Newsletter February 2005 - page 3

My experience of setting up a home wireless network

This all started last October when I decided to get a broadband internet connection . Now we have the original tower computer, (a heavily modified Pentium II 400 Mhz 1999 Dell), a Belkin unit which combines the functions of broadband modem/hardware firewall/cable and wireless network router, and a Dell laptop for independent use in any room of the house. This arrived early in January. It will have wireless access through the Belkin router to the internet and tower computer with its files, CD writer and printers. The twist is that the Dell supplied wireless card does not support wireless encryption and so sharing of confidential files is out of the question. The Dell wireless card is being collected for a refund and I have ordered a Belkin card to replace it.
 
The rest of this story is about the good guys and the bad guys when it comes to suppliers and their help lines.
 
Wanadoo's offer of high speed broadband looked attractive and I took the plunge. When I got the kit home it did what it said on the box. The Wanadoo help line which I have used a few times is very good. On each occasion a human being answers immediately, is pleasant and capable.
 
Included in the Wanadoo kit was a broadband modem which fitted between a USB socket on the back of the computer and the phone line. After Larry Larson's presentation on broadband security I felt that a hardware firewall was a necessity but the kit did not have one. The cheapest solution that I could see was Linksys router with a hardware firewall from Simply.com . When I came to set this up I realised that it had no connections for USB, so I couldn't use the modem with it. The Linksys had to go back. I did more research and decided that the Belkin unit which I now have would do the full job, and called Simply for help. They were very good; they accepted the Linksys unit back at its full price and then supplied the Belkin router.
 
Last piece of equipment for the network was Dell's laptop. It is nice to use, a lot faster than the tower computer, and came at a good price. All went well for the first few days. I decided first to set up the home network using cable connections to the router as I thought (rightly as it turned out) that this would be less complex than wi-fi. The home network was soon up and running.
 
Next I tried to set up the wireless link to the router and here the fun started.
 
I spent hours trying to get the Dell wi-fi card to talk to the router. It told me there was a strong signal but could not get through. I got no useful help from the Dell help line in Ireland but Belkin called back the next day. Key stroke by key stroke the Chinese-American took me through fault finding using the Belkin equipment and Windows. The guy was red hot on his knowledge. The upshot was that the Dell wi-fi card that plugs in to the side of the laptop will not work with encryption, but will without it.

This means that security is at a very low level, and therefore unacceptable.
 
It was time to do battle with Dell, reject their card and ask for a refund.

Sixty minutes on the phone to various Dell customer service and technical help people concluded with a comic three way conference call with people in India where there was a five second delay between someone finishing speaking and the next being able to speak. When I said for the third time that this call was costing me 20% of the value of the item and I was going to hang up, the crowning moment came when the technician Leena said, "but we want to give you the best possible customer experience" (!!!). I hung up. Against Dell policy Leena then called me back on a clear line and we spent half an hour testing the Dell wi-fi card connection. At the end she admitted, with much chagrin, that it wouldn't work with encryption! She also several times said that she hadn't had enough training to problem solve on wi-fi. Finally her manager Ashish then came on the line and agreed to collect their card and refund the money.
 
Lesson from this tale: use common wi-fi components from the same specialist supplier. Leave Dell to make computers.
 
I have now ordered a Belkin wi-fi card at a third less cost. I know that I can expect good service.

Steve Orrell

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