Ballistics Report

Performance:

What can we say? The D-Link LAN kit does what it's supposed to do. Multiplayer games were smooth, and the file transfers were quite speedy. If you choose to expand the network, the 100Mbps backbone will ensure a single file transfer won't bring the network to its knees while people are trying to play a 1on1 in Quake2.

Innovation:

"Hey, let's put together a bundle with 2 NICs, a hub, a couple RJ45 cables, and a network setup guide. We could sell it as a Network Starter Kit!" Better make that guy a VP of something. The D-Link kit isn't the first network starter kit, and it definitely won't be the last. It does include everything you need to get your small LAN started, but doesn't throw anything extraordinary into the mix. This really isn't a bad thing, it just doesn't stand out. What did stand out was how well-integrated everything was, and how non-existent problems were.

Installation and Drivers:

The D-Link kit was the easiest LAN installation we've ever experienced. The network cards installed without any of the usual IRQ conflicts, and the hub worked as advertised. We can't ask for much more on the hardware side. The network setup manual on the D-Link CD-ROM walks you through the physical LAN setup as well as the Windows peer-to-peer network installation.

The Windows installation portion of the manual could be a little more robust. The manual assumes that your computer is setting up a network for the first time. This may confuse some users because the manual will present some steps that the user will never encounter. Fortunately, most folks willing to open up their systems or already have some form of networking (including dial-up networking) will be able to look past this minor oversight.

We've been through a number of "small LAN" network installations, and some of them were simply nightmares. The flawless compatibility of the DFE-905 is to be commended.

Price:

The lowest price we found online for the DFE-905 kit was $110. If purchased separately, the cost of the two NICs, hub, and cables comes out to $124 ($78 hub, $18 per NIC, $5 per cable). The Network Kit also includes a lifetime warranty and free support along with a nifty setup CD-ROM. Your mileage may vary with the free tech support. Several test calls to the D-Link long distance tech support line yielded busy signals -It's a good thing they also have e-mail tech support and an online presence.