Hmmm. Well, if it works as a bridge, I guess that would be o.k. It would be like the old "TransLAN" bridges from the 1980s (for any of you who remember back that far) or, I guess, an Icom ID-1 today.
One thing I do appreciate is the option for separate transmit and receive connections so I can use an isolator on the TX side at some heavy RF sites. That's a nice touch.
But I still think they could have left off the underpowered linux part and reduced the cost.
Michael N6MEF
-----Original Message----- While I can't speak for the company making the UDR56k and I have stated previously where I think it missed the mark. putting a new RF modem on an ethernet connection is a good thing. It's something kantronics should have done when the 9612 was introduced to the world. The advantage of placing it in ethernet is that one simply assigns it an address, plugs it into a (poe) hub, and it works with little to no config on the host side. many if not most who might be interested in this probably would rather not spend a huge amount of time futzing with the operating system of whatever device takes bits to or from RF.