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To paraphrase a labor leader's famous quote, what do wireless networking users want: more. More range and power. More bandwidth. And networking equipment makers such as Linksys are only too happy to oblige. Speaking of more, Linksys itself got a lot more clout. In a deal that (albeit briefly) brought back memories of the '90s, the company was acquired by networking equipment giant Cisco Systems. Mike Wagner, Linksys Director of Marketing, said consumers will see no immediate changes. The company's products will continue to be marketed through the same channels and under the Linksys brand name. Wagner expects one ultimate effect to be that Linksys will increase business with the Internet providers with which Cisco does business, meaning that you may see more Linksys broadband modems around in future years. But I digress. Back to product testing.
Wagner is in full sales promotion mode when he discusses Wireless-G. "It's a compelling value," he said, "for only $10 more per network card or $30 per router, you get five times the speed." Apparently, that logic has taken hold. "In the first 60 days [they were on the market], we sold 275,000 units. It's the fastest launch in Linksys history," Wagner said. He said Wireless-G is outselling B in the e-commerce market and is neck and neck with consumers. That admittedly leaves a gap -- the corporate world. The recession and the fact that the IEEE (officially the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., but most commonly known as the "Eye-triple-E") has not officially adopted the 802.11g standard -- that's expected in June -- has been a barrier to business sales. Meanwhile, Intel rolled out its much-hyped Centrino mobile computing package of new processors bundled with 802.11b wireless technology. Wagner, however, is confident that Wireless-G will prevail in the long run. And, since Wireless-G is compatible with 802.11b, it also benefits from the creation of wireless "hot spots" in establishments as varied as Starbucks and McDonald's. Ah, but does it work? Yes; very well in fact. I tested Linksys's WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router and WPC54G Wireless-G Notebook Adapter. Both installed easily; more easily than earlier Linksys products, in fact. Setup and has not always been the company's strong point. But the router came with a slick setup CD that walks you through the process, including the always tricky step of cloning your network card's MAC address (the card's electronic signature). Broadband providers typically use the MAC address to determine that your computer belongs on their network and since your computer is hidden behind the router's firewall the router needs to assume the identity of your network card. Really, the hardest part of the setting up the router was walking back and forth from my computer over to the router and modem, which were in another room, to go through the various rituals of plugging-in things in the correct sequence. When I was done, everything that was supposed to be working was working. As for the card, again a CD installs the necessary software and walks you through the process. I tested the claims of compatibility with 802.11b by accessing the router with three different B cards, of which only one that was from Linksys. They all worked just fine. Signal strength and coverage was about the same as when B, as it should be given that Wireless-G is the same radio transmitter. As to whether G's additional bandwidth was beneficial, the answer depends on what tasks you are performing with Wireless-G. Most broadband connections run at 1.5 Mbps, far below either wireless standard so Wireless-G makes no difference there, nor would it make much difference handling typical Microsoft Office files or sending a job to your printer. Wireless-G does make a difference with files containing large graphics, large spreadsheets or databases. It really comes into its own when handling multimedia content. Various manufacturers have been rolling out devices that allow users, for example, to transmit music files wirelessly from your PC to your living room stereo system. Linksys is among those announcing such products; theirs is due sometime this summer. For this kind of purpose you need Wireless-G. Ditto for video applications. Since trends in consumer electronics are moving in the direction of this kind of "convergence," Wireless-G probably is going to be the new standard.
The unit uses the same stackable plastic case design as the router, so when you install it, it neatly perches on top of your router without increasing your component's footprint. Basically, you unscrew the antennas from the router, and in their place you attach cables leading to the booster, and then you screw the antennas into the booster. My interest in the device goes back to last summer when my condo was undergoing a remodeling and I needed to escape to a neighbor's unit to get any work done. Alas, that other apartment was beyond the normal range limits of 802.11b and my connections were spotty. With the booster, reception in that same distant location was fine -- both signal strength and quality measured in the "good" range where as they had been "fair" to "poor" without the booster. One might wonder whether, inasmuch as Wireless-G routers use the same radio transmission as 802.11b whether the booster could work with the G also. Well, shame on you for asking. The booster is not approved by the Federal Communications Commission for that purpose and doing so would be a no-no that voids your Linksys warranty. Silly you. (Oh, by the way, it does work excellently.) The downside of the booster is that radio waves being the indiscriminate little things that they are, you probably will be broadcasting way beyond the limits of your house allowing others to tap into your network. Security precautions, therefore, are of the utmost importance (see companion article). Notwithstanding that, the booster is a godsend to those with big houses, reception dead spots, or the desire to roam at some distance from your router. (c) 2004 Al Gordon. In addition to his computer interests, Al Gordon is a principal in the Boston-area strategic consulting firm, Mary Fifield Associates, www.maryfifieldassociates.com ----------------------------------- Fighting the Wireless Freeloaders Now that wireless networking is becoming somewhat ubiquitous it has joined the list of products subject to technology's dark side, notably hacking. In addition to the threat of someone penetrating your network, there is the additional concern of freeloaders. There are wireless-equipped users out there looking for someone's network to tap into. At a minimum they are sponging off your investment in broadband. In an apartment building, you could find yourself subsidizing half the other tenants. But intruders can also be using your accounts to distribute spam or viruses. You need to take precautions. People at Linksys recommend the following steps:
The first three are no-brainers. A SSID is the identifier that the router stands out to computers so they can connect. By default it's "LINKSYS" on Linksys components (other manufacturers use similar nomenclature). So even an idiot freeloader can readily find and configure access to your system. You change the SSID through a router's browser-based setup screen. Turning off the SSID broadcast disables the signal the router sends out to alert computers that there is a wireless network available to them. (Once your computers have been setup for your wireless network they do not need that SSID broadcast again.) The need for password change is self-evident -- again, all manufacturers ship their units with a standard password that makes hacking into your system a snap. MAC address filtering is a little more complex. Essentially you take an inventory of the addresses for the cards in the computers you want to allow on your network and then bar all others. Linksys's Mike Wagner and I differ on encryption. There is a performance hit when you encode, and he argues that if you faithfully follow the other safeguards you don't really need it. My view is that in paranoid times you can't be too paranoid; encrypt your data because you never know who might be sampling the airways. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can reach Al Gordon at:
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This is supplemental information to the article:
Number
one on the new wireless product hit parade is the new "Wireless-G"
technology, an advance on the WiFi 802.11b protocol that has become the de
facto standard for wireless networking. Like B, G runs on the 2.4MHz
frequency, the same as newer cordless telephones. The difference is that the
chips in Wireless-G units are capable of higher rates of data compression,
so the devices can move data at 54 Mbps versus 11 Mbps for 802.11b. The
major networking hardware vendors made Wireless-G the showpiece of their
tradeshow presentations over the Winter, and the actual products are now
making their way into the stores.
On
the more power front, Linksys also is marketing a