Customer Reviews

SX-2000U2 USB2.0 High Speed Device Server Compatible with Various USB Devices

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We use this product to share USB printers (and occasionally other devices) between XP and Vista PC's in a home office. We have not had any problems in setting up or using it.

Before using an attached printer or device the computer has to 'connect' to it using the provided software. Until that computer 'disconnects' the device is not available to other computers on the network. In that regard, this product is a bit cumbersome to use.

For connecting USB printers in an office environment, you will want to use a print server instead of this product. For home use, and for use with devices other than printers, this product works very nicely for a decent price.

I recently bought a Canon MP610 printer/scanner, and I needed a bi-directional print server to be able to print and scan from it on my two Macs and my PC. I had previously tried a D-Link 1260, which didn't support or recognize my printer, and a Keyspan US-4A, which blue-screened my PC and didn't work with my Macs.

I bought the SX-2000U2 and set it up last night. Setup was a breeze, and other than having to download the latest Leopard version of Virtual Link, there were no issues. Printing and scanning worked perfectly with all my computers right away. Unlike other reviewers here, I don't have the need to print from more than one computer at a time, so waiting for another box to finish a print job isn't an issue for me.

All told, it's a very good device server. I'm pleased!

The device works very well. The latest SW actually supports automatic connection and disconnection.
It has however 1 problem: it is not fully compatible with WinXP fast user switching (FUS). I bought it so that any one could print -easily- from any computer (desktop or laptops) in the house. On our desktop we have multiple users. When (fast) switching from a user to another, WinXP tries to start the SX virtual link SW for the new user and a ugly popup shows up: "SX virtual link is in use". The system works, the printer is accessible from the new user, but for $100, I could do without the popup. Support suggested that I stop manually SX virtual link any time I switch user.

It took 10 minutes to set up and install the software and has been working great ever since!
I was using the Keyspan US-4A but they no longer support their device and it will not work with XP-64 or Windows 7.
The software that comes with the Silex it Great, Very Easy to use!

Works when it works... so many times I have had to reboot the device. Or my computer. Or both.

This product was the answer to wirelessly share my Canon Pixma MP510, with full functionality, and a pair of external harddrives. I hooked the printer and harddrives to a D-Link DUBH4 4-port hub, then hooked the hub to the Silex and lastly hooked the Silex to my Buffalo Wireless G MIMO Ethernet Converter.

After installing the SX-Virtual Link software to PC1 which is hardwired to the Converter, all the devices were listed. Then I installed the software to PC2 which is hardwired to the Buffalo Wireless G MIMO Wireless Router. Here I needed to add the broadcast address to the SX-Virtual Link Software to discover all the devices. Both PCs are XP SP3.

I had tried a different device, but only had limited print functionality. This product cost twice as much, but is so much better. I would recommend it to others looking to network an older printer/scanner.

This little device is remarkable. Allows you to have full functionality of all your USB devices over ethernet. I have a Canon MP830, a USB 1TB Hard Drive, an external BD DVD player/writer and thumb drives attached to it through a powered USB hub and all features work on all my comps, combination of XP and Vista64. Full functionality of the Canon multifunction device over ethernet is realized, print, scan, and fax. Everything acts just like it's connected via USB directly to the machine. I have seen some reviews out there that some HP devices don't work right with it because HP is using some different type or form of specialized USB communication. Silex has a website that has a list of compatible devices. Drop them a line at silexamerica.com and ask them if you have a doubt. Buy a good quality USB hub to attach all your devices to it like the Targus ACH81AU Desktop USB 2.0 7-Port Hub then attach that to the silex. Note, it is a 100mbit ethernet device not gigabit. I would like to see this product in gigabit. USB 2.0 is capable of 480mbit/s. If you have a USB devicethat uses more than 100mbit of bandwidth then it may work slower or not at all given this device is only 10/100 on the NIC side. I have taken 1 star off for that. If they go gigabit then it would be a 5 star device. Be sure to download the new drivers and app from silexamerica website. Note the limitation inherent to USB, only one comp can use a USB device at a time. In other words one comp can use my hard drive and the other can use the printer at the same time. But 2 comps cannot both use the printer at the same time. When one comp takes control of the device it will have to release it for another comp to take control of it. Great little product, works as advertised, can share all my USB devices with all my networked computers.

I have too many computers in my home, all networked together. My printer is an older AIO - Canon MP780. I got tired of trying to share the printer via a desktop PC, and started looking for a way to attach the printer to my network directly. Whichever solution I chose, it needed to be an easy-to-use, transparent operation for my wife and teenagers. Hoping for a "that was easy" experience, I contemplated purchasing a new printer with built-in networking. However, the current crop of network-ready, $250-or-less multifunctions didn't seem to be better than what I already had - plus my Canon was chugging along just fine for our light-duty needs. When I came across the SX-2000U2, I rolled the dice and ordered it up - but I was leery of the price: it represented roughly half the cost of a whole new "networked" printer/scanner.

It turns out, I'm very happy!

These are the computers I'm using it with so far:

-Desktop: Vista Ultimate 64 bit
-Desktop: Windows 7 RC 64 bit
-Laptop: XP Pro (32 bit)
-Laptop: OS X 10.5

Setup was easy - I plugged everything in, then used the quick-start guide and the included cd-rom to install the client program on each PC. (I did need to go to Silex's website and download an updated version for OS X 10.5 "Leopard") The software seemed small, unobtrusive, and flexible: the box received an IP address via DHCP, and I ticked the suggested options in the software.

After a quick "road test", this is how it worked for me:

Using my Canon-supplied print drivers (installed separately), the SX-2000U2 establishes a connection between PC and USB device via ethernet, such that the PC acts as if the USB device is plugged directly into the PC. As a result, only one PC can be officially "connected" to the Silex box at a time; and that "connection" is managed by Silex's client software.

Print speed was fast, including the job start-up time. But I was a little disappointed - I imagined all the end-user training I would have to give the aforementioned wife and kids ("If you want to print something, first you have to click here and here, then make sure is says -----, then you might be able to...") Hmmmm, not good. As it turns out, there is an option you can enable where the software will sense a request to print, automatically establish the connection, then disconnect when the job is done. That was great, but only 3/4 of the battle. By default, the client program itself does not start automatically when the PC is booted (which I personally appreciate - I hate software that "takes over"), but I found two tick-boxes in the options tab: "Add to start menu" and "Start minimized". Viola! Now the client starts up on boot, minimized to the system tray, and everyone can print from any computer on the network as easily as having a printer at each PC!

The hardware and software works - no excuses. It is compatible with multiple platforms and operating systems. The price is a little high, but I'm a bit of a "gadget nut", and I'm really tickled that I didn't have to buy yet another junky printer just to add convenience to my home computing environment.

Highly recommended!

This product does exactly what it's supposed to do. Setup was straight forward and once installed using it is simple. I use 3 Vista machines on my home network (2 wired, 1 wireless)and access with no problems via the SX 2000U2 an Epson GT S50 scanner and an HP deskjet. Instruction manual is a little weak but if i can figure it out, most people can too. Definitely recommend it.

I've had this unit for over 18 months now. It works well to allow printing from various computers. While one could have set up a computer as a print server, many multifunction printers/scanners don't give their full functionality unless one plugs the USB cable directly into the computer. With the Silex device server, the computer and USB device don't even know that they are not directly connected. So you get access to all the features of the printer/scanner. With this unit plugged into my wireless router and a USB hard drive plugged into it (via a USB2 hub to have both printer and hard disk connected at the same time), I can connect to the hard drive and Mac OSX Time Machine will do its thing over the wireless network. No need for Apple's expensive Time Capsule.