Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Belkin's wireless router raises the bar for speed and range

By Tom Gromak / The Detroit News

Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

Want WiFi? Get Belkin's wireless "Pre-N" technology. Even Rudolph himself couldn't push bits and bytes faster than this company's latest home networking offerings.

Availlable in both a router ($179.99) and a notebook computer adaptor card ($129.99), the new technology is compatible with existing 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networks. But it also takes advantage of a yet-to-be ratified 802.11n standard that promises to push data speeds beyond 100 megabits per second and MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) radio/smart antenna technology.

In comparison, ordinary 802.11b is about a 10 megabit technology. 802.11g promises about 50 megabits. The differences, however, are often theoretical. Surfing the Web while sucking down a latte at Starbucks, you'll hardly notice the difference, since the average broadband connection is still 3 to 5 megabits at best.

But start moving big data files - digital images, audio files, big spreadsheets - and the difference becomes apparent immediately. In testing, I found that I could move about a dozen MP3s across the new Belkin wireless pre-n system in a matter of seconds. My 802.11g system could have only delivered three or four of the files in the same amount of time. And that's only MP3s. I found the same performance boost when transferring a 2 gigabyte video file.

Speed isn't the only issue. The other is range. Belkin's box info promises eight times the coverage area of standard 802.11g networking products. (They, in turn, typically promise 100 to 150 feet of range in open spaces; less in homes where you've got walls and wiring and furnaces and ducts cluttering the data path.)

Again, the pre-n technology came out ahead. My main PC and router sit in the basement of a very solid home built in the 1950s. Range is usually good, but was limited in the far corners, and non-existent out on the back deck or front porch (both great places to surf on a warm summer night). To expand coverage, I used a wireless range extender to get a signal to these outer fringes.

But the pre-n devices allowed me to shut down the extenders and still get superb coverage. In fact, I found an adequate signal from the sidewalk in the front yard, and a picnic table in the neighbor's yard, and from the seat of my Jeep Cherokee three doors down.

Cool. Very cool.

Installation of the devices is simple, especially if you have previous WiFi networking experience, and even if you don't. Belkin's box includes a CD-based wizard for setting up both the router and the laptop card, as well as extremely easy-to-follow directions and documentation.

That's important because, with all that range, one of the features you'll definitely want to set up is the pair's built-in encryption technology, to keep those neighbors and others from piggybacking on your broadband connection or wandering into your home network.

Other nifty goodies:

-- Two security standards, 128- and 64- bit WEP encryption, as well as WPA encryption. Without getting into the details, all you need to know is that WEP is the older technology and is likely more compatible with other older WiFi products. WPA is the newer, stronger encryption standard.

-- A built-in firewall protects your home network from Internet-based hacking attempts, and a security log lets you know if such attempts are being made.

-- Web-based router administration - via a tiny little Web server built into the router - gives you complete access to the router's features and functions.

-- A parental control filter allows you to restrict access to certain Web sites, domains or Internet addresses, as well as restrict the times of day that a particular PC - like, say, the one in the kids' room - have access to the Internet.

Want it? Giving it? Get it from most major online vendors, or at CompUSA, Staples, Office Max, or other stores where Belkin products are sold.

Tom Gromak can be reached at tgromak@detnews.com.