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This is a printable version of the article found at http://onepc.net/reviews/0031/ To print, press CTRL + P on your keyboard now. |
By Kelly Lu (kellylu@onepc.net) - April 10, 2001
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Many companies have tried to ease the pain of setting up your own network at home or at the office. They have introduced different methods, such as enabling you to connect your computer to a network through the phone line or even through an A/C outlet. Sure, this will help to eliminate drilling holes through your walls, but both of these methods still haven't eliminated one of the key components in making a network hassle-free-the wires. Still having these wires means that you can only connect your notebook to the network in a certain place without having the freedom of using it anywhere you want. Plus, for those of you who don't have a phone jack in your room for telephone networking on your desktop PC, you're-for a lack of better words-screwed!
So your only solution to the wire problem? Go wireless! One problem, though, is that wireless technologies haven't always been perfect. Sure, they give you the freedom, but wireless networking in the past usually meant connection speeds of only 2Mbps--on a good day. Wireless technologies use spread spectrum radio waves to send and receive data. Thus, although the "spreading" process makes it much better than conventional radio, they are still susceptible to interference from any other electronic device. Because of this, it would have been good enough if one could achieve the rated 2Mbps, but rarely did it do that.
Now, however, with the introduction of the IEEE 802.11b standard, all that has changed. The new standard introduces some significant improvements over the older standard mentioned above, but none more than the speed increase. Using IEEE 802.11b devices, one can achieve a maximum of 11Mbps, which is very good, especially when a regular network goes for only 10Mbps. Although the specifications for the new standard claim that it is far less susceptible to interference than the old standard because it uses Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS for short) rather than Frequency Hopping, how close to the rated 11Mbps can we get under regular conditions is another story and is something that we're going to find out today.
Enter D-Link. A company who's origins comes from producing some of the finest networking products around, a company who recently have seemed to move away from their roots of being a networking-only company and who introduced a swarm of new digital media products such as their DSC-350 dual-mode digital camera and DMP-CD100 MP3/CD player. We've taken a look at these products in the past, but we've never actually reviewed any of their networking products, which are supposed to be what they're most known for. Today, however, is our first look at a group of networking products by D-Link, although much different from traditional networking products.
D-Link has a complete family of network adapters, access points and gateways for any type of application possible in their Air line of wireless products. We've managed to receive a few of their wireless products. We'll start today with their PCI (DWL-500) and USB (DWL-120) wireless network adapters.
Before I go into the specifications of the two D-Link wireless networking products, I think this is an appropriate time to introduce some of the features of the IEEE 802.11b standard that both of the products are based on. The IEEE 802.11b standard was developed for high data rate and high range data transfers--wireless networking seems like the perfect application for the standard. It supports up to 11Mbps data transfer and up to 100m (indoors) or 300m (outdoors) between devices. Devices are connected together using one of two methods: Ad-Hoc or Infrastructure.
The first method, Ad-Hoc, is basically a method to connect wireless devices together without a central hub or "access point." It can be considered like a wireless peer-to-peer method of network networking, since it does not require an access point for the network to function. A downside, however, is that it becomes harder to connect a wireless network to an existing wired network-since that's one of the jobs that an access point performs.
The Infrastructure mode adds access points into the mix and things begin to become a little more complicated. The access points basically act like hubs for all the wireless network adapters and also as a bridge to connect them to existing wired networks. Using Infrastructure wireless networking basically allows the wireless to join the wired, and vice versa. Another useful application of Infrastructure mode is its ability to join multiple wireless networks, each separated by great distances, together through wired networks so that they can all communicate with each other.
Finally, since the IEEE 802.11b is a "standard," most, if not all, other wireless networking products from other manufacturers other than D-Link that are also using the same standard will be able to work with existing IEEE 802.11b networks.
