December 13, 2002
NEW YORK - In case you've missed it, Wi-Fi has arrived.
What was once known better by an arcane technical name, IEEE 802.11(b), is now breaking into the popular conscience. Wi-Fi wireless networking is quickly becoming the favored way to network a home, a small office and many public spaces such as airports and even public parks.
But it's not all that useful if you don't have some kind of broadband Internet connection, like a cable modem or a DSL line, already present. Japan's Toshiba has seen fit to combine a cable modem with a Wi-Fi hub and router, dubbed the PCX5000.
Designed for both wired and wireless networking, there are four 10/1000 Ethernet ports, which you can use to connect to network-capable printers or other peripherals, or to computers where a wireless connection isn't appropriate. The company says the unit will support up to 250 computers, allowing them all to share one cable modem. Wi-Fi-ready machines should be able to share the connection from up to 300 feet away.
Aside from a cable modem and wireless hub, the unit also contains firewall software from SofaWare, a unit of Internet security vendor Check Point Systems (nasdaq: CHKP - news - people).
The unit is intended to be easy to install. A company called Promptlink has developed a self-installation tool called Jumpmaster that guides you through the process. Set-up, Toshiba says, takes a few minutes.
The unit is available now at CompUSA stores for about $300.
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