The network guilt trip

Should vendors make assumptions about the age of your home network? Should you assume new devices will only work optimally if you’re running the latest and greatest gear?

These questions came to mind while testing XiMeta's NetDisk, a network direct-attached storage (NDAS) system that plugs into your router’s Ethernet port. The benefit of connecting a storage drive directly to the network is that any networked PC can access the storage any time. (See our opinion of the device here.)

But during the NetDisk installation, I encountered problems with my own home network. The first occurred while transferring some music files from my desktop PC upstairs to the NetDisk. My PC is connected via a Linksys wireless Ethernet adapter; the NetDisk to the Linksys wireless router downstairs.

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Should vendors make assumptions about the age of your home network? Should you assume new devices will only work optimally if you’re running the latest and greatest gear?

These questions came to mind while testing XiMeta's NetDisk, a network direct-attached storage (NDAS) system that plugs into your router’s Ethernet port. The benefit of connecting a storage drive directly to the network is that any networked PC can access the storage any time. (See our opinion of the device here.)

But during the NetDisk installation, I encountered problems with my own home network. The first occurred while transferring some music files from my desktop PC upstairs to the NetDisk. My PC is connected via a Linksys wireless Ethernet adapter; the NetDisk to the Linksys wireless router downstairs.

Since the Linksys wireless router uses 802.11b, the data transmission between the NetDisk and the desktop PC is traveling over relatively low speeds. When it took 2 or more minutes to transfer a 3M-byte music file, I knew that something was up. I calculated the transmission rate to be about 215K bit/sec by timing the transfer of a 4MB file from PC to NetDisk with my stopwatch.

Then I connected a laptop directly to the Linksys router, and the NetDisk worked perfectly.

XiMeta's very nice customer support rep said the company recommends using an 802.11g wireless connection. He then tried to boost my slow wireless connection first by checking for viruses (I had none) then by having me update the firmware on my wireless router (which didn’t help much.)

What’s the problem? Distance between my computer and the wireless router is the likely culprit. The 802.11b’s 11M bit/sec rated speed equals only about 4M to 6M bit/sec in actual throughput. But you’ll often only get that in a direct, line-of-sight environment. Throw in that I was one floor away and transmitting through a couple of walls, and that explains why my throughput rate was 215K bit/sec. 

I had a similar problem testing wireless networked media players recently — those devices that connect to a stereo system and let you stream digital music and video from your PC to the stereo or TV. Streaming video needed an 802.11g network to avoid latency or jitter.

My 802.11b network is no longer fast enough to support all these new devices, yet the vendors won’t come out and say so in the documentation. Should I feel guilty for having a working wireless connection, or do I continually need to stay ahead of the curve to test every new device that comes out? 

Of course, I know it’s time to make the jump to 802.11g, but I wish I could do it because I wanted to, rather than because I feel forced to.

What are your thoughts? Send an e-mail to kshaw@nww.com and let me know whether you feel pressured to constantly upgrade your home network. 

Read more about home networks in Network World's Home Networks section.