Macsense MIH-130 Xrouter Pro 10/100 Router for Cable DSL Modems

List Price: $249.99 Discount Price: $49.99

Customer Reviews:

Great For PPPoE [Posted on 2001-02-24]
I am very pleased with my MacSense XRouter Pro. I am using DSL with Earthlink as my ISP, and they had me using MacPoet, a program which implements the PPPoE protocol and needs to be running before you can get to the internet. The XRouter handles PPPoE internally, so that your individual computers no longer have to run MacPoet or anything else. The "always on" promise of DSL is at last a reality! Now all I have to do is start my browser or email client, and I'm connected. The MacSense web site also had an *excellent* explanation of how to set up PPPoE, an important supplement to the well-written operations manual. Comparable routers may also support PPPoE, but I'm completely satisfied with this one.

If I ever decide to run Airport, it will be literally a snap. A plastic attachment allows you to mount the Airport base station on top of the XRouter, saving desktop space. The PPPoE protocol is already taken care by the XRouter, so Airport/PPPoE compatibility isn't even an issue.

Buy this one. Not the Netgear RT314. You'll be happy. [Posted on 2001-04-04]
The MIH130 works. Plain and simple. It was very easy to install. Easy to upgrade the ROM. I needed to talk to their tech support. They picked up after about 15 seconds and offered some excellent advice which helped speed the throughput by about 300 percent. I can pretty much say the opposite for Netgear. They used to be a good company with good products. The first RT314 I got was broken. I think. That's what they told me. 24/7 support? Ha! I was on hold over the weekend for over 30 minutes. I hung up. On a weekday their tech support kept me on hold for about 25 minutes. They were not willing to go through my settings with me to troubleshoot. They simply said to return it. I did. However, I got another one just for kicks. It, too, was a dog. Don't let that pretty blue metal box of the Netgear products dazzle you. It's not the box you're buying; it's the stuff inside. By the way, I'm on PacBell DSL. The MIH130 is working fantastically! The only reason I didn't give it a 5 is because I'd like to see a more durable casing. No big deal. It's a guy thing.

Set it up once and forget about it. It just works! [Posted on 2001-05-28]
I've been using the Xrouter Pro for almost a year now and it totally rocks - I've had zero problems!! This is the router that I recommend to all of my friends - even my mother.

Setup is very easy and straight forward; it only took me about 10 minutes to get it up and running. The built-in PPPoE support works flawlessly (I'm on BellSouth.net).

The unit passes VPN traffic with no problem. I've even got an 802.11b access point plugged into the Xrouter Pro and can establish a VPN connection between my wireless laptop and my corporate intranet.

For more advanced users who want to do more than just surf the Internet there are plenty of features: DMZ support, access control list support, built-in DHCP client and server, supports static routes and RIP, ability to block port scanning, ability to disable ping response, etc.

While the name (Macsense) may sound like this product is designed for use with Macintosh systems, make no mistake this unit works with any platform. In fact I don't even own a Mac - all of the computers that I have plugged into the Xrouter Pro are PC compatibles.

Good Unit - But CHECK THE FIRMWARE [Posted on 2002-11-08]
I've installed several of these XRouters, and everything is great wth one Glaring Exception. They are still shipping units that need a firmware update, and the last firmware update is from mid 2001. A year and a half isn't enough time to get the new firmware into the unit? Terrible waste of troubleshooting time. So, just be sure to check what firmware # is in there, against their website, before wasting any time configuring it. Once that's done, it's a rock-solid little unit, and works great with PPPoE, DSL, Cable, your server, PC, Mac, whatever. They just need to get the newer firmware into the unit.

Terrific router [Posted on 2008-03-07]
I wasn't sure what to expect. I had never set up a network before. We just built a house, put in CAT5e throughout and wanted internet up and running using just one cable modem. This thing is a dream, hooked up the cables, configured one computer, which took about 3 minutes, and all the other computers were recognized and online as soon as I turned them on. It couldn't have worked any better. Absolutely terrific product and piece of idiot proof technology.

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