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 Of course we have had a Novell Netware Network in our offices for more years
than I happen to be able to count. All in all, it has worked rather well given the large overhead in terms of cost, hardware and technical expertise necessary to run it.
What I have always wanted was to have a small network at home. I have a
pretty mammoth computer in my office (as in 512 megs of memory, 17 gigs of hard drive space not counting the Jazz and Zip drives and a 400 MHz Pentium II (yes, I know, I need a Pentium III). Upstairs is one of IBM's latest ThinkPads, the
new i-series. Wouldn't it be nice to share my printers, modem and, most of all, files between the two.
I am not crazy. To put a Novell network in the house would mean I would be spending a good
portion of my creative time ministering to the needs of the network. I just decided that was silly and put it away as something that we would do when the technology became easier.
This really started bothering me when the @Home cable service became available at, well, home. Cable surfing zings. I downloaded a 13 meg file in eight minutes the other day.
Downstairs.
Upstairs, we poked (!) along at 56k. Now 56k doesn't seem so pokey until you try cable. But I have it. How to get it upstairs as well.
(You should know I check my email before I leave the house, check the news headlines to update the morning paper. I'd sure rather do that with the ThinkPad than go downstaitrs. But with
cable, 56k seems really slow.)
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I popped for an Intel AnyPoint Home Network for $189.
While it did not work right "out of the box" due, primarily, to some potential conflicts with the cable system, it was working in an hour with a huge assist from Intel Tech Support.
And that is my message here today.
Another problem cropped up with a conflict with the Zip drives (both the Zip and the AnyPoint
system use the parallel port). We called Intel. They called back within 30 minutes. They emailed us. They called again. They emailed again. They even made an "appointment" on a Saturday for a
Tech Support person to be standing by when the tech guy from the office came over to make sure everything was working OK
Do you believe this? All for free. All on their 800-number!
In 20 years of fooling with computers, I have never seen anything like this. I wish everyone could send a vice president to Intel to see how tech support should be handled.
By the way, the AnyPoint system works flawlessly. If you have ever thought how great it would be to network in your home, this is the product that will make it happen. And if you have any
difficulty, rest assured that you will get the finest tech support you have ever encountered.
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