Re: Farallon EtherWave question

[Ivan X <ivanxqz@yahoo.com>]

I recently got one of these and man it's great. I threw my AsanteTalk out
the window.

I've been trying to figure out their history/models, based on these:
http://web.archive.org/web/19980111202225/www.farallon.com/product/ew/ewmpra
d.html
http://web.archive.org/web/19990218091706/www1.farallon.com/products/ether/a
dapters/ewmprad.html

What I've been able to figure out is that were initially two models, then a
third; and they all were ultimately replaced by the similar EtherMac line of
adapters, though both lines were sold simultaneously for quite a while. I
don't know whether the EtherMac adapters work as well for Apple II users.

PN-842 was originally was the "Mac Adapter" (and which appeared to come with
an ADB power dongle) and then later was renamed the "Printer Adapter" (which
came with an AC brick) when PN-840 was introduced. It has in integrated
cable ending in a male serial connector.

PN-848 was originally the "Multi Adapter", and renamed the "Multi Printer
Adapter" when PN-840 was introduced. Rather than an integrated cable, it has
a female phone jack so you can attach it to a PhoneNet LocalTalk LAN. This
is the one I have and it's nice because I think I'll be able to have my IIe
and IIgs on the same network without needing multiples of these guys.

PN-840 is the "Mac/PowerBook Adapter" and came out after the first two. It
looks identical to PN-842 and comes with an ADB power dongle instead of AC
brick. With the Farallon driver for System 7, it overclocks the serial port
for high-speed communication, and also supports MacTCP (though only with
Classic Networking; if you need Open Transport for TCP/IP AppleShare
connections to Mac OS X, as I do, the Asante Desktop EN/SC is a better bet).
It has no particular advantage over the others when used with an Apple II
since its special features are activated by a driver.

I've looked inside both the PN-842 and PN-848 and was surprised to find that
the PN-842 was much more complex -- it has a piggyback daughterboard crammed
in there.

Does anyone know how the PN842 and PN848 products functionally differ from
the EtherMac and iPrint adapters, PN-55x? Can those also be effectively used
as LocalTalk adapters for an Apple II? I just bought one, so I'm going to
find out, I guess...