DWL-500
Standards: IEEE 802.11b All major networking standards (including IP, IPX)Adapter Type: PCI Local Bus 2.2 compliantTransport Protocols: TCP/IP IPX/SPX NetBEUI NDIS3/4Supported OS: Windows 98 Windows ME Windows 2000 Windows NT 4 or newerData Security: 40 bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) EncryptionData Rate: Mbps/channel 11 : CCK 5.5 : CCK 2 : DQPSK 1 : DBSKRange: indoor – per cell approximately 35 to 100 meters outdoor – per cell approximately 100 to 300 metersPower Requirements: 250mA
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Antenna: Internal diversity patch antenna Transmit Power: Nominal Temp Range: 14 dBm max, 11 dBm min. Extend Temp Range: 13 dBm max, 10 dBm min. Transmit Power: 2.7V to 3.0V, 13 dBm max, 10 dBm minFrequency Range: 2.400 – 2.4835 GHz, Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)Network Architecture: Supports Ad-Hoc Mode (Peer-to-Peer without Access Point) Supports Infrastructure Mode (Communications to wired networks via Access Points with Roaming) Compliant with IEEE 802.11b StandardsOperating Channels: 1-11 United States (FCC) 1-11 Canada (DOC) 1-14 Japan (MKK) 1-13 Europ (Except Spain and France) (ETSI)Diagnostic LED (Green): Power Activity Link
Warranty: Lifetime Warranty and Free Technical Support
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Part of the group of wireless networking products first introduced by D-Link back in August, 2000, which also included the DWL-350 (PCMCIA adapter) and the DWL-1000AP (access point), the DWL-500 is a wireless networking adapter for desktop PC's. Based around the DWL-350 PCMCIA adapter (for laptops), the DWL-500 uses a PCMCIA to PCI card to connect the device to a desktop PC.
DWL-120
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Standards: IEEE 802.11b Adapter Type: USB 1.1Transport Protocols: TCP/IP IPX/SPX NetBEUISupported OS: Windows 98 Windows ME Windows 2000 Windows NT 4 or newerData Security: 40 bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) EncryptionData Rate: Mbps/channel 11 : CCK 5.5 : CCK 2 : DQPSK 1 : DBSKRange: indoor – per cell approximately 35 to 100 meters outdoor – per cell approximately 100 to 300 metersPower Requirements: Operating Voltage: +5V
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Antenna: Internal patch antenna supporting diversity Mobility: Seamless roaming across cell boundaries with handover Transmit Power: Nominal Temp. Range: 17-dBm Extended Temp. Range: 14-dBm min Transmit Power, 2.7v to 3v: 14-dBm minFrequency Range: 2.400 – 2.4835 GHz, Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)Network Architecture: Supports Ad-Hoc Mode (Peer-to-Peer without Access Point) Supports Infrastructure Mode (Communications to wired networks via Access Points with Roaming) Compliant with IEEE 802.11b StandardsOperating Channels: 1-11 United States (FCC) 1-11 Canada (DOC)Diagnostic LED (Green): Power Network Link ActivityWarranty: One year Limited Warranty
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First introduced in November, 2000, three months after the first group of wireless networking products from D-Link, the DWL-120 is the first USB wireless adapter ever. The advantages of USB are obvious, the most prominent being its ability to be easily installed on any PC, both desktops and laptops. For desktop users, the ability to be able to install a network by simply plugging in a few of these USB wireless adapters is an obvious plus. For laptop users, the USB wireless adapter gives users of multiple PCMCIA devices a huge boost, since most laptops only come with one PCMCIA slot. For users of both laptops and desktops, the advantages are even greater, since it becomes easier than ever to move around network adapters between different machines.
One thing that worries me, however, is bandwidth. Since USB 1.x only supports up to 12Mbps maximum data transfer between all devices on a single USB controller, the DWL-120's 11Mbps maximum data transfer might saturate the bandwidth of that channel and either slowing down other devices on the same controller or slowing itself down because of other devices--just something to look out for when we're testing.
Both of the products came in almost identical boxes (with different artwork, of course). Inside, they both included a Quick Install Guide, a User's Manual, a driver CD and the products themselves. The DWL-120 (USB version) also included the necessary USB cable.
The User's Manual for both products were well-written. It provides the user with extensive information about setting up a wireless network as a whole and has some useful troubleshooting sections at the back. Also in the User's Manuals is a useful section on "Networking Basics" that takes a novice user through the process of setting up network settings in Windows, such as using static IP addresses and troubleshooting with Ping, that I can see to be very helpful for those who are new to networking. Unfortunately, though, the only instructions on how to install the products were not included in the manual, but in the Quick Install Guides. These things take you step-by-step as to how to install each of the wireless network adapters and were quite easy to follow for me. There were, however, some problems with wording, such as "restart the computer" where "start up the computer" was more appropriate, that could mess with some users.
