kelvyn.taylor

Everything changes...

2013-10-01T18:11:00.000+01:00

I just want to say that as from today, this blog will no longer be carrying new product reviews (existing ones are unaffected). This is due to my changed employment circumstances - basically, I am no longer freelance but an employee.

I'm going to leave the blog online, though, and may update it occasionally with tips & tricks I come across. Thanks to everyone who has visited the site over the past four years, and I hope it has been (and continues to be) of some use to you.

Bye for now!

Kelvyn

Review: Fritz! FON M2 DECT cordless phone

2013-09-23T19:25:00.000+01:00

Just over two years ago, AVM introduced a rather swish DECT phone, the Fritz! Fon MT-F, which was specifically designed for use with its Fritz!Box routers. I quite like the MT-F, but it is expensive at nearly £70 - and it won't even work as a standalone phone, as it doesn't have an integrated base station.

The new M2 phone is similar in many respects, as it just has a charging base, but no base station. However, it is much cheaper - we found it on offer at WAE+ for £38. It also lacks the classy black styling and large colour screen of the MT-F, with just a mono backlit LCD screen. But it does have almost all the great functions and features of its pricier sibling when connected to a Fritz!Box, such as an internet radio/podcast player, email client and RSS reader.

The beige plastic case may look a bit plain, but I actually prefer it to the MT-F - it's much easier to hold comfortably during a call, and the slightly raised buttons are easier to press. The layout of the keypad is identical to the MT-F. The screen is excellent, with a pale white backlight, but it's perfectly clear in daylight even when the backlight is off - the resolution is much lower than the MT-F, but it does the job. It doesn't support custom background pictures like the MT-F, of course.

I loved the audio call quality of the M2 - it has the same HD DECT feature as the MT-F, but seems even clearer than the MT-F, and a bit louder - perhaps it's the larger case size giving a fuller frequency response. The ringtones (which are the same as on the MT-F) don't seem quite as loud or clear, though. The downside is there is no headset jack, so power users might still prefer the MT-F. The recharging base is a vast improvement on the MT-F's, holding it securely in place even when lightly knocked.

It's a great phone for use with a Fritz!Box, as it integrates with all the various extras mentioned earlier, but it can also be used with any GAP-compatible DECT base station, but then you lose many of the unique features, including the address book.

The low price makes it a great option for Fritz!Box owners, especially if you don't need the stylish looks and colour screen of the MT-F.

Find it on Amazon:

Using the amazing Prelinger Archives to create video mashups

2013-09-22T16:58:00.002+01:00

A slight departure from my normal posts here, but thought it worthwhile as it is definitely computer-related. Those who like playing around with video editing software, perhaps for home movies, special occasions or even work use, often get stuck looking for free stock footage they can use to add a bit of variety to their creations.

One amazing resource that's often overlooked is the Prelinger Archives, which is available at the Internet Archive . Everything in the Archive is in the public domain, meaning it can be used for any purpose whatsoever - even commercial use - with no permission or licence fee needed. You can download the clips in a variety of formats, such as MP4, MPEG-2 or Ogg video files.

Of course, the biggest problem is finding suitable material. Luckily, there is a decent search feature, but even this is not totally reliable. Many of the home movies are untitled and have not been indexed, so it's sometimes pot luck what they contain. I found that using the search box at the top of the home page gave better results than using the keyword search.

One very useful feature is the thumbnails - if you open a clip's page, on the top left is a link to thumbnail images, which are automatically created every 30 seconds or so for the duration of the clip. This is very useful for getting a rapid idea of what's in the clip.

The range of content in the Archive is amazing. There are full-length colour documentaries, music clips, silent movies, home movies, educational films and all manner of more weird stuff from most periods of the 20th Century. It's an incredible resource, not just historically, but also for those looking for interesting video or sound clips to spice up a home movie or business presentation.

As an example of what can be done with it, here's a 5-minute music video I recently made using only material from the Prelinger Archives (the music is a reworking of one of my own songs by the talented Barry Snaith). It took about 2 weeks to make in my spare time, and most of the time was taken finding the clips.

