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| Hawking WA300 11M Wireless Access Point |
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Hardware Reviews May 2003 • Vol.6 Issue 5 |
Hawking WA300 11M Wireless Access Point | ||
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Although 802.11g devices (which boast theoretical speeds as fast as 54Mbps) are hitting the market before the IEEE officially ratifies the standard, 802.11b (11Mbps) is, for the moment at least, still the most popular wireless networking standard. The first thing I noticed about the Hawking WA300 is its shape. Although the average access point can stand on its side or lie flat, the WA300 has a built-in stand that prevents it from lying flat. You won't be able to attach it to a wall, either. On the other hand, the access point is smaller than a paperback book, so you probably won't have any trouble finding enough room on your desk or a shelf. The WA300 has Power, Status, LAN, and WLAN LEDs. The antenna is adjustable and detachable, which means you can add a more powerful antenna to increase the access point's range. To test the WA300, we attached it to an IBM Pentium III 667MHz computer with 192MB of RAM. To receive the data, we used an IBM Pentium 4 2.2GHz notebook with 256MB of RAM and a built-in wireless adapter. We transferred a 100MB folder containing mixed files from the WA300 to the notebook as part of a line-of-sight test and an obstructed-view (warehouse environment) test. In our line-of-sight tests, the WA300 was consistently faster than the average transfer rates of the 802.11b devices I've tested. The WA300 transferred the folder 10 feet at 4.82Mbps, 150 feet at 4.82Mbps, and 250 feet at 4.57Mbps. In our obstructed view test, the WA300 transferred the folder 150 feet at a speedy 4.17Mbps, but it couldn't hold a connection at 250 feet. Then we attached Hawking's WB320 11M Wireless Workgroup Bridge ($149) and replaced the antennae on the WA300 and WB320 with Hawking's H-AI6SD Hi-Gain Antennas ($49 each) and ran the obstructed-view test again. This time, the WA300 transferred the folder 250 feet at 3.19Mbps. This access point is speedy and small. If you're not planning to upgrade to 802.11g devices, take a look at the WA300. by Joshua Gulick WA300 11M Wireless Access Point
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