Proxim SymphonyHRF Cordless Network
November 3rd, 2005
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Bob at hometoys writes “In my opinion, wireless data networking is the only way to go for home applications so I am keen to try different systems and configurations. The Proxim configuration that I discuss here consists of their Gateway, USB adapter (installed on a desktop PC) and PC Card (installed on a laptop). Symphony is a HomeRF product that adheres to that standard and operates in the 2.4
Step 1 in the process is to install the Gateway. This is a very simple operation … plug gateway ethernet cable into the cable modem … plug gateway power into the wall … watch a few lights flash … that’s it.
Step 2 is to install an adapter (USB or PC Card) and the software to configure the network. Again … this is pretty simple and a setup wizard helps to configure the drivers and software. Restart the computer and low and behold … the network is set up for you.
Following the wizards is quite simple and there are some well written manuals to go along with them in case you run into trouble or just like to read manuals 
The system allows you to share the internet as well as files and peripheral devices with other pc’s. Top speed for this network is 1.6 Mbps which is fine for internet surfing but I found it to be a bit slow for file sharing … mind you our application is a bit intensive as we need to share databases etc. dynamically. Simply copying files etc. from one machine to another is OK … but again doing a backup (i.e. copying several files) might be a bit slow as well. Playing an MP3 over the network worked just fine.
One of the handiest features of Symphony is the “Location Switcher”. It saves your configurations so that on startup you can select which one to use. This allows you to switch between the wireless network at the office or the home network etc. This is an invaluable tool that will become essential to anyone (and in the future probably everyone) with access to 2 or more different networks.
“Maestro” is the application that lets you test and configure the network. “