Written By:
Date Posted: September 18, 2002

If you'll let me deviate here for a second, I'll show the difference between a Megabit and a Megabyte. A Megabyte is constructed this way:

8 Bits make a Byte.
1024 (2 raised to the 10th power) Bytes make up a Kilobyte
1024 Kilobytes make up a Megabyte.

A Megabit is constructed this way:

1024 Bits make up a Kilobit
1024 Kilobits make up a Megabit

That's why when a telephone service says it connected at 38444 kbps you won't be downloading 38 kilobytes a second: 38444 kilobits / 8 = 4805.5 bits / 1024 = 4.69 Kilobytes.

Whew. Okay. So that means the router has 10/100 Megabit capabilities. The fact that it is a switch not a hub is important because if a 10baseT computer is plugged in while every other computer that's plugged in is 100baseT, every computer will drop down into 10baseT mode. The reason why is beyond the scope of this article, but with a switch, 10baseT and 100baseT connections can coexist together on a switch.

The 8 Megabits per second of throughput (1 Megabyte per second) is how much data can pass through from the WAN to the LAN.

For the casual user who knows nothing about networking, setting up a router can be complicated and monotonous. I have seen routers which have come with a small sheet of paper with inadequate instructions - it would be almost impossible for someone without a previous experience with routers to set it up. Nexland includes a CD with the router which has the instruction manual on it, as well as an actual paper manual. The Manual goes step-by-step through what a user will need to do to properly set up the router. The the bottom line is this: for a router to be safe, the user needs to be competent in what they use for the parameters and settings for the router. In nexland's case, their instructions are simple enough for someone inexperienced, but also go into depth enough for a more advanced user.

Since my broadband connection supports DHCP, I was able to simply plug the connection into the router, reset the modem, reset the router, and I was ready to surf on the net after my computer renewed its' IP Address.

Sounds like a headache, right? It in fact does make sense though. The modem needs to associate the hardware with the IP address. When the switch was made from my previous router to the new one, new hardware, with a new signature was utilized. Most cable modems do in fact need to be reset when switched from computer to computer because of this reason. Then I reset the router so it would recognize the new IP assigned to it. Consult the manual if you don't know what to do - although I will give you this warning: some cable companies do not allow you to have internal networks. There is no way for them to know if you have an internal network without actually looking - but if you happen to call up and let them know, they might just disconnect your service.

The nexland interface is web-based. I used Internet Explorer 5.5 which was included with the CD to connect to it. The menu has the following categories:

- Main Setup
- Static IP & DNS
- STATUS
- LAN IP & DHCP
- Config Password
- Advanced PpoE
- Dynamic DNS
- Routing
- Host IP & Group
- Access Filters
- Special Applications
- Virtual Servers
- Custom Virtual Servers
- Exposed Host (DMZ)
- Expert Level

It's futile to try and go through each of these pages and explain what everything means - it's not only outside the scope of this article, it would take much more than the few pages here to describe everything that's going on.

The interface to the router is to-the-point and efficient

Throughout the interface we find that the router's options allow for a lot of control. The ability to use a DMZ host is a nice feature. I found the ability to create virtual servers and manage Dynamic DNS a very nice included feature, as it is not commonly seen on a router of this class.

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