Home > Consumer Reviews > Linksys HPN200SK HomeLink Phoneline 10M Network-in-the-Box

This product is EXCELLENT!! A quick and easy way to create a home (or small office) network without extra cabling or hassle. After quickly installing the PCI cards into the PC's I was up and running on my home network - about 10 minutes total. No need for special network configuration, IP mapping, or anything else.

The connection has proven to be a blessing. Days after installing the cards I had a problem on one of my machines and need to resintall the OS. I had several gigabytes of data that I wanted to keep (lots of scanned images) and didnt want to use zip disk. I copied the data over the LAN and voila! The performance was outstanding. Unfortunately I didnt measure the actual speed I attained, but the 10mb speed is definitely enough for most home uses.

THE NEGATIVE: the LanBridge software isnt the best. Its okay but I prefer the WinGate product which I use to share my internet connection between my machine. LanBridge required a bit more network tinkering.

The Linksys HPN 200 is one of the best phone line networks out there. The setup is extremely easy. Just plug in the hardware into a free PCI slot, and insert the drivers CD for Windows 98/Me. Windows XP includes the drivers, so it will be setup automatically! Its great for playing games (compatible with IPX games), sharing files, printers, and Internet connections. If you are using Windows98 Second Edition or later, you do not need 3rd party software to share an internet connection. I have had my network for over a year, and it works great!

Linksys advertises that the internet connection software included is Sygate (which has gotten good reviews.) My kit, just purchased, came with LanBridge on a CD with file dates of 10/99. The documentation is pre-Windows 98. It really only covers dial-up connections using Windows 95 and earlier. The supplier of LanBridge (which Linksys emphatically states THEY do not support) apparently was Virtual Motion. They are long gone and so is the support. Lanbridge, after hours of tweaking can be made to operate, but inconsistently. Linksys phone support seems to be non technical folks reading scripts that may not have anything to do with the problem. Consider avoiding this product if LanBridge is included.

I have a Linksys Homelink network system that has now been unusable for months. When I upgraded to Windows ME, the only problem I had was with the Linksys card. Neither phone support or email support has been able to fix the problem. Email support rarely returns any messages, and if they do, all they say is they are working on the problem. I have four computers and a laptop and all were working decently on the network before upgrading to ME - not good, just decently - but what is so discouraging is the lack of support. I will NEVER buy another Linksys product!

I've read all the reviews before installing this card. What I found out is that the software that comes with it (LanBridge) which allow one to use internet sharing, as well as setting up one computer as a server, works find on 98SE OS but will not on computers with Windows ME OS. I wrote the company who owns the software and they pointed out that they do not support Windows ME only Windows NT, 2000, 95 and 98. Thanks a lot.

The Linksys HomeLink Phoneline card works great. I set up MS Home Network on both computers (98se and ME) and it so easy to use. The file sharing allows me to use my ME computers CD-R to rip MP3 files from my 98se computer. And it is less money than others out there. Great buy for what it dose. I've just purchased the Linksys cable router and their Broadband Network Bridge to allow each computer their own cable access.

I am a novice to home networking. That is why I purchased the Linksys HomeLink Phoneline cards.