The second ‘public’ wifi ( an option on the the E4200 ) is a good idea and I played about with it but unfortunately as Virgin replaced my ageing cable modem with a Netgear router I have had to set the Cisco to Bridge mode, which disables the guest network functions. I have tried to use the FTP functions using my iOS devices but I have decided that it’s a lost cause and I don’t feel the security is strong enough on the router, just my feelings but I prefer my files to be safe and private. The multimedia features of the router do not appear to be very Apple friendly and only work on the iPhone / iMac if you download apps such as MediaConnect and FlexPlayer which are a bit basic and I had trouble getting them to work properly with my test media content as the TwonkyMedia server appears to be more Windows media oriented? ( please see update below for update(s) on streaming media to/via Apple devices) Also the sharing of the printer via the USB port doesn’t support Apple’s AirPrint so is no use of you want to use it with your iOS devices (use something like Fingerprint on an iMac instead). during my testing it worked OK with the iMac, unfortunately I have a Canon Pixma device that has printer / Scanner and disk printer so it wasn’t really what the port was intended for so it’s back connected to my iMac. The USB port (unfortunately there is only one and it doesn’t appear that it will work with a USB hub) can be used to share out a printer over the LAN & WAN. The original Firmware needed updated in order to get the file sharing working properly but it’s good that Cisco/linksys are putting out firmware upgrades quite regularly. I have added the share to my startup items on the iMac and saved the account details so that it appears on the desktop on login and I can use it as a backup drive. I have found that the best way to use the USB drive sharing feature on the the Mac is to format the disk on the mac ( as the router software only formats in Windows format) and then plug it in the USB port at the back. This was a struggle to get set up originally as the software for Apple OSX is focused on more modern versions (Snow Leopard & Lion). The E4200 also has a USB port to allow for file storage using an external USB drive, not as good as a NAS, but space for storage and backup is always worth having. Luckily I only have my old iMac running on the ethernet ports at the moment so it’s not a massive deal breaker for just now. The 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports would be great if Virgin’s Netgear router ( I had to get the original Motorola Surfboard modem replaced as it gave up the day the Cisco arrived) had gigabit ports on it. Well that’s the theory but the signal strength doesn’t go far enough, dispite having 2 dedicated internal ariels in the unit, however finding a more central location may resolve this issue in the future. The dual band allows the older systems to use the Wireless-G signal, whilst newer devices can use the Wireless-N signal for video streaming etc. I believe that Cisco have upgraded the hardware since we purchased it but I assume that the firmware is not that different from the original version that I have. I finally upgraded this to a Cisco / linksys router, the E4200 Wireless N-450 Dual Band Gigabit Cable router. My old router was one of the best available at the time, but with only 4x 10/100 network ports and the wireless G wifi it was struggling with all the devices competing to share the Virgin media connection. salvaged IT kit (iBook G4, Apple iMac ), my 5 year old Dell laptop, my iPhone 3GS, our Nintendo Wii, DSi & our iPad and My wife finally upgraded from her blackberry to a Samsung Galaxy Ace. Things have changed a bit and I thought I’d let you know my experiences so far. Readers of this blog may remember me mentioning my home setup and my plans on future upgrades.
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