Asante Talk Ethernet to LocalTalk Bridge

Other products by Asante

Product Details

• Item Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004VUFW
• Item model number: 990050501
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,985 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Product Description

Do you need to connect your iMac to to share files or printers? Do you want an all-in-one solution that comes with all the nessesary cables? If so, then the AsanteTalk Ethernet to LocalTalk is the answer for you. Simply plug in Ethernet on one side and LocalTalk on the other! It allows simultaneous connections of up to eight Local Talk devices-including printers, Macintosh computers, and PowerBooks to an Ethernet network or computer.With AsantTalk you can transfer vital Macintosh files to your iMac via the Asant direct connect cable. It's plug-and-play design makes set-up and installation of your Macintoshes, iMacs and other LocalTalk devices easy-to get you up and running in minutes. Easy to read LED lights provide at-a-glance feedback displaying power, link integrity and network status.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does one thing really, really well, January 31, 2005

By	James M. Fitzwilliam "Pianist/Composer" (Staatsburg, NY, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You are probably reading this because you have an old Appletalk-only printer, and you have just upgraded to a new Mac that only has Ethernet. If so, you are in the right place. Buy the Asantetalk. It comes with all of the cables you could possibly need to connect a new Mac to an old Appletalk printer, whether directly or through an Ethernet hub, and it works very well. If anything, I think my printing speed is better from my new, faster Mac going through Ethernet/Asantetalk than it was with my old Mac printing directly via Appletalk.

A colleague of mine asked me why I would want to spend money on an Asantetalk when I could go to eBay and get a whole new printer for just about the same amount. Well, yes, my little Laserwriter 4/600PS is a cheap little printer, but it still works perfectly, so why should I just throw it out? Waste not, want not. If I got another printer, my old one would probably end up cluttering my closet. (And, should I ever get to the point where I do want to sell my old Appletalk-only printer, it will be a lot more marketable if I bundle the Asantetalk in with it!)

Long story short, your mileage may vary, but it was worth it to me to keep my existing Appletalk printer humming in today's Ethernet world. If you feel the same way, the Asantetalk is a good way to go.

The Asantetalk is quite easy to set up and use. Since it is acting just as a simple network bridge, there is no configuration needed, just plug both ends (Appletalk/Ethernet) into it and away it goes.

Another note on ease of use: If you have ever had friends with similar units, as I have, you may have seen in the past that the Asantetalk really was not happy unless all of your gear -- Appletalk items including printer, the Asantetalk itself, Ethernet hub, Mac and other Ethernet stuff -- was powered up in a specific order. This drove my friends nuts. However, I am happy to report that Asante has updated the firmware in the device so that it is much more forgiving and friendly in this regard. Current Asantetalk units are no longer fussy about power-on order. (Several times, either my printer or Ethernet hub has gotten unplugged accidentally. In every case, once I fixed whatever it was that had happened, the ONLY thing I needed to reset to get my printer to show up again was the Asantetalk, which is as it should be.)

(By the way, don't forget that most versions of Mac OS X have Appletalk capability turned OFF by default. You'll have to turn it on for your Ethernet interface to use your old Appletalk printer with the Asantetalk. Check your Mac help for how to do this if you aren't sure.)

As an added bonus, if you have OTHER Appletalk equipment that you want to connect to your modern home Ethernet network, you can use standard Localtalk cabling (e.g. Farallon-style phonenet wiring) and connect a mini-network of up to eight Appletalk devices to the Asantetalk. This is, for example, a good way to transfer files from an old Appletalk-only desktop Mac or Powerbook to a modern Mac, or let an older Mac share the newer one's Internet connection.

So, if you do have any need at all for this one-trick pony, I think you will find the Asantetalk a very worthwhile addition to your computing menagerie.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beware of This Company and its Warranty!, March 16, 2005

By	Jay A. Klein "Grade Buster" (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A little less than five years ago I bought an AsanteTalk bridge for my LaserWriter 360, and it worked flawlessly until yesterday when it failed completely. Because the company proudly and loudly boasts a LIFETIME WARRANTY on the product (for original purchasers, of course, not for refurb'd models) on its website, in its support forums, and on other vendors' sites, I thought I'd have no problem getting it replaced right away.

WAS I EVER WRONG!

All of a sudden the supposed LIFETIME WARRANTY has become a FIVE YEAR WARRANTY . . . and calculated from the date of manufacture, not from the date of purchase! Something is very wrong here, folks, and based on the treatment I've received over the past 24 hours, I would strongly recommend avoiding this company.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Needs a 10Mbps Ethernet hub, February 25, 2005

By	Simon St.Laurent (Dryden, NY United States) - See all my reviews

I've cursed this device for a while since it only seemed to work when I connected a relatively old Mac directly to its Ethernet port and didn't do anything when I connected it to the rest of my network. After some tinkering, Googling, and playing with other devices, I finally got it working while hooked up to an old 10 Mbps Ethernet hub. I think it just can't handle the 10/100 negotiation or something.

Right now, it seems to be happy, and works really well for letting me transfer data from older LocalTalk Macs to newer ones on Ethernet.