Belkin Wireless Pre-N router

ci5co · Web Design Newbie Joined: Aug 18, 2004 Posts: 91

Belkin Wireless Pre-N router

Reviewed by Allen Fear of CNET

Edited by Lindsey Turrentine

Reviewed August 18, 2004

Belkin's Wireless Pre-N router is the first networking device to tout quasi-802.11n performance, but we'll likely see more such overachievers in the coming months. Never heard of 802.11n? The upcoming technology is expected to replace 802.11g as the new high-performance networking standard of choice, but formal IEEE ratification probably won't come until late 2005. In the meantime, Belkin plans to help pave the way with networking devices designed to increase both the throughput and the range of standards-based Wi-Fi gear. The new Pre-N router achieves these enhancements with the help of a smart antenna technology called MIMO.

Upside: MIMO, which stands for multiple input/multiple output, uses a single channel for multiple data streams. Belkin claims that MIMO increases both the range and throughput of its Pre-N router by 200 percent over standard Wi-Fi gear, but mileage will vary, depending on the physical environment of your wireless network. Belkin also claims that its new router will be less susceptible to interference and will interact less with neighboring networks than the channel-bonding products that use the Atheros chipset, such as the D-Link DI-624 and the Netgear WGT624. The Belkin Pre-N router is also Wi-Fi certified for backward compatibility with 802.11b and 802.11g devices, which means you can use it with off-the-shelf Wi-Fi gear from other makers.

Downside: Although Belkin guarantees the Pre-N router's backward compatibility, forward compatibility with the future true 802.11n products is another matter. There's really no telling now exactly what technological nuances we'll find under 802.11n's hood or whether MIMO will even end up in the final IEEE spec. In other words, there's a fair chance you'll lose the performance enhancements of Belkin's new router when you use it with 802.11n gear, once the spec is ratified. Also, in order to take full advantage of the enhanced speed and range, you must use one of Belkin's Pre-N PC Card adapters to connect to the router. Both the router and the PC Card are two to three times more expensive than the standard 802.11g equipment currently on shelves, so this "pre-n" solution comes at a cost.

Outlook: MIMO may become the technology that brings us 802.11n in the coming months, or it may be upstaged by a competing solution and land on the scrapheap of promising technologies. Time will tell.

Today, 802.11g equipment will aptly serve most homes and offices, but as the number of wireless networks increases, interference between adjacent networks will result. If MIMO indeed boosts range and throughput by 200 percent, however, Belkin's Pre-N router will be a great alternative to existing 802.11g products. This is especially true if you're planning a network in what you know is a noisy area with a number of neighboring networks or other sources of interference.

Basic specs for Belkin Wireless Pre-N router
Form Factor: External
Connectivity Technology: Wired,Wireless
Data Transfer Rate: 108
Data Link Protocol: Ethernet,IEEE 802.11b,IEEE 802.11g,Fast Ethernet
Switching Protocol: Ethernet
Transport Protocol: PPTP,IPSec,PPPoE,TCP/IP,UDP/IP
Remote Management Protocol: HTTP
Features: NAT support,Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI),DHCP support
Compliant Standards: IEEE 802.11g,IEEE 802.11b,Draft Standard 802.11n
Bandwidth: 2.4
Routing Protocol: RIP-1
Compatibility: PC,Mac,Linux

Read more here:-
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Belkin_Wireless_Pre_N_router/4505-3319_16-30993672-2.html?tag=top
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