 |
INTRODUCTION
D-Link's 802.11a/b networking products equated to the NextGen Electronics
Product of the Year award. Now, they come to the market with what looks
on the surface as an even better group of products in their 802.11g extreme
wireless network. So that leads to this - Quick question hotshot ....
what's the speed of a 801.11g wireless network? I bet you said 54Mbps.
Well, D-Link has the technology to prove you wrong. Don't understand?
That's because D-Link has proprietary technology that touts as the world's
fastest 802.11G wireless network - screaming along at a blazing 108Mbps.
Is this just marketing hype? Is this done with smoke and mirrors? Does
this 802.11G technology work at all? Even if this super-duper fast technology
work, will it work with other wireless technologies such as 802.11b or
another manufacturer's 802.11g's wireless products? Read on and find out,
and I'' make the guarantee to you now, you'll be stunned.
description of technology
The D-Link Xtreme G with 108 upgrade employs five cutting-edge
hardware-based compression technologies to achieve a significant boost
in performance within the 2.4GHz frequency range.
Packet Bursting: The packet bursting technique
puts more data into a single transmission, allowing more raw data to be
stuffed into each packet and as a result not only delivers much more data,
but also executes this process with less traffic on the network. Packet
bursting transforms lengthy binary code into simple equations, resulting
in an overall reduction in the number of 1s and 0s being sent over the
network. It is also the technique defined as one of the methods for performance
improvement in the IEEE 802.11e QOS draft standard.
Fast Frames: The fast frames technique
enhances data throughput by increasing the number of bits sent per data
frame and accelerating the timing of a data frame with a dynamic transmit
optimizations. This technology enhances the Packet Bursting capability
synergistically to provide accelerated performance results. The fast frames
technique is also based on the 802.11e QOS draft standard.
Hardware Compression and Encryption: Xtreme
G uses the Atheros AR5002 chipset which employs special engines to compress
and encrypt data. These hardware engines operate in real-time to enhance
throughput by implementing standard algorithms and compressing data prior
to transmission and after reception.
Multi-Channel Bonding: Multi-Channel Bonding
embraces two radio channels simultaneously. It collapses the available
channels from 12 to 6 for increased bandwidth on the available channels.
Single and double channels are not run at the same time. This technology
senses single channel and dual channel frames and negotiates time-based
solutions with priority on single channel processing.
Select Mode: Select Mode gives users the
option of locking the Xtreme G products into a Static mode (instead of
the default Dynamic mode) for even higher performance within a complete
D-Link 108Mbps Xtreme G environment.
installation
Well, this is a section that really determines a lot for
me as an editor in the final ratings of these products. If the wireless
networking devices can't be installed by someone other than an expert,
it serves of little social value to consumers. Fortunately, the experts
here at NextGen Electronics had at their disposal three machines: A top
flight 1.7GHz AMD system with Windows XP, a nice Intel 1.4GHz laptop with
Windows ME, and a crappy Compaq PIII 600MHz with Windows 98.
We installed the DI-624 router/access point with the cable
modem (it's a matter of simply plugging the sucker in). We installed the
PCI card into the Windows XP system, the Compaq directly into the router,
and used both the cardbus 802.11g card AND the 802.11b USB thumbdrive
we reviewed a few weeks back.
The Windows XP machine installed with such ease we were
stunned. Install the drivers on the included CD, pop in the card, start
it up, and you're done - that simple. It's a double compliment to both
D-Link and Microsoft for making products that simply WORK. The Compaq
machine took some serious coaxing, only because the damn thing would freeze
on bootup, but eventually found the router and worked just fine. The laptop,
with both the PCMCIA cardbus adapter, and the USB 802.11B thumbdrive,
got installed with some troubleshooting, and eventually saw some fantastic
results. All in all we set up the router/access point (DI-624), the PCI
card (DI-G520), the Cardbus Adapter (DI-G650), and a USB thumbdrive 802.11b
(different vendor) in less than 3 hours total. Honestly, if all the machines
had Windows XP installed, I think the installation would have taken one-third
the time.
SO what are you getting?
DI-624 802.11G 108Mbps Router & Access Point
The D-Link 802.11g DI-624 Xtreme G features robust security
to protect the wireless network from intruders, complying with the latest
wireless networking security protocols, including WEP encryption and Wi-Fi
Protected Access (WPA) support for both 802.1x and WPA-PSK. The DI-624
is also capable of supporting the government-grade AES encryption and
upcoming 802.11i standards. A new free firmware upgrades D-Link 802.11g
Xtreme G products to deliver the Industry’s fastest performance,
up to 15 times faster than 802.11b. At 108Mbps data bandwidth the 802.11g
D-Link Xtreme G DI-624 with enhanced 108 delivers excellent and consistent
data rate throughput. >> A quick note, in PC Magazine's review of
this product, they deducted points because it lacked an "802.11g
only mode" - from the screenshot above you can see that this device
actually DOES include this feature ... I have no idea what the boys over
there were thinkin' ;)
DWL-G520 D-Link Xtreme G 802.11g Wireless PCI Adapter
for Desktop PCs
The D-Link Xtreme G DWL-G520 is a powerful 32-bit PCI adapter
that installs quickly and easily into desktop computers. Like all D-Link
wireless adapters, the DWL-G520 can be used in ad-hoc mode to connect
directly with other cards for peer-to-peer file sharing or in infrastructure
mode to connect with a wireless access point or router for access to the
Internet in your office or home network. The DWL-G520 Xtreme G features
robust security to help protect the wireless network from intruders, complying
with the latest wireless networking security protocols, including WEP
encryption and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) support for both 802.1x and
WPA-PSK. This product is capable of supporting the government-grade AES
encryption and upcoming 802.11i standards. The DWL-G520 also includes
a configuration utility to discover available wireless networks and create
and save detailed connectivity profiles for those networks most often
accessed.
