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Your home computers are networked wirelessly, but with all the digital photos, video and music your family has been collecting, they're all running out of hard drive space. And what's more, you and your kids each need access to a printer. With the Belkin Network USB Hub, you can give each computer on your network direct wireless access to up to 15 devices, including an external hard drive to store your family's digital media and a printer that everyone on your network can share. With this convenient, easy-to-install device, the days of purchasing separate printers and peripherals for each of your computers are over.
The Belkin Network USB Hub allows you to give every computer connected to your network access to up to 15 USB devices. (The Hub itself will connect directly to five devices, but it also lets you "daisy chain" three additional USB hubs to it, so that you can connect a total of 15 USB devices to your network computers.) While the Hub is specifically designed for printers and mass-storage devices, it also works for most other USB devices, including most standard webcams, keyboards and mice, multifunction machines, scanners, and media readers. You can even dock an MP3 player and play music through your USB speakers wirelessly. If your device has a USB connection, chances are that everyone on your network can access it wirelessly. (Some high-speed devices, such as high-definition webcams and video docking stations, may not be compatible with the Network USB Hub.)
Once the Hub is set up, you simply plug your USB devices into one of its five USB ports, and the Hub seamlessly installs software that makes USB printers and other devices appear to be connected to your network computers. The convenience of this direct USB-connection emulation requires that only one user be linked to each device at a time. So if your daughter is editing video on the external hard drive, the software lets you contact her to request that she disconnects from the drive so you can access it. With printers, the Hub automatically disconnects users after completing a print job, so that other users on your network can print.
Even if you don't have an external hard drive or other peripherals you want your computers to access, the Belkin USB Hub is one of the best ways you can share a printer on your network. It not only effectively functions as the industry's first reliable print server, it's also one of the easiest to install. Set-up takes less than three minutes with the included CD. Simply insert the set-up disk, and in five easy steps you'll be ready to go. If you have the Windows firewall activated on your PC, the Hub will automatically detect it and ask you if you wish to allow it to work from behind the firewall. (Users of other firewalls must manually add the device driver to their list of allowed programs.)
While the Belkin USB Hub works best with the Belkin N1 Wireless Router (a router is not included with the Hub), it will work seamlessly with any existing wireless router. The distance and quality of the connection of your computers to your USB devices will depend on the quality of your router and your Internet connection. And aside from having a wireless network and USB devices you want to connect to, the only requirement is that your computers are running Window XP or Vista.
The Belkin USB Hub connects directly to your existing wireless router. The Hub does not have routing capabilities, and does not include a router. You must purchase the router separately.
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