Wireless networking - 54G questions

Does anyone have any opinions on which manufacturer produces the "best" 54G
equipment (in particular PCI cards) or can you point me to some
(comparative?) reviews.

I am particularly interested in the following (or any other "good brands") :

Belkin
Buffalo
Linksys
Netgear

However, I am trying to find out if they are all roughly similar in
performance etc or if there is a reason the Belkin equipment seems to be
much cheaper than the rest here in the UK.

Also, does anyone know if these manufacturers intend to update their drivers
to take advantage of 802.11e technology such as that announced by Broadcom
(who I believe supply the chipset for most of the above) at
http://www.broadcom.com/docs/promoXpress_faq.html

Regards
Sunil




Sunil Sood

Try www.dlinks.co.uk



Earl

"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bjidhq$jf2q9$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Does anyone have any opinions on which manufacturer produces the "best"
54G
> equipment (in particular PCI cards) or can you point me to some
> (comparative?) reviews.
>
> I am particularly interested in the following (or any other "good brands")
:
>
> Belkin
> Buffalo
> Linksys
> Netgear
>
> However, I am trying to find out if they are all roughly similar in
> performance etc or if there is a reason the Belkin equipment seems to be
> much cheaper than the rest here in the UK.
>
> Also, does anyone know if these manufacturers intend to update their
drivers
> to take advantage of 802.11e technology such as that announced by Broadcom
> (who I believe supply the chipset for most of the above) at
> http://www.broadcom.com/docs/promoXpress_faq.html
>
> Regards
> Sunil
>
>

Sorry, http://www.dlink.co.uk/

Earl

"Earl Caravelle II" <caravelle-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bjidpt$jejtd$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Try www.dlinks.co.uk
>
>
>
> Earl
>
> "Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:bjidhq$jf2q9$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > Does anyone have any opinions on which manufacturer produces the "best"
> 54G
> > equipment (in particular PCI cards) or can you point me to some
> > (comparative?) reviews.
> >
> > I am particularly interested in the following (or any other "good
brands")
> :
> >
> > Belkin
> > Buffalo
> > Linksys
> > Netgear
> >
> > However, I am trying to find out if they are all roughly similar in
> > performance etc or if there is a reason the Belkin equipment seems to be
> > much cheaper than the rest here in the UK.
> >
> > Also, does anyone know if these manufacturers intend to update their
> drivers
> > to take advantage of 802.11e technology such as that announced by
Broadcom
> > (who I believe supply the chipset for most of the above) at
> > http://www.broadcom.com/docs/promoXpress_faq.html
> >
> > Regards
> > Sunil
> >
> >
>
>

My favourite at the moment is the Buffalo kit, since it supports WPA with
the latest firmware, and is relatively cheap.

"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bjidhq$jf2q9$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Does anyone have any opinions on which manufacturer produces the "best"
54G
> equipment (in particular PCI cards) or can you point me to some
> (comparative?) reviews.
>
> I am particularly interested in the following (or any other "good brands")
:
>
> Belkin
> Buffalo
> Linksys
> Netgear
>
> However, I am trying to find out if they are all roughly similar in
> performance etc or if there is a reason the Belkin equipment seems to be
> much cheaper than the rest here in the UK.
>
> Also, does anyone know if these manufacturers intend to update their
drivers
> to take advantage of 802.11e technology such as that announced by Broadcom
> (who I believe supply the chipset for most of the above) at
> http://www.broadcom.com/docs/promoXpress_faq.html
>
> Regards
> Sunil
>
>

> I am particularly interested in the following (or any other "good brands")
:
>
> Belkin
> Buffalo
> Linksys
> Netgear
>
> However, I am trying to find out if they are all roughly similar in
> performance etc or if there is a reason the Belkin equipment seems to be
> much cheaper than the rest here in the UK.
> Also, does anyone know if these manufacturers intend to update their
drivers
> to take advantage of 802.11e technology such as that announced by Broadcom
> (who I believe supply the chipset for most of the above) at
> http://www.broadcom.com/docs/promoXpress_faq.html

Almost all of the equipment you listed use the same chipset.made by
Broadcom. The performance and compatibility is the same across all the
range. I have a Buffalo 54G Router + Cardbus NIC and a Linksys 54G PCI Card
(in a desktop) all work well and give about 250% performance boost.