I used about 16 separate videos from the Archives, mostly home movies and popular music clips. The software I used was Avid Studio (which is now Pinnacle Studio). This has a great collection of professional effects from Red Giant (now only included in the Ultimate version of Pinnacle Studio). Although Avid Studio hasn't had updates for a long time, it does work perfectly well in Windows 8.

Windows 8.1 launches in UK on 17th October, 2013

2013-08-14T14:39:00.001+01:00

Just received the news from Microsoft's PR that Windows 8.1 will launch in New Zealand at 12.00am on the 18th October (so midday on the 17th in the UK) and roll out worldwide via a free update in the Windows Store. So yes, you will need a Microsoft Account to get this. Having tried the preview, I reckon it will definitely be worth the upgrade, as it fixes many broken features and improves usability, particularly for non-touchscreen devices.

D-Link launches new AC1750 802.11ac router

2013-07-19T17:15:00.000+01:00

At an event in London yesterday, networking company D-Link showcased its range of 11ac routers for the consumer market. There are now five models covering several flavours of the 11ac standard, with single-stream (1x1, AC750), dual-stream (2x2, AC1200) and triple-stream (3x3, AC1750) products. All products have Gigabit Ethernet WAN connections apart from the AC1200 DSL-3580L ADSL model which will appear at a later date.

The DIR-810L (£62) is a single-stream AC750 model, aimed at the budget end of the market and lacking extras such as a USB port. The next model up is the AC1200 DIR-850L, which adds a USB port and uses a cylindrical design.

The DIR-860L has one of the first implementations of the 11ac beamforming technology, called Smartbeam by D-Link. Beamforming helps improve performance and reduce interference with neighbouring networks by phasing the antennas to give a directional signal pointing at the client. To get the full benefit it needs beamforming support in the client, though. The 860L also gains a USB port.

The newly-announced DIR-868L (£133) is an AC1750 product, with similar features to the 860L. Also shown at the launch was the miniature AC580 single-stream DWA-171 USB adapter, which joins the existing DWA-182 dual-stream adapter.

D-Link now has one of the most diverse 11ac offerings of any vendor, enabling it to hit multiple price points. I'm hoping to get samples of one or more of the models over the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for my reviews.

The DIR-868L is an AC1750 router with Smartbeam beamforming capability

Find it on Amazon:

WD My Net AC1300 router and My Net AC Bridge

2013-06-07T16:20:00.000+01:00

Western Digital launched its first routers about a year ago, and now it's entered into the 802.11ac market with the My Net AC1300. It has also launched the My Net AC Bridge, which will be needed to get the best performance as few devices have 11ac capability yet.

It's by far the fastest 11ac router I've tested to date, achieving 170Mbps throughput at close range and 70Mbps at 25m. 11n performance was a bit patchy, though. It's not too expensive, however, at £135 for the router and £69 for the bridge. You can read my full news article over on ZDNet UK.

The WD AC1300 has a nice graphic menu system

At close range, performance is impressive

Even at 25m, throughput still topped 70Mbps

Design is compact but plain

The matching AC bridge has 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports

Synology DSM 4.3 Beta launch event

2013-05-30T17:33:00.001+01:00

If you like NAS and football, you might be interested in going to Synology's launch event for the next version of its DSM software. It willl be held at Manchester United's Old Trafford football ground on 27th June 2013. It's open to all, including end users, and it just requires registration at http://www.synology.com/events/2013_dsm4.3_beta_uk.php?lang=uk

Guests will get a goodie bag, and there will also be a chance to win a DiskStation.

Netgear's new ReadyNAS range uses BTRFS filesystem

2013-05-08T12:04:00.000+01:00

Netgear has announced a major revamp of its ReadNAS range. The new models feature a brand new operating system, ReadyNAS OS 6, that uses the BTRFS filesystem, the first NAS OS to do so. BTRFS is an unusual filesystem with copy-on-write capabilities - this makes it easy to create data snapshots and recover any file, even if it's been deleted. You can read more about the new range in my article for ZDNet UK's First Take blog. Prices have not yet been announced.

