MaximumPC 2006 09

PRICE/PERFORMANCE RATIO

If we were looking only at price tags,

this category would be a tie: Netgear’s

WGXB102 54Mb/s Powerline Range

Extender Kit and RadioLabs’ 2.4GHz

Wireless Range Extender Amplifier

both sell for around $120. But since

we’re measuring price/performance

ratios, RadioLabs crushes the com-

petition by offering incredible range.

WINNER: AMPLIFIED ANTENNA

And the Winner Is...

POWERLINE RANGE EXTENDER

Netgear WGXB102 54Mb/s Powerline

Wireless Range Extender Kit,

$120, http://www.netgear.com

head 2 headTWO TECHNOLOGIES ENTER, ONE TECHNOLOGY LEAVES

One of the biggest problems with wireless routers is that they don’t

deliver enough range, especially if your home has multiple levels, thick

walls, or is particularly large. The proposed 802.11n standard promises

to address this, but it’s still very uncertain when the IEEE will finally

approve the nascent standard.

Wireless-router manufacturers, meanwhile, hope you won’t wait:

They’d love to sell you a whole collection of new gear today—and then

a whole new batch next year.

If your existing network is based on 802.11b and 802.11g equip-

ment, RadioLabs’ amplified antenna will boost its range by a very wide

margin. The best part of the deal is that you don’t need to upgrade your

Wi-Fi adapters, media-streaming boxes, or any other wireless products

in order to benefit from it.

If your PC is out of your wireless router’s range, but is in close prox-

imity to an electrical outlet, Netgear’s range extender just might solve

your problem. But each one creates a very small access bubble.

round 3

RANGE

We set up our Wi-

Fi-enabled laptop in four locations

in and around our test home and

recorded signal strength as reported

by our Wi-Fi adapter. The powerline

range extender gave us a pitiful 1

percent boost in signal strength at 25

feet; when we moved to an outdoor

location 75 feet from the router (

feet from the range extender), we

experienced weaker signal strength

with Netgear’s device than without it.

You know you’re talking power

when your router’s antenna requires

a heatsink. The RadioLabs model

we tested features a 500-milliwatt

bi-directional amplifier that boasts

an RF transmit level of 27dBm, com-

pared to our stock router’s 18dBm.

That enabled us to roam a half-block

from our test location—240 feet as

the crow flies, with two entire homes

occluding the signal—without losing

our Internet connection. Yowza!

WINNER: AMPLIFIED

ANTENNA

round^4

SEPTEMBER 2006 MA XIMUMPC 17

BENCHMARKS

Best scores are bolded.

WI-FI SIGNAL STRENGTH AT LAPTOP

LINKSYS WRT54G WITH LINKSYS WRT54G WITH

STOCK LINKSYS WRT54G NETGEAR WGXB102 RADIOLABS AMPLIFIED ANTENNA

DISTANCE FROM ROUTER

25 FEET 75% 76% 86%

75 FEET 26% 10% 42%

100 FEET 0% 0% 28%

240 FEET 0% 0% 18%