Network Magic Pro: Your Key to Network Nirvana? Network Magic Installation and Setup Eric Geier
Even with the new Network and Sharing Center of Windows Vista, non-technical users (and sometimes even computer geeks) can have a tough time figuring out how to configure computers to share files, troubleshoot network problems, and set security settings on wireless gear.
In most cases, users must decipher acronyms like WPA-PSK, ASCII, and MAC to set up a secure wireless network. Additionally, Windows networking tools don't do the best job of explaining terms and features, or detecting and warning users of possible security risks of their network.
Pure Networks' mission behind the Network Magic software is to help users in homes and small businesses set up and manage their network quickly and easily. Of course, when users have networking questions or problems they can browse sites for information, reference a book, or call their closet computer nerd.
However, Network Magic sets out to automate the networking experience, so the ordinary user can connect, secure, share and troubleshoot with ease. For this review we put the software through the ropes to see if it delivers on its promises.
Installation and Setup
The first step is to install Network Magic on all your computers. After a quick download of the free version from the company Web site, start the Setup Wizard. After an uneventful install on our test system, our Web browser opened to a Web page that explained Pure Networks' participation in the seemingly popular TrialPay program — great for networking on a budget.
When Network Magic opened, it launched a wizard that required some initial configuration. Right away, it detected an issue — Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) was enabled on the Windows XP machine and Network Magic can't do its magic with this Windows feature on.
This likely won't be an issue for many users since ICS is typically used on networks without a router. However, it can be used, as in the case we were testing out for another project, to extend the network connection of a computer wirelessly connected to the network to another computer nearby (without a wireless card) via an Ethernet cable. This way, you do not have to purchase another wireless card or run Ethernet cabling all the way to the router to get the non-wireless PC on the network.
The Network Magic wizard also steps through setting up the basic settings, like names for your computers (called Friendly Names), the folders and printers to be shared, and whether you want to receive an Internet and computer activity report automatically each day.
Connecting to Wireless Networks
Once we had Network Magic ready to go, it was easy to connect to wireless networks. You connect to and manage available and favorite networks through the Wireless Network Manager component, accessible via Network Magic's wireless signal icon in the system tray and from the main Network Tasks screen of Network Magic.
To our pleasant surprise, we noticed there was a way to connect to hidden networks. This way you can disable the broadcasting of your wireless network's SSID (or Network Name) for another layer of protection.
Troubleshooting Wizards
Pure Networks boasts about how Network Magic can "quickly troubleshoot, pinpoint, and repair Internet connection problems" and aid in general networking and wireless issues. So we set off to see how well the software works with simulated network problems a user might experience.
First, we hit the stand-by button on the cable modem, which cuts off the Internet connection for the wireless router. On the computers with Network Magic installed, we were prompted that the Internet connection was lost and we began using the troubleshooting wizard to see if this would help pinpoint the issue.
First, it ran a series of automated tasks, disabling and then re-enabling the network connection and requesting a new IP address. Next, it had us perform a few tasks and check on the router and modem. Just before we exhausted the wizard's steps, we were instructed to check the status lights of the modem. These steps helped determine what brought down the Internet connection — the modem was in stand-by mode and you must hit the stand-by button.
Next, we wanted to see what Network Magic might do when we have a fight on the network. In technical terms, this is referred to as an IP address conflict — two computers or devices connected to the network have the same "unique" identifying address. The devices involved in a conflict usually encounter problems like not being able to reach the Internet.
To force such a conflict, we manually assigned one of the computer's IP address to an address already in use by another computer. Just after we hit apply, Windows prompted us about the conflict — not Network Magic.
Furthermore, when we ran the troubleshooting wizard in Network Magic it didn't pinpoint the problem, but Network Magic would have still helped in this situation. The first task was for us to power-cycle the router, making all the computers (with DHCP or automatic addressing) request new IP addresses; which in turn broke up the network battle.
The final test was a simulated loss of sharing on one of the computers. We simply went into the Network Connection Properties window on one of the computers and unchecked the File and Printer Sharing option, thus preventing the computers from accessing the folders it was sharing. When we went to another computer to try to access one of its shared folders, it was not possible.
Sadly, Network Magic is unable to help with this issue. As the software recommends, firewalls typically cause an inability to access shared folders; however, there was no mention of checking the Windows File and Printer Sharing settings. Furthermore, even if Windows Firewall caused this sharing issue, the software did not automate the fix.
Even with the new Network and Sharing Center of Windows Vista, non-technical users (and sometimes even computer geeks) can have a tough time figuring out how to configure computers to share files, troubleshoot network problems, and set security settings on wireless gear.
