So late last week, one of our super star employees (Adam) decided to take a week off and head over to New Zealand – without inviting us!

So we thought we’d have some fun with his desk. Yer!.

Adam is due back next week – we’re pretty keen to see what he thinks about his all new and improved work space. heh

Here’s what it looked like before we let lose on it.

Keep reading to see the rest of the pics

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Popularity: 32% [?]

I’ve been in the IT industry for going on 10 years and surprisingly I’m only now realising how often certain questions come up…

It all becomes a bit of a daze after answering the same questions in and out! Any how.

I’m quite confident that not a single week has gone by where I have not been asked the following questions:

• “What Is The Best ADSL Modem?”
• “What Modem Is The Fastest?”
• “What Modem Is The Most Stable?”
• “What Brand Modem Is The Best?”

So with those three questions in mind, here are my honest & unbiased thoughts as to what modem you should spend your hard earned money on.

Integrity:

Warcom is in the business of selling adsl modems and networking gear, but we’re also in the business in providing our customers with modems that are fast,  reliable and won’t fall in a heap.

We have been doing this for a very long time now and the main reason we’re still here because we sell quality products.

If we sold boomerangs, ie: A modem that returned to us within a week or being purchased, we’d be out of business by now.

Profit:

We’re always approached to sell the ‘mum & dad modems’ that you find in the big chain stores and in hindsight, if we sold them, Warcom would probably make a lot more money, but we don’t and that’s that!

It is worth noting, most of these companies that approach us are considered in the industry to be  ’marketing companies’ as opposed to ‘hardware companies’  …

They some how (hint: > they have big marketing budgets) convince the ‘mum & dad market’ to buy their products instead of purchasing products from the smaller players, even when the small players hardware is vastly superior in just about every aspect.

Are Mum & Dad Modems That Bad?

• Most mum & dad modems are running two too three year old technology.
• Most mum & dad modems don’t even have built in voip, and if you’re lucky enough to have built in wireless. It’s rubbish anyway, and doesn’t ‘play nicely’ with all your hardware.
• Most mum & dad modems can’t even manage a few hundred connections to it (so if you plan on using torrent programs, don’t bother).
• A massive percentage of mum & dad modems fail and fail quickly – this percentage is far higher than failure rates in modems like Draytek.
• Most mum & dad modems don’t even have decent firewalls.
• Mum & dad modems are sold via most of the ISP’s because they are cheap and are sold because the ISP’s get massive cash kick backs from the manufacturers. To put it simple, ISP’s just hope for the best and hope you’re modem doesn’t die. If the ISP bothered to sell you a decent modem in the first place, they wouldn’t need half of their outsourced technical support departments in Dubai. And you would have less grey hairs.
• I could keep going – but I’m making myself depressed!

• Incidently …. If you happen to be using a mum & dad modem and you have had no issues with your modem – please do let us know, we may consider selling them. It’s unlikely though.

Alright – So What’s The Best:

Let’s cut to the chase – Draytek ADSL Modems are without a doubt, the best, the most reliable and the most stable modems sold in Australia. I have personally lost count the amount of Draytek I have installed for clients.

They’re fantastic – you set them up, you leave them alone and they just work and they keep working for years. I’ve had a Draytek 2600VG installed at my home for going on five years now and I’ve never had an issue with it.

We have Draytek Modems installed in our Melbourne and Brisbane offices, the VPN’s are ultra reliable, the connections are stable and the speed is great.

We sell thousands of Draytek’s a year to countless Australian businesses and consumers. Chances are if you have been into a Subway or a KFC store recently, there’s a Draytek sitting behind the counter powering their Intenet needs.

Conclusions:

• I value my time and the color of my hair.
• I don’t have the time to spend fiddling around with cheap, nasty, unstable hardware.
• Wasting time fiddling with dodgy hardware costs me time, it cost’s my business money and it’s not worth the headaches.

So if you’re in the same vote as me. The choice is  simple and that choice is Draytek.

All the best.
- Paul

Popularity: 6% [?]

I was enjoying my morning read of The Age online and read about how Google is getting ready to enter the social networking foray.

Could they come out from behind and build something that would smash Facebook and make all of us go ‘ooohh… ahhh…’ Not likely. Facebook has a big lead and it isn’t going to be overtaken any time soon.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

Fresh off the list of new products is the Billion 6200NXL available  from Warcom.  As we have competitive buying power we have been able to get some awesome prices on this piece of kit and for a short time only we are pushing them out the door at $124.90!

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Popularity: 10% [?]

Recent comments made by Paul, regarding the “dismay” of one an undisclosed “Adam”, have been proven false during an in-depth interview with both parties. A majority vote took place between all parties (including the Greens) and found Paul to be lying conclusively on the subject. Most communities have were baffled by this strange turn of events. Paul is almost always considered to be an honest and humble man. More on this next Winter.

Popularity: 12% [?]

That is all.

Popularity: 12% [?]

What are grey or parallel imports?

This is when an importer finds the same product over seas from a supplier and imports it directly bypassing legitimate local distribution channels. Dodgy sellers will do this as a means to pay less tax, get lower priced goods, or if they are unable to get access to normal distribution channels because they do not meet the requirements as an authorised reseller.  Parallel imports can quite often lead to sellers ending up with copies of the original product often without their knowledge.
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Popularity: 25% [?]

I’m quite often asked as to whether or not we still sell C10 adsl line filters and to put it simply, the answer is No.

Several years back we (warcom) organised independent speed tests on ACS, Telequip, Jackson, Netcomm & C10 line filters.

We also requested feedback from a handful of random customers who had tried  and tested all off the available filters, currently available in the market.

At such time, ACS line filters were the clear winners, with Telequip filters coming a close second .. This still applies today.

(If you think your filter is better, please send in samples).

——–

C10 subsquently issued a legal threat to Warcom to remove this article, or run the risk of being sued (For what exactly? I don’t know. They would have lost anyway).

And this is why, we will do not sell C10 filters.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Any real geeks knows, the bigger the screen – the better the experience!

Dual and triple monitor setups are fast becoming a much sort after solution in countless work places. (I run dual screens at warcom)!

They can also be setup for some ‘seriously awesome’ racing sim cockpit setups!

Here’s an example of what a Triple screen Rfactor can do! Check this Youtube video out:

To run such a setup you need to pickup a few things.

Matrox Triple head2go – An AMAZING bit of kit that will allow you to display the image across the 3 monitor screens. They are worth every penny! Not only is Rfactor supported, but countless other racing games are also supported as well as flight simulators! (link: Supported games)

Check out the Matrox TripleHead2go on Warcom.

Logitech G27 steering wheel – The ULTIMATE racing sim wheel. It has a H shifter, F1 style paddle shifters realistic pedal and Rpm shift lights.. The list keeps going on (Hand stiched leather, dual force feedback motors etc).

Both items are available online in our store. If you get one set up PLEASE email through some photos!

We would LOVE to see some in action!

Cheers,
Galaxy!

Popularity: 15% [?]

Hola!

I often get asked what my desk at Warcom looks like, so seeing as most of the other guys have already posted up there’s, I figured it was about time I posted a picture of mine.

Disclaimer: My desk is usually much messier than in this photo, there’s usually half a dozen Red Bull cans on it! So for those messy geeks out there – don’t feel obligated to clean your desk.
Feel free to ask any questions you may have!

Paul Warren's Desk - Warcom

I reserve the right to avoid questions related to the hand cream.

Popularity: 16% [?]