| Come on, tell the truth...we've all cursed
those pesky computer cables at least once, and if you work in the support
arena of the computer industry then you can multiply that by at least a
million! What if you could get rid of those cables and just connect to the
network by simply pointing your laptop or PalmPilot in the right
direction? Sounds like a fantasy, but products such as EthIR LAN have made
it a reality. EthIR LAN uses infrared technology to enable users to
connect to network resources with less hardware hassle and fewer cabling
headaches. The new way of connecting to the network is fast, easy, and a
lot neater.
INSTALLATION
Overall, the setup for this product was a simple three-step process: set
up the EthIR Switch, plug the mouse-sized EthIR Beam transceiver into the
EthIR Switch, and configure the portable computer for infrared networking.
Installation of the EthIR LAN switch was not very difficult. The unit
we used for testing was an ESB101 switch. The hardware components
consisted of a single port EthIR switch and an EthIR beam. We connected
the EthIR beam to the EthIR switch via a mini DIN cable. Next, we
connected a RJ-45 cable from the 10/100Base-T Ethernet uplink port on the
switch to an Ethernet wall jack. Lastly, we connected the power and
quickly saw the green lights on the switch start blinking. Unfortunately,
a blinking status light at this point in the installation only meant that
the switch was unable to obtain an IP address from the DHCP server. Of
course, this would normally be a bad thing, but in this situation it was
the perfect bridge into the software portion of the setup process.
Two software applications, ConnectIR and a Configuration Tool program,
are included with the switch. ConnectIR is the application that is used to
establish an infrared connection. The Configuration Tool is a graphical
interface used to configure and monitor the switch. These applications are
usually included with the product, but they can also be downloaded from
the Clarinet Web site. We downloaded the applications as .ZIP files and
installed them on our test laptop. The setup wizard walked us through a
very quick installation process. We didn't have to answer a lot of
questions, which is always a plus, and each program automatically put its
respective icon in the system tray or on the desktop.
Before we were ready to actually run the ConnectIR program, there were
still a couple of things that we needed to do to insure a successful
infrared flight. The first thing was to create a direct dial connection
via the Communications option menu in Windows. After installing the Direct
Dial Connection program from the Windows 98 CD, we ran the setup utility
and defined our laptop as the guest computer. Since we didn't need to
actually connect to another PC, it wasn't necessary to define a host
computer.
Next, we needed to confirm that our laptop was configured to use DHCP
to obtain IP addresses. We checked this setting in the network icon of the
control panel and confirmed that we could successfully connect to the
network with this method. Once this was set, we continued on to the
configuration of the switch using the Configuration Tool. What this
consisted of was running the IP editor within the Configuration Tool in
order to instruct the program to use DHCP to obtain an IP address for the
switch. Once this was set, we were able to view the statistics of the
switch, specifically the IP address, the gateway and subnet addresses, and
the status of the switch.
DOCUMENTATION
The documentation for EthIR LAN included a Getting Started manual and
a User's Guide. The Getting Started manual provided detailed diagrams and
descriptions of each available hardware model and the differences between
them. It also included the steps needed to connect the EthIR switch and
the EthIR beam to a patch panel or network jack. The setup instructions
were easy to follow and corresponded well with the diagrams. The User's
Guide provided general overviews and specific feature information. We
found both guides helpful during the hardware and software installations.
FEATURES
At the core of the EthIR LAN product is the EthIR switch. It's
available as either a single or multiport device. The multiport switch is
very similar in design to an ordinary 10/100 Ethernet switch, but the
difference is that 8 of its 16 ports are configured for use with the EthIR
Beam. The remaining eight ports are for standard Ethernet connections, and
in addition there is a 10/100 uplink port to connect wireless users to the
network.
The EthIR Switch also includes a Configuration Tool, which can be used
to configure and view details about settings, such as IP addresses for
switches, gateways, and DNS servers. It also contains a switch reboot
option for on-the-fly changes to IP settings. Tabs are also available for
SNMP variables and IP Pool definitions.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
We thought the real test for the EthIR LAN switch would be to see how
well the wireless infrared connectivity capabilities stacked up in terms
of convenience and practicality. As mentioned earlier, the hardware
installation was easy enough. We connected the EthIR switch to the wall
jack via a RJ-45 cable. Next, we connected the EthIR beam to the RJ-45
port in the back of the switch. We set the beam on top of the desk and
positioned our laptop in direct alignment with the beam. Both the switch
and the EthIR beam devices were physically sturdy and had no problem
staying in place once we set them down. There was also some minor range
flexibility with the beam which made it possible for us to move the laptop
around a little bit within reason and still stay connected.
To begin our testing, we needed to initialize a connection. To do this,
we started by double clicking the Direct Dial Connection icon. We clicked
the Connect button and entered our network username and password. We
selected Cancel when prompted for the name of the host computer, and a
status box displayed letting us know that we had established a direct
cable connection via a given COM port. At this point, we double-clicked
the program icon for the ConnectIR software. The first of several
connection dialog boxes were displayed, letting us know that the laptop
was attempting to establish infrared communication with the switch.
Look Mom, No Network Cables!
Once our network user name and password were validated, we received a
successful infrared connection message. Then the message box automatically
minimized and faded out of sight...we were free to roam! We were able to
browse our network and complete other common tasks such as transferring
files and connecting to network printers. Once the software was configured
and the switch was active, we viewed the status of the EthIR switch and
our infrared connection.
It reported that we were connected at a speed of 115.2 Kbps. The speed
wasn't overwhelmingly fast, but it wasn't unbearable either. We did notice
that it seemed to take an unusually long time to install a printer driver
from a shared CD drive across the network. To test the overall speed
performance, we tried copying a 10 MB file from a mapped network drive to
our test laptop. The file copy took about 21 minutes (a transfer rate of
about 7.93 Kbps) to complete.
One aspect of the software application that we really liked was the
helper feature. A helper dialog box popped up if the infrared access
points became blocked or if the laptop became misaligned with the infrared
beam. When this happened, a countdown period was displayed. It allowed us
to realign the laptop, giving us ample time to fix the problem without
losing our connection. The nice part about it was that there wasn't an
inconvenient interruption. When the laptop returned to within operating
range of the EthIR beam, we didn't have to click a button or wait until
the timeout period was reached. Our connection to the network remained
intact.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Overall, we were satisfied with the features of the EthIR LAN switch
and its functionality. One area that we would recommend for improvement
would be with the ConnectIR software. While it does offer a status of the
infrared connection, it would be more helpful if it also provided more
detail for broken connections. More detail would help administrators when
trying to troubleshoot any connectivity issues with the switch.
CONCLUSION
Though probably not practical as just a convenience for portable computer
users, EthIR LAN offers one of the best-built and most easily deployable
solutions in situations where cables might not be a convenient option.
Though we tested the infrared capabilities of EthIR LAN with a laptop, the
handheld and palm computer users of the industry are the ones that would
truly reap the benefits of this technology. They would no doubt appreciate
the convenience of hassle-free networking connectivity that the EthIR LAN
switch offers, since cabled connections are the number one enemy to the
convenience and portability that devices such as these offer.
We see only one negative aspect that with this form of network
connectivity: especially with laptops and handheld PCs, it would become
difficult to sustain the connection once you started to wander from the
direct path of the invisible beam. Laptop users may want to rest their
computer in their lap, and users of handheld PCs are more likely to move
them around in their hands than keep them positioned in one place. If this
functionality is taken away, it could become more of a hassle for those
users than a convenience.
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