[talisker]

After months of looking longingly at Airport basestations and realising that they're just ridiculously expensive, I went on a search for an alternative, and bought one of these:
Dick Smith WLAN Broadband Router

I was a bit concerned about configuring it and getting it to play with my Dlink ADSL router, but before delving into the set up screens I just thought I'd plug it all in and try it, and it worked first time. It has worked flawlessly ever since. Range to my ibook is superb, even through walls. Setting up WEP and all that stuff was easy. Nice to find that a generic no-brand piece of kit works so well. And at around a quarter of the price of an Airport basestation!

[Tom N]

Wow, I forgot about Dick Smith. dick Smith tried expanding the company into the US in the early 80's. The company did so-so in the states, I don't think they opened many outlets, and they were gone by the late 80's.

The thing I remember most was they failed to account for a difference in slang between the US and NZ, AU. Their stores, ads, announcements all contained the following;

"Dick Smith the Electronic Dick"

Tom N.

[talisker]

Originally posted by Tom N:


"Dick Smith the Electronic Dick"

Oops...unfortunate. They're really quite like a Radio Shack sort of place, and do a lot of their own brand stuff (like my router) which is good value if not very flash. Not the most pleasant place to shop, but they're so useful you can't really avoid them here.