Table of specifications for the new ReadyNAS rang (source: Netgear)

New Fritz!OS firmware launched for Fritz!Box

2013-04-19T19:08:00.000+01:00

I noticed a few weeks ago that a new version of Fritz!OS5 had appeared on the German AVM site, and have been eagerly awaiting the International version. It appeared today (version 84.05.51), so I installed it on my Fritz!Box 7390 to give it a spin. I haven't had time to check out exactly what's new, but the look and feel is unchanged, with a few minor tweaks - such as links to Fritz!Box, Fritz!NAS and MyFritz at the top right of the interface.

One thing that has gone is the dreaded 'Green' LAN port power management feature that drove many users to distraction. There seem to be quite a lot of new features, and it's going to take me a while to sort through them. I have noticed that the FritzFON now has a built-in network media player, so you can stream music from any DLNA media server. Not world-shattering, but certainly novel.

There's also a new Smart Home section, apparently for the upcoming FritzDECT 200 home controller, which sounds quite interesting. You can also now assign user accounts for web access to the Fritz!NAS, and Google Contacts (and some other online services) can be imported to a new address book, which is very neat and works well. There's also a new FritzAPP, and (finally) a single sign-on for the MyFritz remote management service.

It looks like a very worthwhile release, and you can get it by going to the Firmware Update section of the System menu and clicking Find New Firmware. I hope to go into more detail later as I explore the new features.

The overview screen is largely unchanged

You can now import Google Contacts into an address book

Review: TP-Link AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter

2013-04-19T18:37:00.001+01:00

TP-Link has been quite busy recently, especially on the Homeplug front. I recently reviewed its new AV500 Nano Homeplug adapters for Computeractive magazine (unfortunately the review is not available online), and now I've had a chance to look at the larger AV500+ 'piggyback' adapters (model number is TL-PA551KIT for the twin starter pack).

Design and features

Unlike many bland Homeplug adapters, at least the PA551 has a touch of style, with a distinctive black body and white fascia panel. The passthrough mains socket is at the top of the fascia, with three green/orange status lights below. The build quality is excellent, with a solid feel to the adapters. In the box is the quick installation guide, mini-CD with the software utility and manual, plus two Ethernet cables.

Unlike the AV500 Nano adapters, the PA551 has a Gigabit Ethernet port, which gives them a decent - but not massive - performance advantage. The adapters are pretty bulky, though, being the same width but longer than the previous AV200 version (PA251). They won't fit side-by-side in a ganged extension socket, which in some ways is no bad thing - using them in extension sockets is never a good idea as it can affect performance if the extension has a surge suppressor.

The small Powerline utility is quite basic, but tells you links speeds and allows QoS settings to be changed, either using simple application settings (Internet, Games, Audio/Video or VoIP), or more complex VLAN or TOS bits.

Quite stylish for a Homeplug adapter

The utility lets you set QoS parameters and upgrade firmware

Performance

I used my standard test setup (see this post for more details), and used the latest version (1.3) of Totusoft's LAN Speed Test, with LST Server on the remote PC to check the throughput. The adapters pair up very quickly when plugged in - something that some adapters seem to take ages to do. Using the default packet size of 1MB and 100 test iterations, the results stack up pretty well compared to other AV500 adapters I've tested.

Average write speeds were 124Mbps, and read speeds 125Mbps, which is about the same as other AV500 models I've seen. It also means that the Gigabit Ethernet ports do give a 25% improvement over the AV500 Nano adapters, which are limited to 100Mbps. Out of interest, I also ran tests with a pair of older PA251 AV200 adapters - these managed around 70Mbps read and write throughput.

So you do get a lot of benefit out of moving to the AV500 standard, but you should never expect full 500Mbps speeds - that only refers to the PHY link speed, not throughput. According to the software utility, link speeds were around 350Mbps on the PA551 during testing - they wouldn't connect any higher. Variability during test runs wasn't too bad, either, at around 5-10%.

