Price : Too low to display
IOgear 4-port USB Net ShareStation GUIP204 USB Hubs
This review is from : IOGEAR 4-Port USB 2.0 Net ShareStation GUIP204
Works well requires a little more attention than I would ideally like . This product installed and set up fairly easily. It is easiest if you have a little knowledge about working with a home networking setup. The device works as advertised/described, but it can require some additional tweaking or interacting if you are using it with a scanner. You have to turn on the scanner and then open the NetShare Station utility and click on the option to "Connect" the device you just turned on. This does not apply to a printer, however. It recognizes my Lexmark laser with no prompting or action on my part. Just turn the printer on and the NetShare device makes the connection automatically. I would've given it 5 stars if it auto-recognized and connected my scanner without the need for any additional mouse clicks on my part. (Note: OS is Windows 7 on a Dell laptop with a Netgear wireless N router)
Works well requires a little more attention than I would ideally like . This product installed and set up fairly easily. It is easiest if you have a little knowledge about working with a home networking setup. The device works as advertised/described, but it can require some additional tweaking or interacting if you are using it with a scanner. You have to turn on the scanner and then open the NetShare Station utility and click on the option to "Connect" the device you just turned on. This does not apply to a printer, however. It recognizes my Lexmark laser with no prompting or action on my part. Just turn the printer on and the NetShare device makes the connection automatically. I would've given it 5 stars if it auto-recognized and connected my scanner without the need for any additional mouse clicks on my part. (Note: OS is Windows 7 on a Dell laptop with a Netgear wireless N router)
Good . It was easy to set up and the bundled software made for easy networking of attached devices.
Cons Review
More than a bit buggy . I picked this unit up not more than 4 days ago, and I'm not thrilled. NOT a plug-n-play device. Installation is fairly straight forward: ethernet connection to a wireless router, usb connections to your printers. You install the software on your PC, and it loads an application that scans for the Hub and any devices connected to it. You see what devices are available, and you have to select each one to make it "active" on that PC. If I only had one PC, this product would probably work fairly well -- but I have a laptop and a Mac. (I'll concede that there is no stated support for Mac, BUT if you have software like Bonjor installed, you do see the hub and devices and I have printed to my printer using this device.) That said, I have YET to get my laptop running XP to successfully use this hub. An OEM error message comes up at the last "selection" step, that gives me a list of three trouble-shooting steps (like "unplug and re-plug the devices") that *never* work. And lastly, when I do get either the desktop PC or Mac to print to the hub, the other machine looses its connection to the hub entirely -- prompting me to shut down the machine that held the "current" good connection, so as to free up the hub for the other computer. I'm hoping there is going to be some good support on the OEM web site for this device -- anyone owning this is going to need it.
Device and Service are both bad . I purchased this device in hopes of connecting several drives that I have spread out all over the place. Seemed one central location would be the best using a network server. Well, IOGEAR was a letdown in both the product and the customer no-service. I found out that they have a no return policy. Only repair or replace.
The GUIP204 is very buggy. Drives show up and then do not connect. Sometimes they connect and then immediately give an error that there is no drive. Other times, when trying to connect to a drive it says that the software needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled. A couple of times the drives completely vanished and never came back. I had to uninstall/reinstall software, only to get other bugs. I did that several times on Windows XP and Vista machines. So, it's not the OS. Another thing that is really pathetic about this device is the one user at a time functionality. If someone is connected to a drive you cannot connect until they release it. What do you do if the person locked on to it is not at their computer and you have no access? Sorry, but no way to connect. I don't know, maybe you would have to unplug or reboot the device. That's just too much headache. One reason I purchased this was for 4 computers to have access to our music library in 1 location. Also, to share any other items like photos and for backups.
If I could have given a zero I would have. But, in fairness I must say that at least the device connected, sometimes. So, 1 star for trying. I would say that this will keep me from ever buying another IOGEAR product. They lost a potential customer for life.
Save the headache and buy something like the Western Digital My Book World Edition. I ended up getting that and it works. Easy to use and multi-user access. It also has a connection for another drive if you would like more space. Buffalo also makes a very good product similar to the WD MyBook. Avoid the IOGEAR, please.
