| Microsoft Home Networking Wireless Desktop Kit |
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Model: L21-00004
Brand: Microsoft
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 17
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
Easy-to-use Setup Wizard
Strong security features, including a built-in firewall, Network Address Translation (NAT), and default 128-bit wireless security (WEP)
Universal Plug and Play for seamless UPnP applications such as voice messaging, video messaging, and games
Includes a Wireless Base Station and Wireless USB Adapter
Toll-free product support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week |
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| Description: |
| Now you can share a broadband Internet connection, files, and printers between two desktop computers. Wirelessly. Effortlessly. Enjoy the freedom of working in different rooms of your home or small office.The Microsoft Wireless Desktop Kit includes everything you need to set up a secure 802.11b wireless network between two desktop computers. The kit includes a Microsoft Wireless Base Station and a Microsoft Wireless USB Adapter. The Microsoft easy-to-use setup software makes it easy for you to connect multiple wired and wireless computers in your home or small office to the Internet through a single broadband connection, such as a cable or DSL modem. |
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| User Reviews (17 total): |
Page 1 of Total 1 Pages
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Does NOT included everything needed to network two computers, August 20, 2003
By johare (Orlando, FL USA)
Even though this kit clearly advertised that it contained "Everything you need to create a wireless network for TWO desktop computers" that turned out not to be the case. Because my current modem connected via the USB and not an ethernet card (like the majority of cable modem installations lately), I was told by microsoft that I would need to go out and purchase an ethernet card and an ethernet cable before I could use this kit to hook up both computers.
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GREAT PRODUCT W/ POOR SETUP WIZARD, June 7, 2003
By unknown
bought to connect Windows XP and 98SE computers, the system has a strong signal and has been very reliable.
The Network Utility feature is excellent for home use.
Only negative was a poor quality install wizard on the included software CD. Had to use MSN tech support, but they were cheerful and efficient (minimal wait time). Tech Support rep said that the install wizard is a little buggy and doesn't work as well as they hoped...other than having to "ask for help" it's a great purchase which has expanded our in home computer capability AND enjoyment.
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Works The best for me, June 6, 2003
By SGecko (Plainville, CT United States)
Well, I did a lot of research trying to figure out the best way to hook up my XBox and 2 computers, 1 of which was downstairs while the other 2 were upstairs.First of all, this is 1 of only 2 Xbox approved wireless Routers. That's a big deal to me becuase of the ammount of online gaming I do. Second, this is the best price I've found for the the wireless router and wireless reciever. This is a must have for anyone needind a router, you never know when you might want wireless, and it really works well.
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Not recommended for users who already have a network, June 3, 2003
By meowchica (Ambler, PA USA)
System works fine now that it's up and running, but since we already had a router connecting our computers, installation became incredibly tedious. The instruction manual gave basic instructions but left out important aspects (like in which spot to connect the cable to the original router).
Tech support was not good at all the first two times i called, and great the last time i called.
Microsoft tech support is kind of annoying overall because you have to go through a lot just to get to tech support (asking for your full name, address, phone number...then they give you a case number, and when you get connected to tech support, you have to repeat all of this information). It was kind of a pain.
The first tech support person wasn't helpful and had a pretty thick accent. The second got angry with me (she had no reason to because i'm harmless and don't get angry), and i'm pretty sure she hung up on me.
The third guy told me exactly what i needed to know, so if you can recommend which tech support you want to use, say Jed!
Anyway, after three days of messing around with all the cables and setting up everything, we finally got the base station running. The adapter was incredibly easy to set up.
If you know anything about network settings, you have no reason to use the software, and therefore no reason to update anything. We didn't end up using the software because it kept detecting the router instead of the microsoft base, so it didn't work. Even when setting up the adapter, the software was only needed to get the necessary driver. You can put in your own network settings.
This set is good if you don't have a lot of networking skills and only have the two computers to connect. That's pretty much the only reason to get this. I got it because it was pretty much the cheapest thing there, but in hindsight, i would have bought something that was easier to deal with.
Other wireless base stations can pretty much be plugged in and work without all the horrible installation problems, so i would definitely recommend something not by Microsoft.