Verdict

At a street price of around £80, the PA551 twin-pack is cheaper than the Devolo dLAN 500 AVPlus and speeds are comparable. They do look more attractive than most other models, but they are large. The passthrough mains socket is ideal for those with a limited number of wall sockets, though. This product should definitely be on your shortlist if you're looking for some reasonably-priced, well-made Homeplug adapters.

Details
Model: TP-Link TL-PA551KIT AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter
Cost: £79
Contact : TP-Link

Find it on Amazon:

Review: TP-Link TL-WDR3600 N600 dual-band router

2013-04-09T12:44:00.004+01:00

Another bargain from TP-Link, for those who don't need 3-stream 11n capabilities

Router prices are dropping to crazy levels, typified by the measly £60 you need to get hold of the TP-Link TL-WDR3600. This is a dual-band, dual-stream (N600) cable model (it doesn’t have an ADSL modem), and although it offers little in the way of innovation it has plenty of decent features and adequate performance.

It's not pretty, but it works well

Dual USB2 ports distinguish this from the WDR3500

Hardware

The design is exactly the same as the pug-ugly TL-WDR4300 (click for my review), with a large, shiny black plastic case that - to my mind at least - just makes it look cheap and nasty. This feeling is reinforced by the 10 (yes, 10) blue status LEDs on the front. Blue LEDs have been so overdone in recent years that now they just look old-fashioned. In this case, it’s not helped by the fact that the LEDs are quite large and most of them blink constantly, which is incredibly distracting if the router’s in view. I do like status LEDs, but they need to be both discrete and clear - in the WDR3600 it’s hard to tell which is which from a distance, and they don’t change colour when there’s a problem, just blink differently.

It has two standard detachable dual-band external antennas. These look a bit ungainly, but many users still prefer them to the more fashionable internal micro-antennas. At the back are the standard four Gigabit Ethernet ports, plus a dedicated WAN port (also Gigabit Ethernet). Two USB2 ports (which differentiate this model from the single-ported WDR3500), a power switch and reset button complete the external hardware features.

Configuration

Styling aside, there’s plenty to like about the WDR3600. The setup wizard on the CD works well, and allows you to clone the MAC address if needed. There’s also a wizard in the web management menu, which can be opened using the http://tplinklogin.net shortcut (the default username and password are both ‘admin’).

The settings menu is the standard TP-Link 3-column text-based interface (there’s an emulator at http://www.tp-link.com/resources/simulator/TL-WDR3600/Index.htm if you want to take a look). There’s a growing trend to graphical interfaces, but I still prefer the speed and simplicity of text, as long as stuff is easy to find. In this case, it is, with a category menu down the left side, settings in the middle and contextual help at the right.

The USB ports support printers and storage, but not 3G dongles. User accounts can be created for volume-level access via Windows Explorer, but shared folders can only be created for FTP access.

There’s also a DLNA media server, although this can only share up to six separate folders on each storage device.

It uses the standard TP-Link menu layout

One unusual feature, also seen in the WDR4300, is the hardware NAT acceleration - this can be enabled or disabled in the NAT section of the settings. Personally, I think it’s a bit of a waste of time - all it does is improve WAN to LAN throughput to a quoted 800Mbps. This feature is really intended for enterprise use when connected to a Gigabit WAN, so that internet traffic can be sent at wire speed. For ordinary broadband, it’s not really necessary. Also, some readers of this blog have complained about the hardware NAT affecting VoIP in the WDR4300, although during a couple of weeks’ testing the WDR3600 I saw no problems (my SIP provider is Sipgate).

Access Control

The WDR3600 does have a few access control features, including parental controls and bandwidth control. They’re not the easiest for novices to set up, though, as they do need an understanding of protocols and ports. The parental controls can be used for white-/blacklisting IP addresses, domains or protocols and scheduling access times for any MAC address. Bandwidth control is fairly basic, allowing rules-based limiting of inbound or outbound traffic. There are no automated QoS settings.

