Customer Reviews

Xircom SpringPort Wireless Ethernet Springboard Module for the Handspring Visor

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am a network technician at a small, local college and am on the working group to bring 802.11b ethernet wireless to our campus. Xircom was kind enough to give me a beta product for testing. Here are my impressions in a nutshell:

Pros: - - I'm able to check email (POP3 and IMAP4), hotsync to my PC across the network and browse the internet with the included software. According to the manual, those are the only functions advertised. Occasionally, you'll get web pages that, due to formatting, are clumsy to navigate, but you'll find they're good enough to get what you want. Many big sites such as CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo, etc. are making their pages "PDA friendly", and they're actually very readable. - - Contains a signal strength meter that seems to be pretty close to laptops we used for our site survey (and indicator LEDS). It uses a bar graph, but I wish it had a direct numeric read out also. - - Has three different "profiles" settings, making it possible to have 3 different network logins and settings. - - Supports standard 802.11b WEP security (40 or 128 bit). - - Support for Infrastructure or AdHoc mode. - - Supports DHCP and static IP addressing. Both tested fine. - - Battery life is much better than expected. The manual quotes 2 hrs, and that's about what I get using it pretty hard. Because of the high frequency radio waves (2.4 Ghz), it almost gets too warm to hold for that long! Of course, when winter comes here, that will be a plus <g>! - - Doesn't use battery power from the Visor, instead it has it's own Li-Ion battery and includes a charger. Charge time is about 2 hours. The module has a software battery meter like the Visor does. And will give the user "pop-up" messages when the battery gets critically low. - - Network Hotsync feature works great. As long as I can login into a WAP, I can hotsync, install files, get new meetings and appointments from Outlook, etc. from my desktop PC anywhere on campus. - - Has power management features for auto-logging off after a preset time period. - - Contains a Cisco chipset, but have connected to three different manufacture's WAP's with no problems, getting the full 11 mb/s. - - Range appears to be comparable to other 802.11b ethernet products.

Cons: - - Had a problem with the included browser software "Blazer", but Xircom sent me a patch to gain a user login. There are other browsers you can use, such as AvantGo and Eudora. I like AvantGo, but you have to have connect to a server that is running AvantGo. It does, however, do a nice job of formatting web pages to fit the Palm screen, and you can keep pages "active" by having them cached on your desktop before doing a hotsync. Also, Eudora provides a free PDA internet suite, that includes a browser and email client, sounds good, but haven't tried it yet. - - A little bulkier than the other modules, due to it's battery and antenna. - -My only problem has been logging into my web-based managed network devices or mapping drives. - -Tends to become a "hand heater" after awhile of use (High freq. RF power dissipation for sure!). - - Also even with the fast WLAN connection, I believe due to the Visor Deluxe's slower processor, it acts as a bottleneck for the internet connection. I would probably buy the faster model (Platinum) instead of the Deluxe. There is a noticeable difference in loading pages.

Summary: I LOVE this thing!! I'm able to sit out under a tree and surf the net, send/rev email, check appointments and put it in my pocket when I'm done. Battery power is sufficient for doing all the tasks I needed to. I would have given this device a 5-star rating if it included the ability to use utilities such as Ping and Telnet... (Opinions and comments written here are of my own and do not reflect my employer's policies or opinions.)

Update 7/21: I have recently found several of the tcp/ip utilities I had desired. I am now able to ping and telnet to my devices. The telnet is a little clumsy with the screen format, but it does work! Both of those utilites are easily found on the internet, or send me email and I'll send them to you. The latest test was the ICQ Palm client, which, so far, as also worked well. I have no choice but to give this thing a 5-star rating now <g>!

I had to post my results here since the reviews here on Amazon were THE source for info on Springport/Linksys problems.

Despite the warnings in the reviews about problems with Linksys WAPs, I went ahead and got the Springport anyway. My home network uses static IPs, not DHCP, so I was hoping to avoid the problems others had. Alas, no: while it would connect initially, after a few minutes it basically killed the WAP (I would have to hit the reset button).

I tried several things, including switching over to DHCP and statically-programming an unused IP address into the Springport. Still no luck.

Finally I went back to my normal static IP scheme and tried a firmware upgrade of the Linksys. After upgrading the Linksys firmware to version 1.42.7 (dated 4/23/02), it finally worked perfectly. So to make it work:

--Upgrade the firmware for the Linksys (BEFW11S4) to version 1.42.7
--Disable DHCP on the Linksys router and use static IP addresses (I use the default 192.168.1.x range)
--Set the Springport Client settings to use a static IP address. Set the default gateway to the router's local IP address (in this case 192.168.1.1). Set the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0.
--Set the Springport Network Settings (Details) to use PPP. Uncheck Query DNS and enter as the Primary DNS the DNS server of your ISP. Uncheck the Automatic checkbox next to the IP address setting and manually enter a static IP address in the 192.168.1.x range.

At that point, it should work for you. The only drawback to this arrangement is that if your ISP changes the IP address of it's DNS server, you'll have to update that information on the Springport.

