Cisco AG241 Manual de usuario descargar pdf (Pagina 8)

apcmag.com  june 06  apc labs

apc labs  june 06  apcmag.com

softwaresoftware

2006

JUNEDETAILED PRODUCT REVIEWS AND COMPARISONS

REVIEWS

BEST BUYS

LABS CHALLENGE

labs

outers are phenomenally

complex combinations of

hardware and software, and few

people fully understand all the

possible settings.

But there are some settings

that most people will bump into

sooner or later, whether they like

it or not. A modem/router with a

good web-based admin interface

can be the difference between

you spending most of Sunday

afternoon reading through lengthy

Wikipedia articles on the ins-and-

outs of port forwarding (or simply

making a simple change and

getting on with it).

Although most of the modem/

routers we looked at still fit into

the category of “so complex they

make your eyes water”, there were

some units that impressed us with

improvements in ease-of-use. Of

course, for complex users, wizards

can get in the way if you do know

what you’re doing. The Thomson

Speedtouch 780WL struck an

excellent balance of ease of use and

straightforward configuration. It

shows a visual map of your home

network that changes when you

plug in a new computer or connect

a phone to one of the modem’s

VoIP sockets. It senses the

computer’s network name so that

you don’t have to guess which

computer is which by IP address.

Then, if you need to set up a port-

forwarding rule, you click on the

computer and select from a very

long predefined list of applications

and let the 780WL sort out which

ports to forward. You can still

define your own ports manually.

The Billion 7404VGP also has an

excellent feature that makes VoIP a

bigger cost-saver and more

configurable. An on-screen

“dial plan” builder allows you to

specify how certain types of

numbers should be connected.

For example, if you are calling a

13 number which connects you to

the nearest branch of a company,

you can specify on the modem you

want those numbers to actually be

dialled via your Telstra landline so

your location is sensed correctly.

You’ll never be incorrectly

connected to the Pizza Hut in

Ayers Rock again.

Likewise, some VoIP providers

have good rates to certain

countries, but not others. Dial plans

let you route calls to the USA via

one provider and calls to Hong

Kong via another, for example.

Some other modems and ATAs

have dial plans, but setting them

up involves learning a complex

language and writing cryptic

strings of letters and numbers.

The Billion interface makes this a

visual, menu-driven process.

We also saw some pretty bad

interfaces. Zyxel seemed to think

that every possible configuration

option should be visible to the end

user, including ATM peak cell rate,

sustain cell rate and maximum

burst size. Those incredibly

advanced settings were on the

same page as the one where you

put in your ISP username and

password. That’s asking for trouble.

And we were unimpressed

with the Draytek Vigor 2800, which

unfortunately required a firmware

upgrade. You can’t do it via the web

interface like all the other modems.

You have to start the TFTP server in

the modem, then use a TFTP client

to upload a firmware file. That

method was cool in the

1990s, but is a major pain in

the arse nowadays.

Modem interfaces: good and bad

If you have a PhD in network

engineering, you’ll love Zyxel’s

configuration interface.

With a dial-plan

interface you can

route mobile calls

via PSTN to take

advantage of

capped call rates.

To firmware upgrade

the Draytek Vigor,

simply start the TFTP

server on the modem,

download a TFTP client,

figure out how to use it,

download the firmware

file and upload it to the

modem via TFTP. Easy!

The Speedtouch 780WL makes it easy

to see devices connected to your

modem and make config changes.

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