Interior

The WDR3600 is powered by Atheros chips, with an AR9344 system-on-a-chip (SoC) providing the 2.4GHZ radio, plus a separate AR9582 2x2 chip for 5GHz operation. An AR8327 chip provides the Gigabit Ethernet switching. This hardware is very similar to that found in its big brother, the TL-WDR4300, with the exception of the 5GHz radio - the WDR4300 uses a 3x3 AR9582 chip.

Performance

The WDR3600 is configured by default for auto channel width settings on both bands. As usual, I tested using the defaults. My test environment (my home) is surrounded by several neighbouring 2.4GHz networks (but no 5GHz networks yet), making it a good place to see real world performance.

As usual, I used the Advanced Networking Tests section in Passmark Performance Test 8 (I do also run Totusoft’s LAN Speed Test for a quick sanity check). The standard client adapter I use is a 3-stream (450Mbps) Intel Ultimate N Wifi Link 5300AGN adapter retrofitted to an Acer Aspire One netbook.

At close range (1m) on the 2.4GHZ band the WDR3600 did very well compared to some routers I’ve seen recently, managing 50Mbps average throughput. It didn’t do so well at 25m, though, with a very unreliable connection averaging around 5Mbps.

At 5GHz the close range performance was actually slightly less than the 2.4GHz results at 48Mbps, which is quite unusual. However, at 25m it was much better at 18Mbps - this is still a fairly average result, however.

1m/2.4GHz

1m/5GHz

25m/2.4GHz

25m/5GHz

Conclusion

Although its performance results are not particularly noteworthy, considering the price they’re perfectly acceptable. Oddly, the numbers are slightly better than those I measured in the more expensive TL-WDR4300.

It does have an almost identical set of features to the WDR4300, though, and given that the WDR3600 is around £15-£20 cheaper, I’d definitely recommend it, especially for those who don’t have any 3-stream 11n clients.

Price: around £60

Contact details

Web: TP-Link TL-WDR3600 N600 dual-band router

Phone: +44 (0) 845 147 0017

Find it on Amazon:

Netgear unveils low-cost 10-Gigabit Ethernet switches

2013-04-04T20:00:00.000+01:00

10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) might sound a bit over the top, but it's big business in big businesses. Those companies needing large amounts of bandwidth on their corporate networks are rapidly moving to this standard.

The main problem is that the cost of 10GbE technology is still way out of the range of smaller businesses, so it's interesting to see Netgear launch a £675 8-port 10GbE switch, one of the first at this price level. Netgear has achieved this by using the copper-cabled standard (called 10GBase-T) rather than the more expensive fiber-based standard. A bonus is that the ports and cables are backwards-compatible with existing 10/100/1000Base-T gear. Netgear has also lowered the power consumption of the 10GBase-T ports to around the same as fiber kit, removing yet another barrier to entry.

You can read more about the new switches in my piece over on ZDNet UK.

The £675 8-port XS708E is aimed at SMEs

XS712T - 12-port Smart switch

Top-of-the-range 24-port XSM7224 fully-managed switch

Review: Belkin AC1200DB 11ac router

2013-03-13T11:02:00.001+00:00

My full review of Belkin's first two-stream (867Mbps) 11ac router, the AC1200DB, has just been published on Computeractive's website (although I actually wrote the review some time ago). It is a decent router, but has no particularly outstanding features. Its street price has come down quite a bit since I looked at it, which does make it a bit more attractive, as it's now one of the cheapest 11ac models available. I think I'd probably opt for it over the similarly-priced D-Link DIR-865L, purely on the basis that the D-Link didn't work well with my SIP phone service (a problem with the SIP ALG, I think - disabling that fixed it).

The AC1200DB's 11ac performance was excellent (I tested it using Linksys and Netgear client bridges), and not far off the three-stream devices I've seen, but 11n performance was very average in my usual noisy domestic test environment (I'm getting used to this - it seems that since the Wi-Fi Alliance enforced 'good neighbour' policies on vendors, 11n performance has plateaued). At the time of testing, Belkin had no matching USB client adapter, but that's now been rectified and I hope to review a sample here in the near future.

