Compaq rolls out home networking suite

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By Tom Mainelli

(IDG) -- Looking to charm home users leery of the complexities of networking, Compaq has released an entire suite of iPaq-branded networking products that it says makes home networking simple.

"Networking products available today target early adopters and technically advanced users," says Sean Burke, vice president and general manager of iPaq products, in a statement Thursday. "Compaq recognizes that networking must be simple to enable mainstream consumer adoption."

To appeal to average PC owners, home networking equipment must be easy to set up and use, and it must come in a vast number of flavors. For Compaq, those flavors include wireless, home phone line, and Ethernet.

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Networking arsenal

The flagship product of Compaq's new line is the iPaq Connection Point CP-2W Wireless Broadband Gateway. The device is cable- and DSL-ready and includes a four-port 10/100 Fast Ethernet switch and 802.11b wireless networking. Priced at $299, the CP-2W also offers a built-in firewall, wireless encryption, and virtual private networking capabilities.

To use the CP-2W, you'll need wireless cards for your desktop or notebook PC, and Compaq offers those, too. Its new iPaq Wireless USB adapter has a range of about 300 feet and sells for $140. The PC Card version offers the same range and costs $130.

For those content to remain wired, Compaq offers the iPaq Phoneline Networking USB Adapter for $30. It offers speeds of up to 10 mbps through standard phone lines.

Wired users who demand more speed will find a host of new Ethernet-based products from Compaq. The five-port Fast Ethernet Auto Sensing Switch sells for $60; the Fast Ethernet PC Card costs $50; the Fast Ethernet USB Adapter, $40; and the Fast Ethernet PCI Card, $25.

Make it easy

While others have offered "easy" home networking before, Compaq intends to deliver--starting with the purchase decision, Burke says. People network for different reasons, from wanting to share a printer to plugging into a broadband connection, but even with a wide spectrum of products, getting started has never been easy.

To decide which type of networking setup best suits your needs, Compaq has a Web page that lets you plug in what equipment you have and what you want to do. According to Compaq, you just answer a short list of questions, and the site creates a suggested list of products.

Compaq designed each product for easy setup. Basic installation guides and software wizards walk you through the process of configuring such essential networking tasks as file and Internet sharing.

Each product also includes Internet sharing software, diagnostic tools, and built-in firewalls.