The GUIP204 is very buggy. Drives show up and then do not connect. Sometimes they connect and then immediately give an error that there is no drive. Other times, when trying to connect to a drive it says that the software needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled. A couple of times the drives completely vanished and never came back. I had to uninstall/reinstall software, only to get other bugs. I did that several times on Windows XP and Vista machines. So, it's not the OS. Another thing that is really pathetic about this device is the one user at a time functionality. If someone is connected to a drive you cannot connect until they release it. What do you do if the person locked on to it is not at their computer and you have no access? Sorry, but no way to connect. I don't know, maybe you would have to unplug or reboot the device. That's just too much headache. One reason I purchased this was for 4 computers to have access to our music library in 1 location. Also, to share any other items like photos and for backups.
If I could have given a zero I would have. But, in fairness I must say that at least the device connected, sometimes. So, 1 star for trying. I would say that this will keep me from ever buying another IOGEAR product. They lost a potential customer for life.
Save the headache and buy something like the Western Digital My Book World Edition. I ended up getting that and it works. Easy to use and multi-user access. It also has a connection for another drive if you would like more space. Buffalo also makes a very good product similar to the WD MyBook. Avoid the IOGEAR, please.
Good idea just not executed well . I completely agree with Robert's review as it is my experience as well.
CONNECTIVITY: I had hoped to be able to share my USB drive with an XP desktop, a Macbook, and a WDTV device. While it seemed easy to setup, I could only use one computer at a time... and never the WDTV device (granted the latter may be due to the WDTV device, not the IOGEAR hub). I also always had to ask the IOGEAR device to connect to each device upon start up (and usually the printer each time I wanted to print), so that I can see most of the devices in XP's Windows Explorer. Changing the polling setting didn't seem to make any difference to connectivity. Thumb drives and mp3/photo devices, for instance, show in the IOGEAR status but don't appear to be available for me to actually use.
BSOD: Occasionally, however, my XP desktop would get the 'blue screen of death' - which I haven't seen for years! REALLY?! (Follow-up: Further testing showed that connecting to my iPhone 3G consistently caused the BSOD.)
MAC: I didn't take the time to test the Macbook directly given that the XP desktop was my primary system and had already caused enough frustration.
Long story, short... this isn't the device for me, as I'm looking for plug-and-play and device sharing without the buggy behavior. It cost me about $40 at a local Fry's Electronics, so I'm not frustrated by the price, just the result. I'll continue to look for some higher-end USB sharing devices.
CONNECTIVITY: I had hoped to be able to share my USB drive with an XP desktop, a Macbook, and a WDTV device. While it seemed easy to setup, I could only use one computer at a time... and never the WDTV device (granted the latter may be due to the WDTV device, not the IOGEAR hub). I also always had to ask the IOGEAR device to connect to each device upon start up (and usually the printer each time I wanted to print), so that I can see most of the devices in XP's Windows Explorer. Changing the polling setting didn't seem to make any difference to connectivity. Thumb drives and mp3/photo devices, for instance, show in the IOGEAR status but don't appear to be available for me to actually use.
BSOD: Occasionally, however, my XP desktop would get the 'blue screen of death' - which I haven't seen for years! REALLY?! (Follow-up: Further testing showed that connecting to my iPhone 3G consistently caused the BSOD.)
MAC: I didn't take the time to test the Macbook directly given that the XP desktop was my primary system and had already caused enough frustration.
Long story, short... this isn't the device for me, as I'm looking for plug-and-play and device sharing without the buggy behavior. It cost me about $40 at a local Fry's Electronics, so I'm not frustrated by the price, just the result. I'll continue to look for some higher-end USB sharing devices.
Product Image
Feature IOGEAR 4-Port USB 2.0 Net ShareStation GUIP204
- Share up to 4 USB devices through a home or office network
- Wirelessly access USB devices without the USB cable clutter
- A simple way for multiple users to share USB devices
- Works with all wired and wireless routers; supported protocols: LPR/LPD, DHCP, UPnP, WSD
- Supports USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 devices
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Product Details
EAN : 0881317011169UPC : 881317011169
MPN : GUIP204
Brand : Iogear
Weight : 2 pounds
Height : 4 inches
Length : 9 inches
Width : 7 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Department : Computer
Format : CD-ROM
Hardware Platform : Pc
Manufacturer : IOGEAR
Model : GUIP204
Operating System : Windows
Platform : Windows
Publisher : IOGEAR
SKU : 4226278
Studio : IOGEAR
Where To Buy
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