D-Link DHN-910 10Mbps Phoneline Network in a Box - HomeFree Phoneline from Diamond Multimedia Systems; D-Link System's DHN-910 - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, Feb, 2000 by Amee Abel

It's less than a year since home office workers started using their existing phone jacks as easy conduits for connecting computers--and started grousing about the original Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA) spec's modest 1Mbps data transfer rate. Now, though the official HomePNA 2.0 paperwork is lagging slightly behind, products are shipping that let home phone lines match the 10Mbps speed of the 10BaseT Ethernet LANs found at the corporate office--with no need to drill holes or run special cables.

We tested two of the first 10Mbps phone-line networks available, the HomeFree Phoneline 10Mbps kit from Diamond Multimedia Systems ($129, 800-468-5846, www.diamondmm.com) and the DHN-910 10Mbps Phoneline Network in a Box from D-Link ($119, 800-326-1688, www.dlink.com). Each kit includes two PCI interface cards and the necessary software and phone cables to connect two desktop PCs.

D-Link sweetens the pot by adding shareware versions of the multiplayer games Warcraft and Diablo. Diamond boosts its bid by bundling Rio Audio Manager, a software product that lets users record, play, and share MP3 music clips across their network.

Both products ask you to open each computer's case, find a free PCI expansion slot, and insert a network interface card. This isn't a tough job, but it can be intimidating. The HomeFree kit, thanks to well-illustrated documentation, was easier to install than its competition.

To make your network operational, you must also install the requisite driver software, appropriate network operating system components, and--if you plan to allow both networked systems to surf the Web--Internet connection-sharing software. One complaint we have with both products is that nowhere in the documentation did it say you must perform the software installation twice--once on each PC on the network.

Diamond's software setup is an easy one-step process. The HomeFree Network Installation Wizard asks simple questions, such as, "What do you want to call this machine?" and provides detailed explanations so you can fearlessly provide the correct answers. The wizard also reminds you to plug the computers into phone jacks, automatically installs the included WinGate Internet-sharing software, and restarts your computers when necessary.

Despite the admirable software, our initial installation of the HomeFree network didn't work. After spending time with Diamond's technical support staff, we discovered we had a hardware failure and received a replacement card.

Once we got the HomeFree network running, its performance was excellent. Copying documents from one PC to another seemed as quick as copying files between folders on a local hard disk. Our 234K test file transferred in under a second, video streamed seamlessly across our network from one computer's DVD drive to the other's monitor, and Internet sharing was lag-free.

D-Link's 10Mbps Phoneline Network in a Box required a three-step software installation: drivers, network operations, and the included Midpoint Lite for Internet connection sharing. The helpful manuals lead you quickly through the installation process, and our experience installing the network on two Win 98 desktops was good--although to install Midpoint Lite, you'll spend some time clicking arcane Windows network settings.

Once installed, the D-Link kit was as reliable and speedy as its rival. PC-to-PC transfer of our jumbo file took less than a second, and Internet sharing was trouble-free.

Neither product rates a 10 on ease-of-use, but both are easy to recommend-the D-Link kit perhaps more for users with some network experience, and the Diamond for giving fewer headaches to novice networkers. When it comes to performance, you can't go wrong with either.

7.5

V   8
P   9
E   6
S   6

Pros: Fast network performance, less expensive than competition

Cons: Complicated installation of bundled software

Ratings

THE NETWORKED HOME'S product scores are weighted averages of 1- to 10-point ratings for: Value (30 percent of total), Performance (30 percent of total), Ease of Use [20 percent of total), and Suitability for Home Network Use (20 percent of total).

KEY:

V = Value

P = Performance

E = Ease of Use

S = Suitability for Home Network Use