The DWL-500 package included a PCMCIA to PCI adapter and a DWL-650 PCMCIA wireless network adapter that the user can just plug into the PCI adapter. I haven't worked with PC cards in the past before, so I was quite surprised to see how small the DWL-650 appeared to be. At about half the size of a 3.5" floppy disk and only twice as thick as a floppy disk, this thing is small!
The black antenna sticks out of the PC card and a Link LED on that completes the package.
The DWL-120 was slightly bigger than the DWL-650 in the length and width departments, but was a couple times thicker. With a light grey color, the DWL-120 is actually quite attractive with its many curves and would fit nicely on a desk or on top of the user's beige box. Two LED's, Link and Power, are on top of the DWL-120 and a flip up antenna is on one of its sides.
The USB cable is about a meter in length and should be long enough for most people and maybe a little too long for laptop users.
Installation
The installation of the DWL-120 was quite painless. Once the necessary software was installed from the CD, the USB device was plugged into a free USB port and BAM... the sucker worked like a charm.
The installation of the DWL-500, however, was a different story in itself. Following the Quick Install Guide that came with the package exactly, I managed to get it working properly; however, as soon as I decided to physically remove my other 10BaseT network card that I had in the test system (for running benchmarks), Windows would spit out a BSOD every time I tried to launch D-Link's configuration program. A quick check in the Windows Device Manager showed that it was conflicting at IRQ 0 with my Direct Memory Controller. Great! I tried moving the DWL-500 around to another slot, then moving it back, to no avail. I finally had to insert back my other 10BaseT network card that, when I removed it, was causing all these problems to get it to work again-very strange.
Configuration
Configuration of both the DWL-120 and the DWL-500 was very quick and easy to do. Once they're installed properly into Windows, D-Link has included a nice little configuration/debug program with each device. Although users can use the devices right off the bat without even touching the D-Link configuration software, I figure it wise to at least go and change some critical fields, such as the SSID and maybe even some encryption settings for extra security, since ignoring to do so will allow others in the area, if they also have an IEEE 802.11b wireless adapter to access your private network--that would be a big no-no. The D-Link configuration software also gives you a snapshot of how strong of a connection your adapter has with the rest of the wireless network.
Wireless Baby!
Once everything is set up, all that was necessary was to go into Window's Network settings and configure the TCP/IP settings(and maybe others) just like one would for any other network card. After that, the computer is connected to the network--wireless! Woohoo! Once you have everything set up and all the bugs worked out, it's simply a pleasure to be able to plug either the DWL-650 or DWL-120 into your PC or laptop and be able to access your network just like that, no wires!
One last cool thing to note before we move onto some performance charts: the PCMCIA to PCI adapter that is included with the DWL-500 will also work with most other PC Card devices that you may have! This is an added bonus if you also own a laptop with other "extras" in the form of PC Cards since with it you can share those devices between your PC and laptop with ease!
Let's see how the two wireless adapters match up to conventional, wired networks! All tests were run using Qcheck, one of the best benchmark/diagnostic tools for networks out there that I know of, between an Athlon 650MHz system and a Pentium III 1GHz system. To test each individual wireless network adapter, I set them to infrastructure mode and connected to them through the 100BaseTX network card that was in the Athlon system through a D-Link wireless access point (review coming up soon). Both wireless network adapters were positioned approximately 1m away from the access point.
Response time is critical for low-latency applications such as multiplayer gaming. Here, you see that the USB DWL-120 is the worst of the bunch at 7ms while the PCI DWL-500 follows it at 3ms. The two wired networks remained steady at 1ms or less. Although the difference isn't big, it shows that the wireless network adapters are, indeed, slightly behind wired networks in terms of latency, especially with the USB version.
Moving on, you see that the 100BaseTX absolutely KILLs all other forms of networking, whether wired or wireless. It's disappointing, however, to see that none of the wireless adapters were even close to their rated 11Mbps transfer speed--in fact, they're not even halfway there! At only 3.8Mbps, the USB DWL-120 is the slowest of the bunch; even slower than its cousin, the DWL-500. This is most certainly caused by the USB interface.