Over 160Mbps at close range

Still managed over 40Mbps at 25m

It includes free Norton Contentsafe parental controls, which are all-or-nothing controls that affect all PCs

Odd choice of wording in the setup wizard!

It can only be used standing up, there's no wall-mount capability

The new Belkin logo features prominently

Find it on Amazon:

Review - Netgear R6300 11ac router

2013-03-09T15:07:00.004+00:00

Computeractive has just published my full review of the Netgear R300 11ac router. I've mentioned this briefly in my previous post about the 11ac roundup for ZDNet, but there's a bit more detail in this review. It is a very impressive router, despite its size, with plenty to keep advanced users happy. It's also one of the fastest models I've tested in 11ac mode. Its price has dropped quite a bit since it launched, and is now selling for around £170.

The Netgear Genie app in particular deserves praise - it makes managing the router much less of a chore. It also has a neat trick of turning any attached USB printer into an Airprint-compatible printer, allowing it to be used wirelessly from an iOS device.

Performance in 11ac mode at 25m was outstanding - over 100Mbps

The Netgear Genie desktop app is great

Plenty of advanced options in the settings menu

It's very bulky

This is the iOS Genie app

Find it on Amazon:

802.11ac router roundup

2013-02-20T12:02:00.000+00:00

Here's a link to an article I wrote for ZDNet recently, looking at three of the latest 11ac routers from Cisco (Linksys EA6500), D-Link (DIR-865L) and Netgear (R6300). They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but if pushed I would plump for the Netgear R6330 purely for the fact that its performance is outstanding. It's a bit big and bulky, though.

The Cisco Linksys EA6500 is not a bad performer, and the matching WUMC710 media bridge adapter is by far the best of the bunch in terms of design and performance, and although it's expensive it does have a 4-port Gigabit switch. I still don't like the router's Cisco Cloud Connect interface, though.

D-Link's DIR-865L is one of the cheapest 11ac routers around, and it shows. It is very ungainly, and the DWA-182 USB client adapter is quite large, but cheap. When I was testing it, it played havoc with my SIP telephones, probably because of an incompatibility with the SIP ALG.

Netgear also has a matching 11ac USB adapter, the A6200, which has a peculiar rotating antenna that makes it a bit of a space-hog in a notebook.

Netgear R6300

D-Link DIR-865L

Cisco Linksys EA6500

Find it on Amazon:

AVM to launch 1,300Mbps Fritzbox at CeBIT

2013-01-31T20:54:00.001+00:00

Yes, it's that time of year again when my inbox overfloweth with CeBIT press releases (I've only just managed to clear out the CES ones..). One that caught my eye was from AVM, makers of the Fritzbox routers. In it the company says it will be demonstrating several new products, including routers with 200Mbps DSL capabilities (thanks to 'vectoring and bonding', apparently).

But what's more interesting (to me at least) is that it will be launching a 1,300Mbps 802.11ac Fritzbox model - the attached image shows the German prototype. The company also says it will be announcing new mobile apps.

CeBIT runs from 5th-9th March, 2013. If you're planning on going, AVM will be in hall 13, stand 48. I imagine we won't see shipping products here in the UK until well into the summer.

UPDATE 15/3/2013: The new top-of-the-range model (pictured) was named as the Fritz!Box 7490.

Well, it certainly looks like a Fritzbox

Review: D-Link DIR-505 Mobile Cloud Companion

2012-12-18T16:00:00.003+00:00

This is a low-priced all-in-one travel router with some excellent features. It can operate as a router/access point, wireless repeater or as a wireless hotspot for sharing a public Wifi connection. The mode is selected via a 3-position hardware switch. I've seen a couple of similar devices, but this is the neatest by far and is very easy to use as well as being amazingly cheap. The range in repeater mode isn't brilliant, but its versatility makes up for it. You can read my full review on Computeractive's website.

