Wireless cable/DSL router: BUFFALO Wireless 54 Mbps Cable/DSL Router

The highlight of this 802.11g based-wireless router is its 'One-Touch Secure Connection with AOSS' (AirStation One-Touch Secure System). This lets users set up secure wireless connections at the push of a button. AOSS detects other AOSS-enabled wireless clients, creates secure connections between them and allows encrypted communication. This saves you the hassles of configuring WEP manually, which is the case with most wireless routers. At the clients end, you need a BUFFALO wireless adapter or an Intel Centrino-based notebook with the BUFFALO Client Manager software. The router has a Web interface for configuration and a built-in DHCP server, IDS and firewall. It has four Ethernet ports that allow you to connect wired clients to the router. We tested the router for throughput, latency and streaming rates it could provide to a notebook with an 802.11g wireless card from BUFFALO. We used NetIQ's Qcheck software.

The access point and card gave a maximum and constant throughput of 26 Mbps at 100% signal, which is the highest in all 802.11g access points we've reviewed till date. We streamed data for about 15 mins and got a sustained throughput of 379 Kbps and lost 1.3% of data. A notable feature of the WiFi card is an option to enable or disable protection from Bluetooth interference, and this was very effective.

The bottom line: A good buy for small offices given its ease of use and performance.

Sanjay Majumder