Like Pulling teeth
Written: Feb 19 '02
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Pros: Cost, ease of setup, ease of use, zero configuration
Cons: Mine didn't work, company wont return email or calls
The Bottom Line: I simply believe I purchased a defective product. But because they would not help me resolve an issue with their product, I recommend against purchases from this manufacturer.
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| bt3of4's Full Review: 2wire HomePortal 100 (1000-200002-000) Gateway |
I decided to get a firewall. I am a CNE and didn't think I should be without one given the amount of bandwidth I use up on a daily basis.
I looked around on the web, and in stores. I came across the 2wire Model 100 and saw it had everything I needed. I didn't want a firewall I had to play with. I just wanted it stop some of the traffic some of the time, I could do the rest.
I bought it and it really installed itself. The software seemed to be optional, but I could use it to configure it quite easily. I put the software on one machine (mine) and the other three used DHCP, flawlessly.
As time went on, we started using more and more services (ports), and more and more bandwidth. Then something happened. Occasionally some of the services would just occasionally reset. It got worse and worse. I would be transferring a file via FTP and all of a sudden the entire port closed, sending snapshot web cam pics, and lose the server, or launch multiple cams. The CNE kicked in and I was on it. After extensive testing, sending various sized packets, holding services open for various times, I found that there was no circumstances that could be repeated that caused the disconnects.
I checked the web site to verified that no firmware updates were available. I sent an email off to 2wire.
About a week later, we decided to purchase a cable modem instead of leasing from the cable company. The modem worked great, but the 2wire was still disconnecting services. Sent another email to 2wire, and got on web and usenet looking for similiar complaints. None found, and no response from 2wire. Called 2wire phone number and navigated the automated menu, until it blew up, then it wouldn't answer the phone anymore. Tried the phone again the next day, and again blew up the automated menu system.
Some time later, and many more emails, I noticed the cable modem was occasionally losing connection. Hmmmm. I called the cable company and they said the line had "an influx of RF". They came out and replaced a huge chunk of coax, from the house to the pole, it helped, but it didn't fix it. They came out again, 3 more times each time replacing a section of cable, until the line was crystal clear. It didn't fix the problem, and it didn't get to be any less infrequent, about once a day. It would only go out for 1/2 a second or so, so it was very difficult to tell when the 2wire dropped a service cause it was broke, or because the cable modem fell out. We leased the cable companies modem again, and not only did the problem continue, the Internet became unusable, due to cascading failure of the 2wire. Enough time (6 months) had passed by, I decided to check for upgrades again. There were 3. I successfully burned the ware, and it helped for about a week. Then the thing became almost unusable again.
Removing the 2wire completely had always stopped the service problems. Replacing the 2wire with a LinkSys has yielded no further problems.
I have read nothing but good reviews about the product but the fact remains, mine didn't work (confirmed). Contacting the company is impossible, and enough time had gone by that CompuUSA didn't want it back either.
Anybody want to buy a doorstop? cheap?
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 199
Driver Availability: Other
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Epinions.com ID:
bt3of4
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Reviews written: 1
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