Axentra Net-Box all-in-one home network appliance

Axentra's Net-Box picked up a bunch of awards at CES, and it's not hard to see why.  The box is Windows, Mac and Linux compatible and works as an Internet gateway, firewall, 802.11g access point, and web/email/file server.  It comes in two variations: 80GB for $499 and 160GB for $699, and it's USB 2.0 compatible, so you can add external drives if that's not enough storage for you.  Engadget prediction: before you know it these combo boxes will be as common as WiFi routers.

[Va eHomeUpgrade]

[gorkon @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I love this idea, but I sure as heck wish it was cheaper. I have been looking for a NAS box for teh house and have about consigned myself to just build my own either using a PC or a Mac Mini. The only real new thing about this is that it has WiFi and that's not all that new. I seem to remember someone bringing out a portable battery powered WiFi drive, but only in Japan.

[Danny Lewis @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

What are the specs on this thing? (Processor speed, graphics card, sound, etc)

It looks like it even conforms to the ATX standard (somewhat, it has short PCI cards and a slim PSU).

It looks like it's chock full of hackable goodness! :D

[Jay M. @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Net-Box� H-70


Motherboard..............................Micro ATX
CPU...........................................VIA C3 Samuel 2 800MHz or equivalent
Memory.....................................256 MB 266 MHz
Hard Drive.................................80 GB 7200 rpm
USB 2.0 Ports............................4 ports at the back
LAN Ports (10/100 BT)..............1
Wan Port (10/100 BT)................1
Wi-Fi access point (802.11g)......1

Net-Box� H-90


Motherboard..............................Micro ATX
CPU...........................................AMD Duron 1.6 GHz or equivalent
Memory.....................................256 MB 266 MHz
Hard Drive.................................160 GB 7200 rpm
USB 2.0 Ports............................4 ports at the back
LAN Ports (10/100 BT)..............1
Wan Port (10/100 BT)................1
Wi-Fi access point (802.11g)......1

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

This is a great concept, but the execution is nothing special. I've got a similar system in my home, based on a Dell SC420, w/ 160GB Raid 1, DVD+RW (for backups), 802.11 a/b/g, and usb2.0, ethernet, etc. I spent considerably less than $700 on it. Of course that doesn't includ the 3 weeks of Linux blech it took to get it running, but then it was a labor of love, so that doesn't count ... right ;-)

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

"I love this idea, but I sure as heck wish it was cheaper. I have been looking for a NAS box for teh house and have about consigned myself to just build my own either using a PC or a Mac Mini."

How about the Linksys NSLU2? Under $100, and you just add any USB2.0 HDD.

http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?prid=640&scid=43

[Kenny Gatdula @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I own an older model and my only complaint is the noise. It's a bit too noisy to set on a desk, but, other than that it's a great little server for the home and small office.

[Chris R @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Kind of expensive isn't it? It's basically a PC. I am guessing Linux. Look at the back it's a microATX case with half size PCI slots.

These "appliances" rarely do well in the marketplace and end up sold off as clearance items. You can roll your own using some PC hardware and something like Smoothwall or ClarkConnect.

I have built Linux file servers and BSD routers for my home using equipment similar to the HD 70 except that I used a bigger HD.

The problem is that most people don't want to pay 500 to 700 dollars for something like this.

[Bob Pate @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I've had one at my house for about 6 months now. Absolutely love it. It also supports Dynamic DNS so that you can setup your own domain name and not pay extra for Static IP addresses from your ISP. The main engine is a Red Hat Linux distribution. Slick, Clean and does everything it says. I have mine setup and use just about all of the features and have secure access to all of my files from anywhere. They even have several slick add-ons for Windows such as E-Mail notification through a Jabber client and file synchronization (I don't use this yet). The unit supports access through Windows networking, HTTP, HTTPS, IMAP, POP3 and Web-DAV. I've only had one problem with using it as an e-mail host and using Dynamic DNS. Sites like AOHell will not accept mail from IP Addresses assigned through DHCP or BOOTP. They will only accept from static IPs. This is fine to protect their users, not so great for small business owners and may eliminate their user base from being able to communicate with small businesses (If you use AOHell for e-mail find something else). Axentra, though, has a great work around. They allow you to send the mail through your ISP. The device also supports VPN with the latest release. I will be testing that soon.