Really it comes down to the features you want.

www.54g.org

Regards,
Daniel

"Daniel Clarke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Almost all of the equipment you listed use the same chipset.made by
> Broadcom. The performance and compatibility is the same across all the
> range. I have a Buffalo 54G Router + Cardbus NIC and a Linksys 54G PCI
Card
> (in a desktop) all work well and give about 250% performance boost.
>
> Really it comes down to the features you want.

I guess then the question I should ask is what differences on features are
there?

As far as I can tell, since they all use the same chipset, support the same
standard etc - they are all almost identical.

What are the differences in the features offered (that I am obviously
missing!) that justify the price differential between the different
models/manufacturers.

Am currently interested mainly in PCI cards but all the reviews I have seen
appear to be for routers/access points of the PCIMA cards...

Regards
Sunil

Belkin, Buffalo and Linksys all use the Broadcom 54G chipset. Netgear is
using either Atheros or Intersil (or has two flavors).

Sunil Sood wrote:
> Does anyone have any opinions on which manufacturer produces the
> "best" 54G equipment (in particular PCI cards) or can you point me to
> some (comparative?) reviews.
>
> I am particularly interested in the following (or any other "good
> brands") :
>
> Belkin
> Buffalo
> Linksys
> Netgear
>
> However, I am trying to find out if they are all roughly similar in
> performance etc or if there is a reason the Belkin equipment seems to
> be much cheaper than the rest here in the UK.
>
> Also, does anyone know if these manufacturers intend to update their
> drivers to take advantage of 802.11e technology such as that
> announced by Broadcom (who I believe supply the chipset for most of
> the above) at http://www.broadcom.com/docs/promoXpress_faq.html
>
> Regards
> Sunil

--
Barb Bowman
Expert Zone Columnist
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
MS-MVP (Windows)

they all currently use the same base Broadcom drivers, so features and
performance are going to be pretty much the same among the Broadcom
vendors...the Buffalo G router (airstation) has more features and
configurability.

Sunil Sood wrote:
> "Daniel Clarke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Almost all of the equipment you listed use the same chipset.made by
>> Broadcom. The performance and compatibility is the same across all
>> the range. I have a Buffalo 54G Router + Cardbus NIC and a Linksys
>> 54G PCI Card (in a desktop) all work well and give about 250%
>> performance boost.
>>
>> Really it comes down to the features you want.
>
> I guess then the question I should ask is what differences on
> features are there?
>
> As far as I can tell, since they all use the same chipset, support
> the same standard etc - they are all almost identical.
>
> What are the differences in the features offered (that I am obviously
> missing!) that justify the price differential between the different
> models/manufacturers.
>
> Am currently interested mainly in PCI cards but all the reviews I
> have seen appear to be for routers/access points of the PCIMA cards...
>
> Regards
> Sunil

--
Barb Bowman
Expert Zone Columnist
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
MS-MVP (Windows)

I have found that the netgear kit goes a little further than the buffalo
kit. In my test setup, we have a Buffalo broadband router. The the netgear
card got around 20m (and through 2 extra exterior walls) further than the
buffalo card.

HTH
Vic



"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bjidhq$jf2q9$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Does anyone have any opinions on which manufacturer produces the "best"
54G
> equipment (in particular PCI cards) or can you point me to some
> (comparative?) reviews.
>
> I am particularly interested in the following (or any other "good brands")
:
>
> Belkin
> Buffalo
> Linksys
> Netgear
>
> However, I am trying to find out if they are all roughly similar in
> performance etc or if there is a reason the Belkin equipment seems to be
> much cheaper than the rest here in the UK.
>
> Also, does anyone know if these manufacturers intend to update their
drivers
> to take advantage of 802.11e technology such as that announced by Broadcom
> (who I believe supply the chipset for most of the above) at
> http://www.broadcom.com/docs/promoXpress_faq.html
>
> Regards
> Sunil
>
>

Although mines is 22mpbs (b+) I am well happy and would recommend it to
anyone. Using the Origo kit that ebuyer have marked as their value items and
stak have. Router, pci card and PCMCIA card altogether came to £118 which is
bloody cheap (inc delivery!).
Range is miles man, I have taken the laptop outside and walked for ages and
still had a signal. Highly recommend it!!!
The router has everything you could ever want on it, firewall, VPN, RIP 1
and 2 etc etc etc. MAC filtering, you name it it's on there.
Why bother with the expensive g standard? b+ works a treat (using ti
chipset)........
http://www.origo2000.com/product/pro...?PAGE=awr-8200
the router looks huge and bulky but it's actually tiny......not the eyesore
I was expecting