OzCableguy

A recent Windows Update has caused a problem for Zonealarm users by blocking Internet access. I received this newsletter from SecureTec (the Aussie distributors for Zonealarm) with the workaround -

Some ZoneAlarm users who have installed Windows Update KB951748 have been unable to access the internet. ZoneAlarm by Checkpoint are aware of this issue and are working to provide a permanent solution. As a temporary work around for the time being, we would recommend uninstalling the Windows Update. We have provided information below to uninstall this update.
1.) Click Start -> Control Panel
2.) Open Add or Remove Programs
3.) Check the checkbox at the top to Show Updates, if not already checked
4.) Under Windows XP – Software Updates, click Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)
5.) Click Remove
6.) Click Next on the Software Update Removal Wizard
7.) Click Finish to restart

Regards, SecureTec Technical Support

Dave from digitaldna.com.au reports the following:

A bit of feedback for you. I bought one of the 2820s off you just recently. I nearly ended up RA’ing it. I tried to access it using 3 different PCs/Laptops with IE7 and with Firefox and could not successfully browse to it. What made it particularly frustrating was that:

- I could ping it
- I could Telnet to it
- I could putty to it
- I could do a firmware upgrade to it ( I loaded it with 3G Beta)
- I could NMAP port scan it

I found an obscure Billion post that reckoned XP SP3 was playing havoc with Billion Routers. Guess what, XP SP3 plays havoc with Draytek routers as well and it also plays havoc with a Dlink DIR-451 I was trying to configure. All my 3 PCs/Laptops that I used were SP3.

Alas the remedy to these issues was not a very pleasant one. I had to use a Vista PC running IE7 (or Firefox) to configure the Draytek (and the DLINK) !! Draytek acknowledge that there is an issue with SP3 – it is a Microsoft issue obviously; they just need to nail down the details enough for Microsoft to HotFix it.

So, to all your customers, you may wish to warn them that XP SP3 does not play nicely with Billion, Draytek or Dlink routers!

BTW once I got the Draytek configured via Vista, the XP SP3 network behind it worked fine. I just can’t use SP3 to access it to configure it.

We are using a Vodafone 3G card as an interim measure for a client until their ADSL arrives – and it works really well – very easy to get up and going. Nice box that 2820.

Update: Latest feedback from Draytek is they can’t reproduce it in their labs. I could reproduce it no problems at all on 3 separate PCs.

Snapgear have now gone back to their old system with extended warranties and are once again offering the standard product with a 12 month warranty with an option to purchase another 2 years, rather than the previous system of offering the product with both 12 & 36 month warranty options. eg SG300-12 & SG300-36. This caused problems for both retailers and distributors in having to stock both versions when it really wasn’t a hardware issue.

Note: Some shops may still list products with the “-12″ extension but I’ve chosen to eliminate that and go back to calling it SG300, SG565 etc.

The product code for the warranty extension for each model has the prefix “SGHM” but I’ve made it easy to find all of the options for a particular model on oztechnologies by including the main product name in all of the option descriptions. So all you have to do is type the product name into the search box at the top left of the site and you’ll receive a list which includes the product and all of its available options.
I’ve also included a link to these search results for each product in the OzCableguy reviews for Snapgear.

Other Options
Also available are annual support subscriptions (preceded by code “SGTS”) , Webwasher URL filtering subscriptions (preceded by code “WWSG”) and a Trusted Source Subscription (preceded by code “TRSG”). For more about Secure Computing’s Trusted Source technology click here. See also trustedsource.org

SnapGear Support Offerings:

SecurityReporter
Also available now as a standard feature on all new Snapgear models is Snapgear’s SecurityReporter software which provides advanced security alerts and reporting. Click here for more.
For existing Snapgear owners, SecurityReporter is available with firmware versions 3.1.5u3 or higher but unfortunately the software license isn’t free. On OzTechnologies you’ll find it listed with each product’s options with the prefix “SGLC”.

Replacement Power Supplies
Also available now are replacement power supplies if you’ve lost one to a power surge etc.

Click here for the OzCableguy Snapgear reviews.

Sadly I just learned that the much anticipated Draytek 2820Vn has been delayed by a few weeks and now isn’t likely to arrive in Australia until late March/early April.

