Specifications

Reviews
MAXIMUMPC JANUARY 2005
80
A
s 802.11g enters middle age,
lots of decent hardware is
becoming available at more-
than-decent prices. We’re also
starting to see some crazy new
hardware with boldly ambitious
attempts at improved functionality.
Of course, with wild and crazy inno-
vations come horrible failures and
embarrassing missteps. Read on for
the gory details.
—WILL SMITH
Buffalo Technology WHR3-G54
Buffalo’s WHR3-G54 looks like a
standard 802.11g router, but a little
digging under the hood reveals a few
novel adjustments. Most notably,
configuring new clients to connect to
the access point has become as easy as
clicking a button, thanks to Buffalo’s
AirStation One-Touch Secure System
(AOSS) technology. To make it work,
you simply push the AOSS button on
the access point, and then
click a button on the app that
comes bundled with the net-
work card.
Of course, there’s always
a catch with proprietary
technology. As you might
imagine, AOSS only works
with other Buffalo cards and
access points, so if you have
a laptop with built-in Wi-Fi,
you’re outta luck. Ditto when
you want to connect a Buffalo
card–equipped laptop to a
third-party access point—
you’ll have to type in your 26-
digit WEP key to do it.
The WHR3-G54 uses
Broadcom’s enhanced
802.11g chipset, which can
tap multiple channels
to gain faster transfer
speeds. We’re not huge
fans of this technology
because it tends to hog
two or three Wi-Fi chan-
nels without granting a
significant performance boost.
We’re very unhappy with the nomen-
clature on the WHR3-G54’s box,
which implies that High-Speed mode
will work with all 802.11g hardware,
when it only works with cards that
use the Broadcom chipset. Boo! hiss!
Performance was what we’ve come to
expect from Broadcom-powered hard-
ware, with a maximum throughput of
22.4Mb/s on our file transfer test, in the
standard 802.11g mode. While we
didn’t notice a decrease in range, we’re
surprised Buffalo doesn’t include an
external antenna (though you can buy
one as an option and attach it to the
unit). This access point isn’t the best
we’ve tested, but its low price—less than
$60 street—adds some verve to an oth-
erwise commonplace router.
ParkerVision WR1500
The front of the box for
ParkerVision’s WR1500 promises
lots of stuff we love to see: “Max
Outdoor Distance! Max Indoor
Coverage!” When we checked the
back of the box, we saw another
promising claim: “Guaranteed to
Outperform ANY Wireless Router!”
A fourth exclamation promises:
“1 Mile Wireless!” But these bold
claims are backed up with such
vague language—“Compatible with
any 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11b/g
compliant wireless adapters”—we
couldn’t tell if ParkerVision’s
WR1500 was an 802.11b or
802.11g router.
Truth is, the WR1500 is an 802.11b
router, and as you can see from the
benchmark chart below, this old-
school spec is no competition for the
802.11g variety.
The exception was in our long-
range tests. While the signal in our
office park environment couldn’t be
reached from a distance anywhere
close to one mile, the range was com-
parable to the best 802.11g routers
we’ve tested, and the WR1500’s
signal was strong throughout our
building and into the parking lot.
We received the best range using the
included ParkerVision access card,
but coverage was decent even with
an integrated Wi-Fi card.
Unfortunately, because the router
only uses the 802.11b spec, it’s pain-
fully slow, even at maximum range.
It took nearly five times as long to
transfer our 724MB test file as it did
using the Buffalo router reviewed
here. What’s worse, the WR1500 isn’t
even certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance,
so there’s no guarantee this router will
work with non-ParkerVision hardware.
When ParkerVision releases 802.11g
hardware that’s Wi-Fi certified, we’ll
take a look at it. Until then, we recom-
mend you stay away.
Stupid Wi-Fi Tricks
An 802.11g router battles a bombastic 802.11b router
Look, Ma, no antenna! For some reason,
Buffalo doesn’t ship an external antenna
with the WHR3-G54. Fortunately, it didn’t
have a discernable impact on range.
It’s a pretty black box, but the
ParkerVision WR1500’s slow
802.11b transfer speeds are to
be avoided at all costs.
Time to transfer a single 724MB MPEG4 video is measured on an isolated wireless network.
BENCHMARKS
Buffalo WHR3-G54 ParkerVision WR1500
Wired to wireless (min:sec) 4:18 20:59
Wireless to wired (min:sec)
4:51 19:52
A decent price and acceptable performance make
this AP an acceptable choice for budget shoppers.
WATER BUFFALO
PLAIN BUFFALO
Proprietary technology has limited usefulness,
external antenna should be included.
$80, www.buffalotech.com
8
MAXIMUMPC
VERDICT
Buffalo Tech WHR3-G54
This router meets its range claims—kind of.
1 MILE
1 FURLONG
802.11b, no Wi-Fi certification, and it’s slow as hell.
$200, www.parkervision.com
3
MAXIMUMPC
VERDICT
ParkerVision WR1500