Find it on Amazon:

Review: Synology DS212j

2012-12-18T15:50:00.000+00:00

Synology's consumer twin-bay NAS enclosures are excellent value and great for those who just need some centralised storage with basic redundancy. The DS212j is very easy to use and supports up to 3TB Sata hard disks. It also has Synology's outstanding DSM interface, which is very easy to use and comes with loads of add-in modules. You can even use it to host a blog or website. Don't be put off by the cheap-looking plastic casing, these are pretty solid devices inside and have a great feature set.

Read my full review over on Computeractive, where it earned a Buy It! award. (Note that this review was done almost a year ago, but has only just made it onto the Computeractive website for some reason).

Below I've posted the results of my standard Passmark Performance Test 7 performance tests, using the Advanced Disk Tests and two Hitachi Cinemastar 250GB hard disks (this was tested before I got the WD Red disks). It's not particularly fast, but perfectly acceptable for an entry-level product.

Database workload

File Server workload

Web Server workload

Workstation workload

Find it on Amazon:

Review: Lindy Wireless-N Wifi Repeater

2012-11-30T10:34:00.000+00:00

Wireless repeaters seem to be having a bit of a mini-boom, as users discover more and more dead spots in their Wifi coverage. A repeater can help, but they do have limitations and should be used with care. As they basically re-transmit all wireless data packets, they do affect the overall speed of the network, as I found with this bizarre-looking model from Lindy. It's very affordable, and works reasonably well, but it feels very cheaply made and has an awful quick install guide. For my full review, head on over to Computeractive.

Below, I've included two graphs showing the performance with a Linksys EA4500 router at 25m with the repeater turned on and off. As you can see, the signal becomes much more reliable, even though the average throughput is still fairly low at around 13Mbps.

The web interface is truly atrocious, with misleading instructions and discrepancies with the manual

Performance at 25m with repeater off

Performance at 25m with repeater on

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Get a free Windows 8 Media Center upgrade

2012-11-23T14:10:00.000+00:00

Crazily, Microsoft has removed the excellent Windows Media Center from Windows 8, quoting codec licensing costs as the main reason. It does, however, sell a separate Media Center Pack for Windows 8 Pro that costs £6.99 (Windows 8 standard version needs to be upgraded with the Windows 8 Pro Pack costing £49.99 at the time of writing).

Those already running Windows 8 Pro don't need to pay a penny, as Microsoft is offering free upgrade keys to anyone until 31 January, 2013. Just go to http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/feature-packs and enter your email address. There are no limits, apart from one key per email address. Once the key is received, it can be added to Windows using the Add Features to Windows 8 tool (just search for this from the Start screen, and it appears in the Settings results). Click 'I already have a product key' and enter the key. The upgrade will take place, and Media Center will be available after the restart. It is unchanged from the Windows 7 version, and still works with up to three analogue or digital TV tuners.

AVM Fritz!Box 3370

2012-11-15T14:41:00.000+00:00

AVM has launched quite a few new models this year, trying to please everyone with assorted combinations of features. The latest 3370 model ~~drops all the VoIP and telephony features~~ has VoIP support for AVM's free FritzApp FON, with the full range of VoIP settings found in other models, but dispenses completely with analogue phone ports and DECT. The FritzApp FON can be used over Wifi or LAN on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. [Thanks to reader Philippe for the tip - the VoIP features are hidden unless you tick a box for FritzApp support on the WLAN settings page].

The 3370 is AVM's first 3-stream (450Mbps) 11n model. It only has a single radio, though, so can only work on one frequency at once. At around £150, it's quite expensive for what you get, but Fritz!Box aficionados are quite used to that.

Performance is pretty mundane (see graphs below), although better than the previous 2-stream models at long distance. You can read more on my post for ZDNet UK's First Take blog.

No, it's not my house

The inside is pretty bare now the hardware telephony stuff has gone. There are 3 antennas - one is at the bottom right, soldered vertically to the motherboard. the other two are under the usual 'fins' at the top.

