craig mathias
Principal

How we tested wireless LAN products

Reviews
Nov 17, 20082 mins

All products were obtained from company Web sites, downloaded, and installed on our test PCs – either a Dell 710m notebook running XP SP2, or a 2.8 GHz. 24-inch iMAC equipped with a Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 Wi-Fi adapter and running OS X 10.4. Each product was then put through its paces, checking every option, and compared for accuracy against our reference, the Intel ProSet/Wireless console, with no significant differences noted.

All products were obtained from company Web sites, downloaded, and installed on our test PCs – either a Dell 710m notebook running XP SP2, or a 2.8GHz. 24-inch iMAC equipped with a Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 Wi-Fi adapter and running OS X 10.4. Each product was then put through its paces, checking every option, and compared for accuracy against our reference, the Intel ProSet/Wireless console, with no significant differences noted. We produced an enumerated set of features and noted the advantages and disadvantages of each product, along with its relevance to enterprise use.

It is legally important to note that in this testing we only explored connections throughout our own internal network. Use of Wi-Fi discovery tools in some parts of the world (for example, Germany, under law StGB §202c) to intercept, examine or otherwise exploit network traffic that is not yours is illegal.

We are therefore, given Network World’s primary audience of enterprise networking professionals, making the information in this article available for educational and internal corporate networking operations purposes only. Neither Farpoint Group nor Network World condones the use of any networking technology for illegal purposes.

Client-side Wi-Fi Discovery tools aid in WLAN management >

craig mathias

Craig J. Mathias is a principal with Farpoint Group, an advisory firm specializing in wireless networking and mobile computing. Founded in 1991, Farpoint Group works with technology developers, manufacturers, carriers and operators, enterprises, and the financial community. Craig is an internationally-recognized industry and technology analyst, consultant, conference speaker, author, columnist, and blogger. He regularly writes for Network World, CIO.com, and TechTarget. Craig holds an Sc.B. degree in Computer Science from Brown University, and is a member of the Society of Sigma Xi and the IEEE.

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