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By Joel Conover
Windows built-in dial-up services can be fragile and difficult to configure. Intel Corp.'s InBusiness Internet Station may be the solution to your remote-office connectivity woes. It's a snap to set up and has some handy features, including dial-on-demand connectivity, integrated DNS and DHCP servers, and NAT (network address translator) support.
I tested Internet Station from my home-office LAN. It uses a single-user dial-up connection to provide IP connectivity to the Internet or corporate LAN. With its Java interface, you can configure every aspect of the product. You also can use a variety of remote-access modems, in
cluding V.34, X2 and ISDN, thanks to an external serial adapter.
The Internet Station lists for $499, which includes the basic IP-only router, built-in Java interface and a CD, which will automatically configure Windows clients for TCP/IP and DHCP. The CD also includes Intel's Modem Finder software, which lets you share additional modems on the Internet Station for local calling purposes. You'll need to supply the external serial modem or PC Card modem and a 10BASE-T Ethernet card. If you're going to connect multiple machines to the Internet, you'll also need an Ethernet hub.
The improved Internet Station comes as part of Intel's acquisition of Dayna Communications. New features include support for static or dynamic IP addresses, Windows NT support, a built-in setup wizard and an autodisconnect feature.
The product's advantage is a transparent LAN connection, which looks and feels just like the corporate LAN (albeit at a fraction of the speed). Power users will appreciate the advanced DNS and DHCP o
ptions, while less sophisticated users will like the simplicity of the dial-on-demand networking. With password protection, you can create a locked-down remote-access solution that should reduce calls to IT due to misconfigured components.
Taking Care of Business
I unboxed the Internet Station, connected its Ethernet port to a 10BASE-T network and connected my 3Com Courier X2 modem to the serial port. The CD automatically configured my Windows95 and NT Workstations for TCP/IP networking and DHCP. After rebooting, I pointed a Web browser at the Internet Station to configure dial-up access. The built-in configuration wizard fostered effortless installation. The friendly Java interface eliminated hassles that plague similar products based on command-line or text-based configuration menus. In less than 10 minutes, I had all five of my computers online.
The beauty of this product lies in its simplicity. The Internet Station has a built-in Web server with Java-based controls for installing and confi
guring the unit. These controls provide real-time feedback and easy configuration. They visually indicate the state of your dial-up connection and let you browse a detailed log if you encounter difficulties with your dial-up connection.
Every aspect of the Internet Station is configured via the Web. First-time users will want to invoke the setup wizard. The setup wizard is a Java-based routine that autodetects your modem, requests ISP dial-up information and configures the Internet Station. A system log provides detailed troubleshooting information, as well as connect/disconnect notification. If no activity occurs over a certain time, you can configure the Internet Station to automatically disconnect you from your service provider. You can update the software on the Internet Station with a click of a button in your browser.
The Internet Station has two PC Card slots, a 10BASE-T Ethernet connector, a nine-pin serial port and indicator lights. You can install up to three modems, one on the serial port
and two in the PC Card slots. You must designate one of these modems as the Internet modem, while the other two may serve as a shared modem pool for faxing and dial-up services. Intel plans to allow load-balancing across multiple modems with a future software upgrade. Unlike competing products, the Internet Station has no built-in modem hardware, letting you choose any standard serial device to connect your home office to the Internet. This external modem design provides tremendous flexibility, so you can upgrade to newer connectivity solutions.
The Internet Station provides a private network for users dialing into an ISP. Alternatively, it can serve as an IP router if the user is dialing into a corporate LAN.
When performing address translation, the Internet Station provides private network translation between the allocated ISP IP address and the 192.168.42.0 private subnet. The built-in DHCP server lets every machine on the network request and receive an address on the private network. The DNS server
lets you configure private names for network machines.
The Internet Station uses NAT to provide your home office with Internet connectivity. Client TCP/IP addresses are doled out via DHCP. If your office includes clients that don't support DHCP, you can still configure your computers manually for Internet connectivity. Intel reserves the lower half of the subnetwork for automatic DHCP assignment, while the upper half is available for user-assigned IP-addresses. This design simplifies setting up platforms not supported by the software that is included on the Internet Station CD. On the back end, the Internet Station uses PPP to connect to the network or ISP.
For the enterprise, the Internet Station is a cost-effective way to get home-office users on the corporate IP network. IT can preconfigure the Internet Station and instruct home-office users to install the software provided on the CD-ROM. Users, in turn, connect their PC to the Internet Station and connect to the corporate network via a standard PPP
connection. The Internet Station supports standard RS-232 serial modems, including ISDN modems.
Inside the enterprise, the Internet Station provides a centralized modem pool for BBS (bulletin board system) and PC fax dial-out services. By deploying a single Internet Station per subnet, you can share up to three modems using Intel's Modem Finder software. This software lets you centralize modem resources and reduce upgrade costs by sharing Internet Station modems among many users.
Joel Conover can be reached at jconover@nwc.com.
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