[Bob Pate @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I've had one at my house for about 6 months now. Absolutely love it. It also supports Dynamic DNS so that you can setup your own domain name and not pay extra for Static IP addresses from your ISP. The main engine is a Red Hat Linux distribution. Slick, Clean and does everything it says. I have mine setup and use just about all of the features and have secure access to all of my files from anywhere. They even have several slick add-ons for Windows such as E-Mail notification through a Jabber client and file synchronization (I don't use this yet). The unit supports access through Windows networking, HTTP, HTTPS, IMAP, POP3 and Web-DAV. I've only had one problem with using it as an e-mail host and using Dynamic DNS. Sites like AOHell will not accept mail from IP Addresses assigned through DHCP or BOOTP. They will only accept from static IPs. This is fine to protect their users, not so great for small business owners and may eliminate their user base from being able to communicate with small businesses (If you use AOHell for e-mail find something else). Axentra, though, has a great work around. They allow you to send the mail through your ISP. The device also supports VPN with the latest release. I will be testing that soon.

[Dan Horn @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Or you could just buy ClarkConnect Office version and put it on one of your older PC's and have all that at about $65...plus VPN, Webstats, Online updates, and DNS

http://www.clarkconnect.com

[Marke @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

ONE LAN PORT? a device that provides for home networking with ONE LAN PORT?

[Steven Damron @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I think this is a great product idea and I look at some alternatives to this on my blog at http://www.panix.com/~damron/index.php?entry=entry050127-214213

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

"ONE LAN PORT? a device that provides for home networking with ONE LAN PORT?"

I noticed that too. Are we just totally missing something? I mean maybe I'm behind the times here. But it seems to me like you'd need to just buy a separate wired router anyway, which kind of defeats the entire purpose of this thing (since an old PC can do everything else this does with ease).

I guess some people just don't run wires anymore? I've got two wireless PC's and a wireless TiVo in my house but my Xbox, my media center PC, and my main desktop PC are all hooked up via wires.

If you don't need to run an email server (and not many people do in their own homes), then it seems to me that one of those routers with a hard drive slot would be a better idea. Much cheaper and gives you networked, always-on storage accessible from any PC, which I could see being pretty useful.

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Any other smaller boxes like this, a bit cheaper? 500 is still a lot, if you wanna use it for some DMZ, NAS, File Server, etc....

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Any other smaller boxes like this, a bit cheaper? 500 is still a lot, if you wanna use it for some DMZ, NAS, File Server, etc....

[GoDeepInc @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

mad expensive
but i'm gonna get this then
worry how i'm going to pay up my credit card
holla

[Inframan @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Try the buffalo LinkStation/Kuro Box. I love mine.

It's much cheaper. It also runs Linux and thus very hackable.

http://www.buffalotech.com/wireless/products/NetworkProducts/HDH120LAN.html

[ian @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Or build your own linux mini-ITX/micro-ATX system for $300.

[Bob @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

"ONE LAN PORT"

You people don't pay attention and can't even look at picture to tell what you're seeing. I count 4 total Ports. One off the motherboard, two in card slots and one wireless in a card slot. Also reading the specs might help you.

Some of you are also missing the point of the device. This is not just a storage device on the network with Web-DAV access or Windows access. This is a fully functioning FILE SERVER for a small home office or for a technically savvy family who is tired of changing their email address every 10 seconds (or have 20 e-mail accounts for each person in the family). Others don't understand the fact that unlike myself and a few others here MOST people don't have the ability, time or the desire to setup and configure their own box. For for those that want all of these features under $1,000 for this box is a GREAT price. I had mine setup with 5 users in under 30 minutes from cutting the box open. I bill way too much for my time to spend it configuring my own box for my family. The time saved has well paid for this server.