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Proxim's new Farallon NetLine Wireless Broadband Gateway (FNWBG) is a mouthful of words and is a remote-office product full of features. As I found in my home office near our Real-World Labs in Madison, Wis., connecting remote-office and home-office users to a broadband connection using the FNWBG couldn't be easier. The product is made more complete when you add the optional 802.llb wireless gear, including an access point, a PC Card (Windows and Macintosh) and a PCI card (Mac only).
All the FNWBG's features are easily configurable via a Web interface. In minutes, I configured the product in a number of topologies, including bridging, routing and NAT (Network Address Translation). Other wireless gateways from vendors such as Linksys and DLink Systems offer similar capabilities at lower prices, but the FNWBG provides more intuitive IP-filtering configuration and better support for Macintosh users.
Although 802.1 lb interoperability problems are almost nonexistent, I tested the FNWBG for compatibility with a number of client cards: Agere Systems' Orinoco PC Card, Apple AirPort, Cisco Systems Aironet PC4820B and Proxim Farallon SkyLine (PC Card and PCI Card). The FNWBG is not WiFi (Wireless Fidelity)-certified and does not support open authentication for WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) clients. Still, I had difficulties only with the Orinoco card, which was not really Agere's fault. Proxim says it plans to step up its WEP support to include open authentication soon.
Unlike other small-office wireless gateways (Agere Orinoco RG-1000 and Apple AirPort Base Station, to name two), the FNWBG provides separate LAN ports for broadband and local networks. In this way it avoids the peculiar but functional implementations of Agere and Apple. The FNWBG can act as a DHCP on the broadband port to obtain an IP address from your ISP, and offer...