I was reading some of the reviews here and I was honestly shocked at how poorly it was rated. I've been using mine for well over 9 months (for wireless software development). I also use it with a LinkSys WAP11(Firmware 1.4g 5) wireless gateway, Blazer 2.0, lftp, MultiMailPro and darn near any other internet-enabled application I can find. I've even written a few apps that work with it.

Although, I know there are some problems with the LinkSys that many folks are having. Just because it works for me, doesn't mean it will work for you. I read on VisorCentral where many folks are having problems. One thing I do know, don't upgrade the flash in the Xircom adapter beyond 1.10 (on Intel's website). I did this and the unit would no longer communicate with the WAP11. I wound up calling Xircom and having the unit replaced back down to SWE App. v1.10. Which again worked great!

I'm only giving this unit 4 *'s because I know that there are problems that were worsened with Xircom's latest firmware release. Other than that, with my experience with it, it's been a great device... ;)

I am more than happy with this unit.

I have used it at home with my LinkSys access point without problems. I have also used it at work and at Denver Airport without problems. Leave the SSID blank to have it work with any system.

Works well with Vindigo and Avantgo, as does hotsync. The included mail program is reasonable. The web broswer (Blazer) is not the most current version, and trying to get to V2 has been a bit of a problem so far. The reviews and comment's I have seen indicate that V2.0 of Blazer is alot better, but I am happy with the included version.

The range is comparable to my notebook PC-card.

One of the nice touchs is that the module comes with File Mover on the module, which lets you use the 674Kb of module memory however you would like.

After 3 hours of troubleshooting my network it appears as though this thing is not compatible with Linksys WAP's. intermittent connectivity and documentation that resembles that of something scribbled on toilet paper (good place for it). Poorly documented features and support does not exist. E-mail off your questions to someone that works at Intel (who acquired us) and when they are bored and need a laugh they'll e-mail you. No FAQ's on the site that could of easily taken care of this early on (during my first visit to the tech support page). I sat here for hours feeling like a fool troubleshooting my network when it had everything to do with Xircom not bothering to test their product with the most commonly placed AP in the market! Anyone have any input or wish to collaborate on this issue e-mail me (...). Keep this POS out of the back of your Visor!

I was filled with unbounded joy when I found this thing. I got it and pointed at the Linksys WAP11 access point.

I wish Norman had posted how he got it to work, I could not. After touching all the bases tech at Xircom and Linksys, downloading firmware updates blah blah blah my emotion moved to unbounded pain.

It hit the return chute today. I just couldn't stand it anymore.

The hotsynch worked first time, but the browser would not get me a web site. Something to do with DNS I guess. Anyway, I spent three days tearing my hair out and am done with this for a while.

I am very happy with this device. There were very few difficulties in installing and configuring it (one was that the "wireless zone" or SSID is case sensitive.)

The module allows up to 3 different wireless configurations. I am able to move readily between the wireless networks at work and at home.

One minor difficulty is the battery life. If you don't have a powered cradle, you need to remember to hook your Visor up to the (supplied) module charger regularly.

I was particularly delighted that the module comes with built-in Web browser and e-mail (POP3/IMAP) applications, so I can use the module right away and not consume precious Visor memory with new programs. The Web browser is able to display (small) graphics, but don't expect it to handle Flash, Shockwave, or even Frame content.

I would have liked to see the e-mail app handle HTML markup in mail messages since they already have that code in the Web broswer app. If you have a LOT of e-mail, it will take many minutes to download. (I averaged 5 messages a minute.)

Great wireless range, sometimes better than my laptop, lack of AP finding software can be a pain (ie. can't find hotspots on the fly)

I initially had problems with needing to connect twice to actually get the internet connection to work and resolve stuff properly. Though the upgrade found on intel's site has resolved this.

Great little addition to your handspring, especially the color prism.

I am more than happy with this unit.

I have used it at home with my LinkSys access point without problems. I have also used it at work and at Denver Airport without problems. Leave the SSID blank to have it work with any system.

Works well with Vindigo and Avantgo, as does hotsync. The included mail program is reasonable. The web broswer (Blazer) is not the most current version, and trying to get to V2 has been a bit of a problem so far. The reviews and comment's I have seen indicate that V2.0 of Blazer is alot better, but I am happy with the included version.

The range is comparable to my notebook PC-card.

One of the nice touchs is that the module comes with File Mover on the module, which lets you use the 674Kb of module memory however you would like.

I am more than happy with this unit.

I have used it at home with my LinkSys access point without problems. I have also used it at work and at Denver Airport without problems. Leave the SSID blank to have it work with any system.

Works well with Vindigo and Avantgo, as does hotsync. The included mail program is reasonable. The web broswer (Blazer) is not the most current version, and trying to get to V2 has been a bit of a problem so far. The reviews and comment's I have seen indicate that V2.0 of Blazer is alot better, but I am happy with the included version.

The range is comparable to my notebook PC-card.

One of the nice touchs is that the module comes with File Mover on the module, which lets you use the 674Kb of module memory however you would like.