The good news is there’s a whisper that non-combo versions of both the 2820n & Vn models might be available as well soon for those who don’t need the wireless adapter and would rather save a few dollars.
I’m expecting pricing to be announced within the next few weeks sometime on all of these.

Channel 7 and Foxtel have finally come to an agreement to allow Foxtel to re-transmit Seven’s digital broadcast including electronic program data so now at last we can set our IQ boxes to record channel 7 programs. This should go live for cable subscribers within the next few weeks but satellite subscribers might have to wait for a bit over a year yet at this stage.

More at news.com.au

This news comes sadly a little late for me. The channel 7 analogue reception was so woeful at my house I just upgraded my media centre to digital so I’d have access to an EPG (electronic program guide) and a reception worth recording. (Seven was the only channel without program data on my Foxtel IQ box and it seemed like 90% of the stuff we wanted to record was on Seven).
Meh. It was worth the upgrade anyway. The picture is absolutely glorious, but now I have a new problem. It seems the digital broadcasts have some sort of copyright protection* built-into them so you can only view recorded programs on the PC or device that recorded them in the first place so now I can’t play them on my office PC. I used to do this all the time to catch up on the shows I’d missed during the week while other family members watched their programs on the plasma in the loungeroom using the Media Centre PC or Foxtel box.
If anyone knows a way around this please let me know.
I’ll be interested to see how the new Linksys Media Centre Extenders go in this regard too.

*Update: It seems it’s not copyright protection causing me problems playing over a network but some kind of decoder issue. See the solution in the XPMediaCentre forums.

Netgear have announced a product recall for the XE103 powerline adapter sold either singularly or in the XE104B bundle in countries with 220-240v power.  For more information or to check if you have an affected product click here. (Click the link that says “Users of XE103 Powerline products, check here to see if your unit is affected” to get to the form)
If you do have an affected unit Netgear will ship you a XEPS103 unit as a replacement.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from all of us at OzCableguy & OzTechnologies.com. Thankyou to all of our customers and suppliers for our continuing success.

The office will be officially closed from the close of business on Friday 21/12/07 to be back to work Wednesday 2/1/08 but we’ll still be processing and shipping all Internet orders received in that time (allowing for availability of couriers due to shut downs and public holidays etc) and keeping an eye on the emails. The phone will be on divert but if you have a hassle or query that isn’t answered in our FAQs please email us and we’ll take care of it asap.

2008 sees us with a new Labor government and the likelihood of a new FTTN (Fibre to the node) broadband network in the next year or two which should see some exciting new opportunities for cablers, techies, retailers and ISPs not to mention consumers. In the meantime 3G wireless broadband has really taken off with some strong competition between ISPs seeing some really awesome deals getting around at the moment along with a new batch of products to help share it on a network.

VoIP continues to develop and gain market share from PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) even amongst home users. I see wifi & cordless IP phones becoming increasingly popular both in and around homes and more user friendly products and technology hitting the market specifically aimed at this type of user.

HDTV is about to become very big news. Fingers crossed issues with EPGs (Electronic Program Guide) and copyright will continue to fall by the wayside. Sales of Microsoft Media Centre could have been much better in the early days if it wasn’t for Channel 9’s reluctance to make programming information freely available. (Hello? Can someone say “NineMSN”. Where’s the love?). Some clever people in the forums at XPMediaCentre.com.au were writing scraper applications that could lift the data from Nine’s website which led to a fun cat & mouse game for a while as Nine kept changing their site format to try to stay one step ahead. In the meantime IceTV wrote their own programming information for their subscription EPG service only to end up having to fight Nine in court. Thankfully IceTV won which is great news for the future of multimedia technology in Australia and Aussie owners and producers of media centres and digital recorders.
The battle continues but things are improving. On my Foxtel Cable service I can now see programming information for all Free To Air Channels except Seven.
A joint effort between Channel 7 and Engin will unleash a subscription based TiVo onto the market very soon. Perhaps Nine will produce something similar with Microsoft or maybe one of the Media Centres that companies like Netgear and D-Link produce which rumour tells me may include models with hard drives and TV Tuners very soon…

I think it’s going to be a very exciting year ahead!