Well, there you have it folks, wireless networking is still not quite up to snuff when compared to wired networks. Although the speed has improved very signifantly over the first-generation 2Mbps wireless networking products we've seen in the past, it's still a whiles away. Fortunately, though, at around 4Mbps, it will still be useful for casual users. Internet sharing, print sharing, multiplayer gaming and casual file sharing are still viable applications for the D-Link DWL-120 and DWL-500 since neither of these applications require large amounts of bandwidth.
The Santa Cruz is truly a powerful sound card that's loaded with features. Pound for pound, it matches every feature that the SoundBlaster Live! has, a card that most users think is the best sound card around, plus a little extra on the side. With support for 2-speaker stereo, headphone surround, 4-speaker surround, 6 speaker surround and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround, it allows anyone with any type of speaker set up to enjoy high quality stereo or surround sound. Sensaura technology allows this card to support all of the popular 3D API's for enhanced gaming, such as EAX 1.x and 2.x and A3D 1.x. The technology also includes a few extensions to DirectSound3D such as MacroFX and ZoomFX that should, if developers use them effectively in the future, put this card ahead of the SoundBlaster Live! in terms of raw features.
Unfortunately, though, the Santa Cruz does have its faults. The fact that drivers for Windows 2000 were not included on the CD shows a lack of support from Voyetra-Turtle Beach on their product. Furthermore, the only drivers that are available for Windows 2000 and Windows ME were the beta drivers that are available on their website. This is a huge downside to the Santa Cruz in my mind, because many people will be turned off by the fact that the only available drivers for Windows 2000 and ME are test versions that are known to be less than 100% reliable.
Nevertheless, the Santa Cruz still outputs some of the best quality sound around. Comparing it with the SoundBlaster Live!, the sound output from the Santa Cruz is ever slightly clearer and brighter. Audio for 3D API's such as EAX were also implemented very well, with EAX sound quality noticeably identical to Creative's own sound card.
Finally, the software package included with the Santa Cruz is one that's completely targeted towards music composers and music lovers. If you're into music composition, the software package will be extremely valuable, but if you're just into gaming, then the lack of any game bundles sets the Santa Cruz a pace back for a lot of users out there.
All in all, though, if you're in the market for a quality, feature-packed sound card at an average price and you're looking for an alternative to the Creative SoundBlaster Live! series of cards, the Voyetra-Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is a great choice. Would I choose this card over the SoundBlaster Live!? If the driver problems mentioned above are eliminated, this card can easily beat the SoundBlaster Live! pound for pound.
Pros
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The D-Link DWL-500 and DWL-120 are very unique and innovative products that enable users to connect their computers together in a network to share files, printers, internet connections and much more--all without having the drill holes in and around the house. Unfortunately, they were unable to reach the rated 11Mbps speed, although the speeds that they do attain (around 4Mbps) should suit casual users. For those who need blazing-fast transfer rates for constantly transferring large files to and from different computers, I would suggest that you look at a faster wired solution, however. Nevertheless, users of laptops should seriously consider any sort of wireless networking solution over wired networking, since it makes using the network much more convenient.
Unfortunately, going wireless isn't cheap. Both the DWL-120 and DWL-500 have an estimated street price of $109 USD. That's expensive for a network, folks. Getting two of these just to start a wireless network will set you back $218 USD-not cheap at all especially when the price of setting up a wired network for the same two computers will usually never go well above $100 USD. The question is: is it worth the extra dough? If you need to be moving your computer around all the time (i.e. a laptop) and if you need to drill multiple holes all around your house, then, yes, the extra convenience will be greatly beneficial. If you're just in it so that you don't have to drill one hole through a wall, then I suggest you reassess what your needs are.
So my final verdict? The DWL-120 is a great choice for both desktop and laptop users who have multiple computers in multiple rooms while the DWL-500 is a little less of a recommended solution, since it only gives a very small speed increase over the easier to install and use DWL-120 and at a slightly higher price. If you're a laptop user, however, any product in the D-Link Air line of products will suit you perfectly.
Stay tuned as we will be taking a look at one of D-Link Air's access points within a week or two. Since access points have unique features that can help to both increase the efficiency of your network as a whole and lower costs depending on the situation, I would suggest that you keep the DWL-120 and DWL-500 at the back of your mind before you decide on a definite answer on whether or not you want to or need to go wireless.
D-Link Air DWL-500
Pros
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D-Link Air DWL-120
Pros
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