For home and small business owners looking to network their computers, the KX-HGW200 Concourse Broadband Networking Gateway from Panasonic is a relatively inexpensive option for getting all of their ducks (or computers) in a row. Place the Concourse between a cable or DSL Internet connection and the computers, and you're ready to share files, programs, Internet access, music, and peripherals.

The Concourse will allow you to network up to 253 computers if you connect a hub to the 10BaseT Ethernet port to spread the connection. If you would prefer to use Home PNA 2.0 technology, you can connect up to 24 computers to the Concourse using that phoneline technology. Connection is not limited to physical-line interfaces, though. Up to 9 laptops or devices with PCMCIA slots can be connected to the Concourse using Whitecap wireless technology. If you add a KX-HGC200 wireless card to the Concourse, the device will allow wireless data transmission at 11Mbps. It uses DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to assign up to 32 IP network addresses automatically to your devices. The remaining 221 devices have to be assigned manually. 

Security for these connections is added using the Concourse's IP Masquerade function. This translates the IP addresses assigned to each network device into one global IP address for the network, keeping hackers out of individual computers.

The Concourse is easily set up from a Microsoft or Macintosh computer using a standard Web browser to access the Administration Web Screen.

The 8.03 x 10.67 x 2.17 inch Concourse can be wall mounted to help keep your desk and computing area free of clutter.

Pricing and Availability

The KX-HGW200 Concourse Broadband Networking Gateway is currently available for $249.95.

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