SmallNetBuilder - Wireless Articles

Draft 802.11ac Revealed! Buffalo WZR-D1800H AirStation Reviewed - Part 1

Tim Higgins — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:06:00 -0400

In Part 1 of our coverage of Buffalo's first-to-market WZR-D1800H draft 802.11ac router, we look at how much more wireless throughput you can really get from a "1300 Mbps" router.

NETGEAR Unveils More Draft 802.11ac Products

Tim Higgins — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:00:00 -0400

NETGEAR today set the ship timeframe for its R6300 draft 802.11ac router, and added two members to its draft 11ac product line.

Cisco Says 'Me Too' For Draft 11ac Router

Tim Higgins — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:50:52 -0400

In an unsurprising move, Cisco says that they too will be shipping a draft 802.11ac router before school bells ring.

Ruckus Wireless Announces High and Low End APs

Tim Higgins — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:55:07 -0400

Ruckus Wireless has announced two new 802.11n access points.

Amped Wireless Adds Simultaneous Dual-Band Router

Tim Higgins — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:45:00 -0400

Amped Wireless has added a simultaneous dual-band 802.11n router to its line of "long-range" wireless products.

Buffalo Is Shipping Draft 802.11ac Router, Bridge Today

Tim Higgins — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:56:17 -0400

You can buy both Buffalo's draft 802.11ac router and bridge right now.

Screw HD Video! Apple and Mobile Carriers Have Other Plans For 802.11ac

Tim Higgins — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:00:00 -0400

The forces driving 802.11ac aren't really what you think they are.

Bye Bye 40 MHz Mode in 2.4 GHz - Part 2

Tim Higgins — Mon, 07 May 2012 09:00:00 -0400

In Part 2 of our short series, we check to see if some popular routers and access points back off from 40 MHz bandwidth when they are supposed to.

Bye Bye 40 MHz Mode in 2.4 GHz - Part 1

Tim Higgins — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:35:00 -0400

Updated - If you've been wondering why your new 802.11n router won't link higher than 130 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band, we have the answer.

Cisco Linksys EA2700 Retest

Tim Higgins — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:08:00 -0400

We found the key to enabling 40 MHz mode in 2.4 GHz and retested the EA2700 to add those results.

NETGEAR Antes Up With Its Draft 802.11ac Router

Tim Higgins — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:23:58 -0400

Updated - NETGEAR has announced its draft 802.11ac router.

Cisco Linksys EA2700 Gigabit Dual-Band Wireless N600 Router Reviewed

Tim Higgins — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:29:00 -0400

Updated - Cisco's new entry-level "app-enabled" router features ho-hum wireless performance.

EnGenius Shipping New Outdoor N AP, Bridge

Tim Higgins — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:24:49 -0400

EnGenius has announced a pair of new 802.11n outdoor wireless products.

Amped Wireless Adds Pair O' Directional USB Adapters

Tim Higgins — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:07:57 -0400

Amped Wireless has announced two "high-power" USB Wi-Fi adapters.

Cisco WAP321 Wireless-N Selectable-Band Access Point with PoE Reviewed

Tim Higgins — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 17:22:00 -0400

Cisco's WAP321 should make other makers of small business 802.11n access points sit up and take notice.

EnGenius EAP-300 Retest

Tim Higgins — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:10:00 -0400

New firmware has improved the performance of EnGenius' single-band N ceiling-mount access point.

Inside Story: Cisco Linksys EA Series

Tim Higgins — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:41:00 -0400

Updated - We peeked inside Cisco's new Linksys E and EA routers so that you don't have to.

Buffalo Shipping Draft 802.11ac Router In June

Tim Higgins — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:33:00 -0400

Updated - Buffalo plans to ship its first 802.11ac products in June.

Cisco Linksys EA3500 Dual-Band N750 Router with Gigabit and USB Reviewed

Tim Higgins — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:30:00 -0400

We take our first look at Cisco's new Linksys "App Enabled" line with the EA3500.

Cisco Announces Smart Wi-Fi Router Line

Tim Higgins — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:00:15 -0400

Cisco has unveiled a line of "app enabled" routers.

EnGenius Releases Free AP Controller Software

Tim Higgins — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:46:40 -0400

EnGenius has announced control software for its line of wireless access points and bridges.

Amped Wireless R10000G Retest

Tim Higgins — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:43:50 -0400

Our quick retest of Amped Wireless' R10000G hasn't changed our mind about its failure to deliver "extreme wireless coverage".

EnGenius XtraRange Routers Hit The Shelves

Tim Higgins — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:04:38 -0400

EnGenius has begun shipping a new family of "extended-range" wireless routers.

TP-LINK TL-WR700N Reviewed

Scott DeLeeuw — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:50:00 -0400

Updated - Need a pocket-sized, budget-friendly 802.11bgn AP, router, bridge, client, repeater? TP-LINK thinks it's got one you'll like. Us? We're not so convinced.