2.4GHz @ 1m

2.4GHz @ 25m

5GHz @ 1m

5GHz @ 25m

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Synology DiskStation DS213air

2012-11-15T14:20:00.003+00:00

Synology's NAS enclosures have supported add-on USB Wifi dongles for a while, but the 2-bay DS213air is the company's first model with integrated wireless. It's aimed mainly at consumers, and has a couple of novel features, such as the ability to work as a wireless access point or wireless router. It's not a particularly powerful unit, as you can see from my results below, but it does have the convenience factor and Synology's excellent DSM software.
For more details, see my article over on ZDNet UK's First Take blog or my review on Computeractive.

It uses a mini-PCIe card on the motherboard for Wifi

DiskMark score over Wifi at 1m is not particularly impressive

DiskMark score over Ethernet is a bit better

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Review: Zyxel NBG-419N V2 router

2012-11-09T15:03:00.002+00:00

This ultra-cheap (£38) router from Zyxel is full of surprises, not least that it includes a USB port for file and printer sharing, an easy-to-use graphical interface and some basic QoS and bandwidth management features. There are lots of other advanced settings tucked away in the 'expert' menu, too. Its performance wasn't too shabby either, with around 17Mbps real throughput at 25m in my standard test setup.

It's a dual-stream (2x2) 11n model with external antennas, designed for cable/BT Infinity use (there's no modem version). You can read my full review over on Computeractive.

No scale here, but it's tiny

The USB sharing app

Bandwidth management is rare at this price level

The Easy Mode is very easy

Plenty of advanced settings for tinkerers

Throughput at 25m was pretty decent for a budget router

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Free check for Windows 8 compatibility

2012-10-26T17:44:00.000+01:00

With the launch of Windows 8, Microsoft has reintroduced the free Windows 8 Compatibility Assistant for those contemplating an upgrade, but unsure whether their hardware or software is up to the job.

It can be downloaded from the Windows store at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/upgrade-to-windows-8

There's no need to purchase Windows 8 in order to run this. Users can also check the compatibility of specific software or devices at the Windows Compatibility Center.

Windows 8 OEM/System Builder UK launch prices

2012-10-12T18:51:00.000+01:00

[UPDATE 25/10 - added revised prices]

UK specialist hardware site QuietPC.com has just published the discounted UK launch prices for Windows 8 boxed versions on its website. Although upgrade prices have been known for a while, this is the first time I've seen prices for the System Builder (OEM) versions. It states that the prices are valid from October 26, 2012 to 31 January, 2013. The prices seem to be much lower than the Amazon pre-order prices, so presumably the Amazon prices are the prices we'll see after the launch discounts expire.

Note that there is now no full retail version - this has been replaced by the System Builder (OEM) version, and the new Personal Use license for this allows anyone to buy these versions for installation on a self-built PC. There are now no restrictions on transferring OEM versions to another PC - with previous OEM licences, the OS was locked to the hardware, making upgrading the motherboard a nightmare). So this version of Windows 8 looks like a bargain for DIY builders.

These prices compare very favourably to the $69.99 and $139.99 prices for the US standard and Pro versions. It will be interesting to see if there's any additional discount for online (ESP) download versions from Microsoft's online store.

Missing from QuietPC's price lists are the prices of the Media Center Pack and Windows Pro Pack. The former adds Media Center and DVD (MPEG2) playback capability to Windows 8 Pro, and the latter does the same for Windows 8 and simultaneously upgrades it to Windows 8 Pro. Amazon is showing the Windows 8 Pro Pack as costing £49.98.

(All prices include VAT and are for boxed DVD media)

UPDATE 25/10/12 - These prices have now changed as indicated:

Windows 8 Professional (OEM/System Builder) ~~£49.99~~ £108.98

Windows 8 (OEM/System Builder) ~~£39.98~~ £71.34

Windows 8 Pro Upgrade (DVD boxed version) ~~£29.99~~ £49.98

Scan has also posted some Windows 8 prices, but these are higher, and are perhaps the non-discounted prices.

Windows 8 £76.90
Windows 8 Pro £109.30

To read more about Windows 8's features, grab a copy of the latest issue of Computeractive magazine, where you'll find my in-depth guide to the new OS.

Order Windows 8 from Amazon: