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INTRODUCTION
Wireless networking technology debuted a few years ago, and later a standard
of 802.11b was developed. Wireless networking is usually met with curiosity
from potential buyers who ask themselves, "Does it really work like
they say it does? Is it stable? How expensive does it get - and is it
worth the price?" With the advent of the new 802.11a standard which
allows for high speed transfer rates, wireless networking is now a cost
effective solution for your small-office / home office network.
D-Link is a company that is world renowned for their
top-of-the-line products, from MP3 players to networking solutions. Their
fantastic PR department is now touting their 802.11a wireless networking
system because they believe it's one of the best in the market.
description of technology
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Included with our kit was the D-Link AirPro DWL-5000AP
which serves as an access point between the PCI card on the remote computer
and your network router. Typical installation in the home or small office
involves connecting the Access Point to a broadband connection - Cable
or DSL - to computers with installed 802.11a wireless adapters. Ideally
in a business environment, the D-Link DWL-5000AP Access Point is installed
to extend the "wired" network to areas such as a warehouse,
conference room, or other venue where cable installation maybe difficult
to implement - in our case its a room that's separated from the rest of
the facility.
The D-Link AirPro DWL-5000AP provides the convenience of
wireless networking with connection speeds of up to 72 Mbps and has a
10/100Mbps port to allow connection to an existing "wired" network.
Each computer will require an 802.11a wireless adapters
such as the D-Link DWL-A650 for laptops or the D-Link DWL-A520 (included
in this review) for desktops.
At 54 Mega bits per second (Mbps), the D-LinkAir Pro 5GHz
DWL-A520 highspeed wireless PCI adapter delivers very impressive wireless
performance. With IEEE 802.11a standard compliance, the D-LinkAir Pro
DWL-A520 highspeed wireless adapter is designed for indoor use and provides
excellent network scalability - even when tested between multiple walls.
The D-Link DWL-A520 PCI card, along with the entire D-Link
AirPro
line, features a "turbo" mode offering a proprietary “Turbo”
mode feature allows to operate at significantly greater bandwidth data
rates up to 72 Mbps. Eight non-overlapping channels create less interference,
which delivers higher average cell throughput. The unit duplexes its signal
over 2 channels which allows the greater throughput. However, it seems
that when strained through severe obstacles (4 or 5 thick walls and a
great distance) or even if a DirecTV system is nearby, it interferes with
the Turbo Mode. (Note: We were told that DirecTV's signal is also on a
5GHz signal, making these two products some of the only on the market).
The D-LinkAir DWL-A520 employs enhanced 152-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy
(WEP) network security to protect data from unauthorized access.
D-LinkAir Pro DWL-A520 PCI Card is installed inside
a PC to provide connectivity directly to another wirelessly enabled device
- in our case the D-Link Access Point.
installation
For some reason, I have a wonderful talent for overcomplicating
things. I had a tiny bit of a tough time installing the wireless network
because I set the Access Point to Turbo Mode first without establishing
a connection on normal mode first. After some guidance by the D-Link tech
support gurus, the wireless network was up and running.
Installation of the Access Point was extremely easy - simply
plug an ethernet cable from the back of the Access Point device into your
router, hub, or DSL/Cable Modem. The DWL-A520 PCI card installs inside
your machine quite easy, and the installation process for the PCI card
is a bit complicated, but with the help of the included "Video Tutorial"
installation CD-ROM and color printed installation booklet will guide
users through the process of setting up the adapter in your operating
system of choice.
Performance
 My
experience with wireless networking was limited to my former company,
when we tried out a 802.11b PCMCIA card on some laptops. The performance
was rather marginal with the signal being fairly consistent when unobstructed
to the access point.
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 5GHz Wireless PCI adapter was installed
on, Windows XP shows a consistent throughput level. With the remote computer
in a room separated from the access point by four separate walls, we got
a consistent throughput rate of 24.0 Mbps , as shown in the screen shot
above. When tested in the same room with the antennae sitting next to
each other, a 54.0 Mbps connection was made. It might say that the Signal
Strength was low, but overall, the signal strength is enough to make web
use and file sharing a very practical reality.
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 exactly 42 feet away, and through 4
solid walls):
The Response Time test yielded an average response time of 69.4 ms.
The Throughput tests yielded an average mbps of 4.5398.
The response time tests have to be quantified ... the response times were
taken one at a time every 15 seconds for 10 test times total. The response
times were : 3ms, 1ms, 2ms, 623ms, 4ms, 1ms, 1ms, 2ms, 1ms, 57ms. If you
take out the 623ms and 57ms response times, the average suddenly plummets
to 1.89ms! However, because of the reality that this is a wireless network,
there will be "hiccups" along the way when transferring files,
surfing the net, or downloading files.
Close Tests (remote computer exactly 5 feet away, unobstructed):
The Response Time test yielded an average response time of 1.0 ms.
The Throughput tests yielded an average mbps of 9.13.
So overall, the computer when placed right next to the access
point (on a desk near the access point 5 feet away to be exact), performs
unbelievably well. You actually have a tough time realizing that the computer
is connected via wireless networking. D-Link has definitely lived up to
its claims of performance!!!
Overall Impressions
We placed the computer consistently in the far room (again
42 feet away) as a bit of a worse case scenario for a small office environment.
The computer is now totally "network useable" and able to do
all the daily functions that any other computer in our work environment
does - surf the net, download log files, send email, transfer files from
one computer to another, and more. Considering the distance and the obstacles
in it's way the D-Link 802.11a network performs like a champ.
It should be noted that when downloading new files onto
the remote computer from our FTP site at an amazing 760kbps average transfer
rate! This unbelievable throughput makes this wireless networking system
*THE* one to buy. If you're in the market for a wireless networking system,
definitely pick up the D-Link 5GHz Access Point and the DWL-A520 PCI card.
We couldn't have imagined this product performing any better. The only
drawback is that this isn't cheap equipment, with the Access Point MSRP
at $299 and the PCI card in and around the $150 mark. But for $450, it
beats having to pay $50 a month for an indefinite period to a cable or
DSL service, for an addition modem in your work environment, if connecting
via ethernet isn't possible. Just think, in 9 months you've saved all
your money ... and over the course of three years, the wireless networking
system could save consumers $1,350. How's that for value!
D-Link should be commended for this fine wireless networking
system. It's the choice of this website, bar none. We take pride in reviewing
the latest high tech equipment, and it was a pleasure to review these
two products.
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10 / 10 |
OVERALL SCORE
98%
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10 / 10 |
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9 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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9.8 / 10 |
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