MetaGeek Takes Wireless Packet Analysis Visual

Tim Higgins — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:40:41 -0400

MetaGeek's wireless visual packet analysis product has exited beta.

D-Link DIR-605L Cloud Router Reviewed

Tim Higgins — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:46:00 -0500

Updated: D-Link's DIR-605L Cloud Router is a decent entry-level 802.11bgn router, but not really very cloud-enabled.

Amped Wireless R10000G Reviewed

Scott DeLeeuw — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:50:00 -0500

Updated - Amped Wireless' R10000G has impressive routing and wireless throughput. But it doesn't live up to its "long range" promise.

NETGEAR Shipping Simultaneous Dual-Band Bridge/Repeater

Tim Higgins — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:09:08 -0500

NETGEAR has begun shipments of a simultaneous dual-band wireless extender and bridge it announced at CES.

Why 802.11ac Will Kill The 5 GHz Wi-Fi Band

Tim Higgins — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:50:00 -0500

Updated - 802.11ac is all about faster wireless. But it will eat up most of the 5 GHz band to do it.

Qualcomm Atheros Takes Off Running In the 802.11ac Race

Tim Higgins — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:44:27 -0500

Qualcomm Atheros has joined the 802.11ac competition with five irons in the fire.

TI Rolls Out 5-in-1 Wireless Chips

Tim Higgins — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:00:00 -0500

Texas Instruments has introduced a family of five-in-one wireless devices.

Broadcom Announces 802.11ac SoC

Tim Higgins — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:19:51 -0500

Broadcom has announced a single-chip 802.11ac device.

ASUS RT-N66U Dark Knight Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router Reviewed

Tim Higgins — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:58:00 -0500

Updated - ASUS' RT-N66U "Dark Knight" router is causing quite a stir. Our full review's wireless performance tests confirm the reason why.

Amped Wireless Ships Gigabit N High Power Router

Tim Higgins — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:49:00 -0500

Amped Wireless said it has started to ship its new high-power wireless router.

How To Test A Wireless Router

Tim Higgins — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:36:00 -0500

If you'd like to benchmark your router accurately, here's a simple way to do it.

Waiting For The WPS Fix

Tim Higgins — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:07:44 -0500

Update 5 - Yes, Wi-Fi Protected Setup is broken. Here's what vendors are doing to fix it and steps you can take in the meantime.

It Takes A Neighborhood To Fix Bad Wireless

Scott DeLeeuw — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:00:00 -0500

Taking a social approach to fixing wireless problems can reap unexpected benefits.

TRENDnet TEW-680MB 450Mbps Dual Band Wireless N HD Media Bridge Reviewed

Tim Higgins — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:55:24 -0500

TRENDnet's dual-band three-stream N bridge can produce some really high throughput.

TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router Reviewed

Craig Ellison — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:27:00 -0500

The TP-LINK TL-TL-WR1043ND isn't too bad for an under $60 single-band 802.11n router with Gigabit ports.

Cisco Linksys E4200V2 Maximum Performance Dual-Band N N900 Router Reviewed

Tim Higgins — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:52:39 -0500

The Linksys E4200V2 may have completely new innards. But its performance compared to the original is more alike than different.

Cisco Unveils 'N 900' Router

Tim Higgins — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:29:41 -0500

Cisco has officially announced a simultaneous dual-band 802.11abgn router supporting three-stream N on both bands.

NETGEAR Shipping Mac-Friendlier Router

Tim Higgins — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:08:27 -0500

NETGEAR says it has produced its first router with Mac-specific features.

D-Link DIR-827 HD Media Router 2000 Reviewed

Tim Higgins — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:28:00 -0500

D-Link's second member of its "HD Media Router" line has much better wireless performance than its first.

Buffalo's Bumps Up Warranty Length

Tim Higgins — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:26:39 -0500

Buffalo has added a year to the warranty on all its wireless products and switches.

EnGenius EAP-300 802.11 N Multi-Function Access Point Reviewed

Tim Higgins — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:00:00 -0500

EnGenius' EAP-300 may look nice on your ceiling, but it's not a great performer.

New To The Charts: TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router

Tim Higgins — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:13:00 -0500

The TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router has been tested and added to the Router Charts.

NETGEAR WNDR4500 Retest

Tim Higgins — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:39:00 -0500

We've changed our dual-stream test client and retested the WNDR4500.

Crappy Wireless Performance? It Could Be Your Laptop

Tim Higgins — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:57:00 -0400

If your wireless performance isn't what you think it should be, don't blame your router. It could be your notebook.

Amped Wireless Announces High Power N Router and Repeater

Tim Higgins — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:48:50 -0400

Amped Wireless has announced a wireless router and repeater that both claim 10,000 square feet of coverage.

TRENDnet Shipping Dual-Band 450 Mbps Wireless N Bridge

Tim Higgins — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:34:15 -0400

TRENDnet has started to ship a dual-band three-stream N wireless bridge.