Linksys. Each Linksys component came with a quick installation guide and a driver/utility CD-ROM. To set up the WAP11 Instant Wireless Network Access Point, I connected its two detachable antenna, plugged in the AC power adapter, and connected the AP to my network switch with the included Cat 5 Ethernet cable. The AP was easy to configure using the GUI Setup Wizard on the included CD-ROM, which I ran from a Windows system physically connected to the same network that the AP is attached to. The Linksys AP includes an integrated Web-based browser utility, which let me manage activities on a wired or wireless node. The Linksys wireless adapters required that I run the Setup Wizard and select configuration options before I installed the hardware. This approach didn't affect the time it took me to install the product, but it might be a "gotcha" for those who like to jump in before reading the directions. The Setup Wizard asked me to choose either infrastructure or ad hoc mode, then choose either the communication channel or Service Set ID (SSID) depending on which mode I selected. (For information about service sets, see the Web-exclusive sidebar "ESS and BSS Service Sets," http://www.winnetmag.com, InstantDoc ID 26408.) After I reviewed the settings, the wizard installed the software and drivers and rebooted the computer. The software reported that the PCI card firmware was old and automatically performed a firmware upgrade from the included CD-ROM. After effortless installations of the WMP11 Instant Wireless PCI Card and WUSB11 Instant Wireless USB Network Adapter, I was surprised to have a problem installing the WPC11 Instant Wireless Network PC Card in my laptop. A call to Linksys technical support revealed that the printed instructions for installing the card under XP weren't up-to-date for version 3.0 of the hardware I was testing. The support technician stepped me through the process of removing the conflicting driver and installing the XP-supplied driver. The CF card installation was simple, and like the SMC process, used ActiveSync to install the drivers and configuration utility on my Pocket PC device. Aside from the PC Card problem, the Linksys devices installed easily and I was communicating at 11Mbps from all nodes in about 65 minutes.
D-Link. The D-Link components each came with quick installation guides and user's manuals, and a CD-ROM containing device drivers and .pdf versions of the documentation. You can use either the USB Configuration Utility from a nonnetworked node or the SNMP Management Utility from the networked managing computer to configure the D-LinkAir DWL-900AP wireless AP; both utilities install from the included CD-ROM. The USB Configuration Utility provides the easiest initial setup, but because it requires a USB connection to the managing computer, I used the SNMP Management Utility for initial configuration and ongoing management. The DWL-900AP uses one antenna instead of a dipole configuration. Theoretically, this design would detract from the AP's coverage range, but the only place in which I noticed a relatively weak signal was on the desktop with the D-LinkAir DWL-520 wireless PCI adapter installed. All the D-Link adapters worked at 11Mbps and were easy to install, including the D-LinkAir DCF-650W/K CF wireless adapter. Like the other CF card adapters, DCF-650W/K used ActiveSync to load the appropriate software onto the Pocket PC device.
NETGEAR. Each of the NETGEAR components came with an installation guide and CD-ROM containing drivers and documentation for the respective product; unfortunately, NETGEAR's electronic and printed documentation was barely adequate. You can use a USB utility or SNMP utility, either of which you can install from the CD-ROM, to configure the dual-antenna-equipped NETGEAR ME102 802.11b Wireless Access Point. The AP doesn't support DHCP, so you must either configure your PC with an IP address to match the AP's default subnet or use the USB utility for initial configuration. I used the USB utility to set up an initial IP address, then used the SNMP utility to configure other security-related options. The MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card and MA101 802.11b Wireless USB Adapter were easy to set up and connect to the NETGEAR AP. The MA301 802.11b Wireless PCI Adapter also worked well, but it acts only as a carrier for the NETGEAR PC Card. NETGEAR shipped only one PC Card, so I had to test it in the laptop first, then put it in the PCI carrier and install the PCI adapter in the desktop. Because of this extra step, I spent a little more time installing and testing the NETGEAR components. Overall, the equipment provided full 11Mbps throughput from all computers and boasted impressive range.
Efficient Networks. The SpeedStream wireless networking components each came with a quick start guide and a CD-ROM containing drivers and documentation. The SpeedStream SS2623 Wireless DSL/Cable Router serves as Efficient's home AP. Although the device includes additional functionality, I tested only base AP-specific functionality. Initially, the dual-antenna-equipped AP acts as a DHCP server, so by letting the AP assign an IP address to my workstation, I was in the correct IP address range to attach to the Web-based configuration utility. I installed the SpeedStream SS1021 Wireless PCMCIA Card and SpeedStream SS1022 Wireless USB Adapter, but because of some misleading documentation regarding the XP driver for the USB device and lack of information regarding installing the PC Card under XP, the installation was an exercise in trial and error. The SpeedStream SS1023 Wireless PCI Adapter is only a PC Card carrier and doesn't include the wireless PC Card. I first tested the Efficient wireless PC Card in the laptop, then installed the PC card in the PCI carrier and tested the device's functionality in the Win2K desktop computer. Both installations, as well as the wireless USB adapter-equipped computer installation, connected with 11Mbps throughput.
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