Multi-Tech ProxyServer

Multi-Tech’s ProxyServer is

a modem-size device that lets multiple users on a network connect to the Internet. So

it’s really an IP router/Internet sharer, rather than a proxy server. What’s

more, it actually has three 56 kbps modems built in. That gives it an edge over

Boca’s Rs 39,000 priced WebRamp–which requires three external modems. Another

smaller, cheaper version clips onto a single external modem for smaller networks, or to an

ISDN device.

The ProxyServer behaves as a gateway to the Internet,

dialing up to the ISP, and routing all Internet requests from PCs on your network. A

network port (10BaseT or thin Ethernet) lets you connect it to your LAN.

A built-in remote access server lets you dial into the

proxy from outside the LAN and access TCP/IP network resources–including the

Internet.

The ProxyServer has a DHCP server built in to allocate IP

addresses for your local network. You’d enable it if there’s no other DHCP

server running on your network.

You could combine the bandwidth of the three modems using

Multi-Link PPP, but your ISP would have to support this. VSNL doesn’t. Without this,

the ProxyServer will distribute its Internet requests across the three modems.

Initial setup is through Windows-based software, supplied

on two floppies; for this, you connect a PC to the ProxyServer through a serial cable.

Installation is largely automated. After initial setup, the ProxyServer too is

configurable through a browser. You can use telnet as well as remote dial-in for

configuration. If you use the device’s default IP configuration, you can skip the

initial setup and do it over a Web browser.

The ProxyServer assumes that your ISP

uses PAP/CHAP to log in (Satyam, and a few VSNL locations do this). Otherwise, you

reconfigure it to use scripts instead, which we did; the scripts worked fine without any

problems. That done, browsing the Web was just a matter of setting the default gateway of

clients to the proxy and firing up the Web browser.

As with other such products (and unlike a software proxy

server), the ProxyServer has no caching. If you want to speed up Web access with a cache,

you’ll have to run a proxy program somewhere on your network.

The Multi-Tech ProxyServer compares well with other IP

routers in features and performance, and the built-in modems make it a very good buy. It

comes with a two-year warranty.

The Baby ProxyServer

This tiny IP sharer clips on to a modem or ISDN TA

This ProxyServer is a smaller variant of the MTPSR3-200. It

doesn’t have any built-in modems. One end screws on to the serial port of a modem or

ISDN terminal adapter (TA), and the other connects to your LAN with a 10BaseT cable.

The configuration software

is easy to use; a wizard guides you through the entire process. Without PAP/CHAP

auto-login, we had to use login scripts for VSNL. As with other such devices, this one

dials up on demand and becomes the gateway for PCs on the network. On inactivity, it drops

the dial-up connection.

This device also has its own DHCP server built in, and a

FLASH ROM for easy firmware upgrades. The user guide (PDF format on the CD) is

well-designed; the CD also has several shareware Internet programs and an e-mail

account-sharing program, Mail Server Lite.

The device is very good value for money, considering that

it can be connected to either a modem or an ISDN TA, and is very easy to configure.

There’s a two-year warranty.