DWL-G650 D-Link Xtreme G 802.11g Wireless CardBus
Adapter for Laptops
 The
D-Link Xtreme G DWL-G650 is a powerful 32-bit CardBus adapter that installs
quickly and easily into laptop. Like all D-Link wireless adapters, the
DWL-G650 can be used in ad-hoc mode to connect directly with other cards
for peer-to-peer file sharing or in infrastructure mode to connect with
a wireless access point or router for access to the Internet in your office
or home network.
Performance
Well we have to be honest here, we ran a few tests to make
sure this sucker did in fact run at 54Mbps (well above any internet connection
provides in homes), then D-Link makes this announcement that a firmware
upgrade for their 802.11g AirPlusExtremeG takes it up a level to 108Mbps!
To be honest, we were all a little dubious as to the performance or even
its viability. But if you're a regular here at NextGen Electronics, then
you know that D-Link is a company that's consistently wow-ed us with their
products.
Testing the D-Link Wireless network (the Access Point and
the DWL-A520 PCI adapter) was done with the help of NetIQ's Qcheck software,
which is freeware and can be downloaded by clicking
here.
 On
the computer that the Wireless PCI adapter was installed on, Windows XP
shows a very, very consistent throughput level. With the remote computer
in a room separated from the access point by two separate walls, we got
a consistent throughput rate of .... yep you guessed it 108.0 Mbps , as
shown in the screen shot. Frankly speaking, we were stunned. It really
does work at 108 Mbps! Now just what on Earth do you need to be running
that fast for? Who cares!??! You can do it! That's cool enough isn't it?
To be running the fastest wireless network on the planet? Well, internet
speeds shouldn't be affected too much by this firmware upgrade, but peer-to-peer
networking should see, well, a doubling in performance.
Using the Qcheck software, we tested both the response time test, which
Qcheck returns the minimum, maximum and average number of seconds it took
to complete a transaction and a throughput test, which returns the amount
of data per second that was successfully sent between the two endpoints.
FAR TESTS (remote computer approximately 50 feet away, and through
3 solid walls):
The Response Time test yielded an average response time of 2.4 ms.
The Throughput tests yielded an average mbps of 29.5Mbps.
We were quite surprised that the network performed this well at this range
... 50 feet for goodness sakes. We are still confused as to legitimacy
for these numbers - they just don't SEEM POSSIBLE! But we've used these
tests before with absolute surety, and never been let down before ...
so maybe it's true. Maybe the God of Wireless Networking has come down
from computer heaven... I'm becoming a believer for sure.
Close Tests (remote computer exactly 5 feet away, unobstructed):
The Response Time test yielded an average response time of 0.0
ms. (0?? 0!!! We tried pinging too, yep, 0).
The Throughput tests yielded an average mbps of 51.13.
Uhhh...wow. Obviously, no idiot on Earth would set up a
wireless network with a computer less than 5 feet away, so the performance
of this test has little relevancy. Nevertheless, with such network performance,
it's easy to tell that this equipment performs above and beyond all expectations.
Overall Impressions
Configuring the network is an easy affair. D-Link's Web
browser–based router configuration system accesses a wizard in the
device's firmware - which should be upgraded upon purchase of the product
(very easy to do). The web interface provides users with a wide range
of access and control settings. If you need to free up ports or configure
certain parameters that are specific, the hassle should be minimal with
these products.
Installation was relatively easy. Obviously with older computers
that freeze and use archaic operating systems, you'll have some trouble,
but that's more on Microsoft than anything. If you have XP installed on
your system, expect a very easy and quick installation in your home network.
Devices install very easily as well.
The fact that this wireless network upgraded to 108Mbps
is reason alone to make it your first look at the electronics store when
you go shopping. The fact that this is a mid-priced solution that won't
break your budget is reason alone to make it your first choice during
researching what to buy. The fact that the tech-support of D-Link has
won several awards and our own experience here at NGE was top notch (called
in on the regular line) should be reason enough to justify the purchase
to your significant other. The fact that the products are affordably priced
is reason enough for salespeople to recommend the products to people that
may not have looked into D-Link in the past.
If you put all those things together, you get a slam-dunk
Editor's Choice award. The D-Link AirPlusExtremeG networking line is easily
the fastest, most stable, and reliable line of wireless products we've
ever seen. We seriously could have taken another 3 weeks to dissect this
network to play around with the 108Mbps and see some ridiculous numbers
... and we probably will.
 |
|
10 / 10 |
OVERALL SCORE
98%
|
 |
10 / 10 |
 |
9 / 10 |
 |
10 / 10 |
 |
10 / 10 |
 |
9.8 /
10 |
|
|
|
)
)
)
)