As said in other comments, don't buy it just because it's Microsoft brand, because it is probably one of the worst brands out there.
In conclusion, get this if you're really concerned about the cost, looking for something simple to connect only two computers without an existing network, and not looking for something that's top quality.
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Works with Tivo Series 2, May 30, 2003
By unknown
I have two 80 hour series 2 Tivos connected with the wireless
network and so far have not had a single problem the system.
The inital setup with Windows Xp was not as smooth as I would have liked. The installation disk failed on setup. I will have to
say that Microsoft customer support was great. I only had about
30 seconds of wait time till I was talking to an actual person
that really knew something about the product. The usb adaptor setup in Tivo went very easily. Give it a try if you have Tivo.
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Quirky Install - But Works Great In The End!!, May 21, 2003
By hpbunaes (Wickford, RI USA)
If you have a broadband internet connection and multiple people in your house who need access to it... rather than fight over one connection, buy this kit! It's cheap, works great, and supports up to 4 additional remote desktop or notebook PC's (note: PC's only, non-Wintel, e.g. Apple computers, are not supported). The install was not quite as smooth as I would have liked. I got what turned out to be a phantom error (a false negative on a standard test built into the install program) and had to call Microsoft support. But they quickly realized the error was false and I completed the install with a little help from them. The end result is fabulous! My wife has high speed access from her office just below mine and we didn't have to pay the cable company for a second hookup and another cable modem. Now I can add a couple laptops and another desktop should the need arise by purchasing only the wireless adaptor and installing the software and putting in the encryption key (which you get at from your wireless base station using the included software). Performance is great... sitting at her desktop, I quickly forgot I was accessing the net wirelessly via my desktop one floor up.
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Easy Wireless Networking, April 30, 2003
By unknown
I have two computers on different ends of my house and needed to share a broadband connection. I choose this product because it includes everything that you will need to set it up. Installation was fairly easy. I gave only 4 stars because when I installed the base station it did not detect my broadband connection. Luckily I read a review that said to download the updated firmware before trying to install the base station. Make sure to download the firmware before installing the base station. If the base station does not detect your internet connection, finish the install and then update the firmware. This will save you some time. I have had the wireless networking kit for about a month now and have had no problems. The network is much faster then the broadband connection so I don't notice any difference in speed on the internet with either computer. Overall a great product for someone with little to no networking knowledge.
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Microsoft Home Networking Wireless Desktop Kit, March 3, 2003
By cruzer2003 (Powells Point, NC United States)
Very easy to setup, it took we about 2 hours. Had little problem at start but make sure you upgrade the firmware. My network has been up and running you about a week no problems.
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Working great, needed tech support however, January 31, 2003
By Joel P Poudrier (Jacksonville, NC)
During set-up of the base station (on an XP machine), installation could not detect my internet connection (even though all the lights were on, on both the modem and the base station). Tried to re-install and re-set the base station several times. Finally I called tech support, which was EXCELLENT. I completed installation (without internet detection) and then was told to power down both the modem and the base station. Once I did that, everything connected. I installed the adapter on my second PC (Windows ME) in about five minutes and everything has been working great, to include file and printer sharing. Speed downstairs is a max 11 mps. Overall, great product and great tech support.
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Fantastic Tech Support, January 22, 2003
By unknown
I purchased this product to network 2 desktop PC's. One is a brand new machine running XP, the other Windows 98. The initial setup was very easy. It includes a blank floppy to copy your network settings from one PC to the other. This worked flawlessly even with the two different versions of windows. I encountered problems, however, when I upgraded the firmware. Both computers could access the Internet but could not see each other for file sharing, etc. After a week of messing around with it, I finally broke down and called tech support. These guys know what they are doing! The tech support person spent almost an hour on the phone with me getting my network up and running. It turned out I had several conflicts with old firewall, antivirus software and video drivers. You can be confident in making this purchase if for no other reason that it has 2 years of unlimited tech support. I have a better opinion of Microsoft after this experience
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Cool For Routing, Poor For Serving, January 15, 2003
By Jed D. Hunsaker (San Francisco, CA USA)
First off, this is the coolest thing in the world. The firewall and routing capabilities are fantastic! Local ISPs normally block ports for hosting your own web site, amongst other lower ports. But with this baby you can open up a new port for anything, which you can point to whatever computer on the network... and whatever port you like. The help files were sufficient for me to just read and succeed at this. Thing is, your web site wouldn't be a standard IP address, but rather http://68.xxx.xxx.xx:8080.
