* 802.11g WLAN gear from SMC and Netgear
Vendors are rushing to ship 802.11g wireless LAN gear, and the Reviewmeister is rushing to test them.
Let’s start with the SMC2804WBR. SMC crammed bridge, routing and firewall applications into this access point and four-port router that’s compatible Windows and Apple 802.11b/g networks.
The 2804, also known as the Barricade g, can be set up via wizard or with Advanced Setup. The advanced setup includes options for system control functions, WAN/LAN setup, wireless configuration (Service Set Identifier and choice of pure 802.11g or 802.11b/g mixed mode). The 2804’s twin antennas are removable, and can be replaced with other wireless LAN antennas designed for 802.11b gear.
The firewall control uses a combination of access controls, coupled to a stateful inspection. Various combinations of features also can be enabled to increase security via a user-defined filter table, MAC filtering, specific user-defined URL blocking, scheduled access and intrusion detection. The default settings were adequate for most small office/home office (SOHO) users. The browser interface makes poor use of screen dimensions, which made log viewing difficult.
The performance of the SMC was linear in our walkabout test and, like other units tested, fell back to 802.11b speeds when an 802.11b device was associated with it. In the pure 802.11g mode, performance was near average.
Netgear WG602
Simplicity sometimes can mean bliss – the WG602 is a simple, no-frills access point without SOHO features. The setup was one of the simplest of all the units tested, if only because there aren’t many features and options to choose. WEP is supported, both 64- and 128-bit.
Like other Netgear access points, the WG602 is accessed via a browser interface. Because this isn’t a SOHO product, setup is focused more on network personnel. We couldn’t find a way to force the WG602 into a strict 802.11g mode, although when 802.11b clients were around we didn’t find the bandwidth cannibalization normally found.
We thought that the Netgear 802.11a/b/g adapter card would run most quickly with the WG602, but oddly it was the SMC wireless LAN card that performed best with it. WG602 also had linear performance in our walkabout test, and was an above average performer in the mixed 802.11b/g mode.
For the full report, go to https://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2003/0512rev11g.html
