In search of reliable WiFi

Steve Morgan — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:22:00 GMT

About ten years ago, I cabled the house up in Cat5 terminating at a home-made rack in the smallest bedroom (or the data centre as it's affectionately known). Typically, I didn't install anywhere near enough as the number of devices running over Cat5 has continued to increase. It's manageable, though, with the aid of a couple of strategically placed ethernet switches.

My main bugbear has been maintaining a decent WiFi capability to accommodate the numerous wireless devices that I own (and seems to be ever-increasing).

Originally, I took the standard route for most people, and installed a Wireless ADSL router. That didn't last too long, because it was a piece of D-Link tat (a DSL-604+) but when I replaced it, I made the move away from wireless routers to separate wired router and wireless access point. For me, this was a sensible move as it allowed me to segment my network with a DMZ and separate wired and wireless subnets.

The replacement WAP was another D-Link (why?) DWL-900AP+. This proved to be much more reliable and lasted a while but didn't support 802.11g.

When I made the move to 802.11g, I replaced the D-Link with a Netgear WG602. What a pile of sh*ite, that was! Forever dropping connections, so after a very few months, it was consigned to the scrap pile.

And replaced with a 3Com OfficeConnect access point. For a while, this seemed OK but now periodically drops the wireless connections and refuses to associate with new clients. To bring it back to life, I have to disconnect and reconnect the power. Interestingly, the problems with this access point seem to be related to the volume of data carried more than anything else.

While this was serving as the 'main' access point at home, I'd made a couple of other changes. The old DWL-900AP+ was pressed into service as a second access point providing dedicated connectivity for a Nintendo DS. That's because the DS only supports WEP encryption and the 3Com can't do WEP and WPA-PSK at the same time. Locking the DWL-900AP+ to the MAC address of the DS and only allowing direct routing out through the firewall keeps things nice and secure.

Then, when setting up my photographic studio, I found the need for another access point so that laptops could connect to the network there. This time, I thought I'd try something slightly more upmarket and bought a Netgear ProSafe WAG102. The ProSafe range is Netgear's blue metal-cased kit that is a world away from their domestic stuff (like the WG602). I've used a number of their switches and hubs in the past and they've always performance flawlessly. The WAG102 is a dual-band 802.11a/g access point, though I've no 802.11a devices to connect to it. It's been running 24x7 for 13 months now without skipping a beat.

A few weeks ago, I bought a new iPhone 3g. A major feature, of course, is the WiFi connectivity and it works brilliantly at home and in the studio (and wherever I can find free WiFi connectivity).

If only it wasn't for that bloody 3Com OfficeConnect access point. As soon as the iPhone was introduced, the rate at which the access point crashed got completely ridiculous; typically 2-3 hours before requiring a reboot.

So, no messing about. Time for another Netgear blue box. This time, I bought a WG302, the most highly featured access point in Netgear's ProSafe range. It's a bit pricey for an access point, costing £142 from Insight including postage. But, so far (about 3 weeks), it's been rock solid. Hopefully money well spent.

Only time will tell if the WG302 is up to the job, but I'm optimistic. All of the other blue Netgear kit I have is working just fine so the signs are good.

Steve Morgan - Technology Spot : 3g, ProSafe

In search of reliable WiFi