Here's the bad part though. When I turn on my computer, sometimes I have to unplug the wireless device and plug it back in to get it to work. I guess Microsoft is working on this from what I hear. I sure hope it's fixed soon.
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Very Good Range, and easy installation, January 12, 2003
By kchakma (Loma Linda, CA United States)
It has very good range, covers my whole 2 story house (2200 SFT) and backyard. Installation on my XP PCs and laptop were as easy as it gets. Downloaded the firmware for the router for better performance. If your computer can't get connection, all you have to do is turn off and on the DSL or cable modem. I choose MS brand because of their customer service and the length of the warranty. I heard some horror stories for Linksys and DLink customer services, but only good things about MS's.
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Very disappointing - Don't buy this ..., January 3, 2003
By unknown
I fell for the Microsoft brand and selected this product from among a multitude of alternatives.The product lasted only three weeks, after which it simply stopped working. I talked to the MS technical support (which was very helpful, by the way), and we determined that the NIC was defective. I ended up returning it and got a similar Wi-Fi kit from Belkin. It has been working GREAT!! Don't be tempted by the MS brand. Look at the products for their own value - and pick Belkin, Sony, NetGear, etc. ... just not MS!!
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works great but......, December 28, 2002
By Tom James Jr. (Blairstown, NJ United States)
works great, but highly recommend visiting microsoft.com and downloading the fixware patch before installation. When I installed the wireless networking kit on my brand new sony pentium 4 desktop computer (with help from the tech support at microsoft) my computer restarted itself several times in intervals of approx 2 min apart and would not stop until I downloaded the fixware patch for the microsoft wireless router and installed it on my computer. After installation it worked perfectly.
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Outcast, December 17, 2002
By unknown
The whole thing set up very easily in about 20 minutes for 2 computers. It probably helped that both PCs were fairly new Dells running XP. Only problem came when I downloaded the firmware update from Microsoft. After it installed, my system did not see my broadband connection until I unplugged and replugged my broadband modem.
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Some problems, November 7, 2002
By rlaakso (Queensbury, N.Y.)
I recently purchased a base and adapter to hook up another desk top computer. I also could not complete the installation because of a firewall.I disconnected the Norton protection, but I still could not complete the installation. If this happens you have to enter the required information by hand when you install the adapter for the remote computer. I also lose my connection for no apparent reason, approximately every half hour. I have to pull the power, and wait 10 seconds, then plug it back in again. Microsoft is aware of this problem, because they are the ones who told me to do this. ONe time the base station computer couldn't access the internet, but the remote computer could ??? I had to delete the program on both computers and start over again. There are no waits to get help from Microsoft on the phone. When it works, it works very well. I agree it is not ready for prime time yet. I have only owned it for 5 days.
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Excellent, October 14, 2002
By Randy Given (Manchester, CT USA)
This is a combined review of the MN-500 / MN-510 / MN-610 since they are combined (the MN-610 is a kit of a MN-500 base station and MN-510 USB adapter). The base station installed up to the very end. It said that the installation could not complete because of a firewall or similar problem. I checked, re-checked and re-booted many times. However, I could get through to the Internet, so I had no idea why it would not continue the installation. I ended up calling technical support and they were very helpful. Since I was connecting to the Internet, everything was configured. It just would not complete and make a floppy that could be used on the other systems. So, that part had to be done manually. I was glad support was quick and helpful.Installing the first other station was very easy, but the second was more problematic. Still, compared to other network installations, it was pretty easy. Throughput is pretty impressive. In fact, it is just as fast on the others as it was on my base station BEFORE the wireless network. My base station varies from the same performance to THREE TIMES what it was before. I am guessing that the router doing the firewall instead of the OS doing it may account for most of the improvement. Overall, we are very happy with it.
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