into any PCI slot and will use a single IRQ. They only have a port for a Cat 5 connection, having no BNC connector. Having two cards is all most people will probably need. If you have more machines you want to network, you do not need to get another Netgear card, and five ports on the switch is more than any home should ever need. If it still isn't enough, the uplink port on the switch can be used to connect another switch to the network.
The D-link DFE 910 home networking kit is the closest competitor to the Netgear version, with only a few differences. The D-link Package says it has a lifetime warranty and free technical support. The products are so simple, I doubt anyone would really have to use it, but it is good to have. The Netgear warranty is only for five years. The performance between the two cards and switches seems to be the same. The Netgear switch has more lights to represent collisions, but one less port. And each Cat-5 cable is ten feet shorter.
Since each package is the same price, it is tough to say that the Netgear is the better purchase, but if you buy either, you certainly aren't buying a bad product.
If you see various version of this starter kit, here is the key to their product names:
D is a 10/100mb hub
S is a 10mb speed only hub
F is a 10/100mb Switch
The 3rd number represents the total number of ports on their Hub/Switch.
Here is my review of the D-link DFE 910:
http://www.epinions.com/content_27151470212
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
grimjack2
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Location: San Rafael, CA, Marin County
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Film is my favorite art form. I live a life of constant amelioration.
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