Introduction:

It is not uncommon nowadays for people to have more than one computer. Due to the falling prices of computer hardware, the ability for someone to put together a second system has never been easier. Not only is the cost lower, but the additional incentives of a second system are often too hard to resist. A second computer can be your testbed for new Operating Systems, or it can serve as a specialized system, performing only one set of tasks such as image editing or gaming. But with the addition of one or more computers comes the natural need to network them to share resources such as files and printers. Networking a few computers can be a fairly simple job -- all one needs is a basic idea of how to install a network adapter and configure various protocols on the systems, but the task of physically wiring the network can sometimes be troublesome.

If you have your computers in different rooms and your house is not already wired with CAT-5, often the only way to get your computers hooked up to the network is to run an unsightly length of CAT-5 cable on the floor, unless you wish to undertake the process of running cables through conduits or walls -- a process that requires considerable re-modelling. To overcome this problem for the end-user, various methods were developed. Phoneline networking was something I remember looking into a few years back, but I never really got into it. Wireless networking was also something I had heard of, but the speeds were said to have been abysmal.

But then there's the IEEE 802.11b Wireless Spec, which has been around for a while. This second-generation technology is rated at 11Mbps, quite an improvement in theoretical bandwidth over the 2Mbps rating of older wireless cards. Today, I'll be looking at Belkin's entry into the 802.11b world with their Desktop PCI Network Card, and I will see how it performs under various situations.

Specifications and Features

Network Card:

• Interoperable with all 802.11b wireless devices
• Data and network security with 64-bit or 128-bit WEP data encryption
• Works with Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, and Millennium Edition systems
• 16-bit PCMCIA Type II Card
• Data Rate: Up to 11Mbps
• Radio Technology: DSSS
• Weight: 48.19g
• Physical Dimensions: .476cm x 11.43cm x 5.54cm
• LED Indicator: Link and Power
• Supports Infrastructure and Ad-Hoc networking modes.

PCI Adapter:

• 32-bit PCI, compliant with PCI 2.1 specs
• Works with Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, and Millennium Edition systems
• Weight: 79g
• Physical Dimensions: 178mm x 120mm x 20mm

More specs are available here.

This first thing you should know is that this Desktop Wireless PCI Network Adapter comes in two pieces, the PCI Adapter and the Network card itself. I was a bit perplexed as to why this was, but it soon became clear to me why almost all manufacturers (not just Belkin) are doing this. The reason is that the Network Card itself is a PCMCIA device that is meant to be used in notebooks/laptops where wireless technology would have the most benefit for roaming users. Desktop computers need the PCI Adapter to use the Wireless Network card. The PCI Adapter is installed into your computer, and the Wireless Network card simply plugs into that. Do *not* try to plug another type of PCMCIA device into the PCI Adapter, as it won't work and will probably result in some sort of damage.

The two units - Network Card on the right; Desktop Adapter on the left.

The Desktop PCI Adapter.

Another view.

The Wireless Network Card slides into the Adapter here.

The PCI Adapter is basically your standard PCI device, with a slot in the back for the Network Card to go. The PCI Adapter needs the Network Card in order to function correctly.

The Wireless Network card works in PCMCIA slots and the Desktop PCI Adapter.

About the size of a pocket calculator.

Back view.

The Network Card is the actual "heart" of the Wireless Adapter. It's actually quite small, not being bigger than your average pocket calculator at about 114mm x 55mm. You'll want to keep an eye on this thing to make sure someone doesn't steal it! When plugging this card into the PCI Adapter, make sure that the yellow label side can be seen, that is, make sure the yellow label is facing away from the green PCB. Both the Network Card and the PCI Adapter came with the same set of manuals and installation CD's, so nothing was really complicated in that area.

The Network Card can function in one of two modes, Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc. Ad-Hoc is basically a peer-to-peer wireless network that will work with more than two computers without the use of an Access Point or any other networking devices. Ad-Hoc would then be useful for situations where a quick-and-dirty network must be setup, say for a presentation one is doing for a small group of people who all have notebooks. Infrastructure is more useful for an established network, and it involves the use of Access Points. Through the use of Infrastructure, Wireless clients can communicate with computers on a Wired network through the use of the Access Point. In that way an Access Point is a bridge because it will control the flow of frames between the wireless clients and those on the wired network. But please note that product that is called a "Wireless Bridge" is a totally different thing. Access Points typically cannot communicate with another Access Point. This means that you could not connect two wired LAN's using two Access Points, however you would be able to using a more expensive Wireless Bridge. (See this page for a more info.)

Here are a few ghetto diagrams I drew in an attempt to visually explain Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure modes:
(In both diagrams, the dotted/dashed lines are the wireless signals.)

Ad-Hoc - Peer-to-Peer type network.

Infrastructure - The Access Point is physically wired to the network.

Note that the Network Card is an 802.11b(or WiFi) device -- it probably will not work with older 2Mbps 802.11 devices. Also, you will want to know that 802.11b devices operate in the 2.4GHz frequency range using DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum), and the combination of these factors make the signals prone to interference from microwaves and 2.4GHz cordless phones. I am not an expert in electromagnetic waves or anything like that, but a good article to get you "in the know" about DSSS is available here. (The link to the article was found at Practically Networked.) The Network Card also supports WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) at 64-bit or 128-bit strengths. I will elaborate more on this and its effect on performance a bit later. Knowing some of the limitations of WiFi 802.11b will hopefully help you understand and interpret the results I got from testing these products.

Installation

Installation and testing was conducted on a system running Windows 2000 with SP2 and all concurrent updates as of the time of testing. The wireless computer was also connected to a wired network for the bandwidth tests via the Belkin Wireless Cable/DSL Gateway Router that also serves as an Access Point. (A separate review of this product is to come.)

Installation is basically as complicated or as simple as installing a regular PCI network adapter. After the computer is powered down, you simply plug the PCI Desktop Adapter into a free PCI slot and then put the Network Card into the PCI Desktop Adapter and power on your computer. Make sure that the Network Card is in the Adapter before you power up. Setup went seamlessly... I physically installed the card, booted up, and put in the driver CD when Windows 2000 detected the new piece of hardware. The drivers were easily found on the CD, and installed. After changing some settings, and going through a quick reboot, everything was working. No problems encountered whatsoever! After that, I proceeded to install the Belkin Wireless LAN Configuration Utility. It is a small program that allows you to see the status of your wireless connection, assess link quality and signal strength, and to change various options associated with a wireless network. It is not an essential program, but it does make accessing configuration options much easier. Surprisingly, it is the same program, or at least a very similar program to the ones I have seen used with other wireless cards from other vendors. The program can be minimized to your system tray to allow for quick monitoring of a wireless connection, but can also be shut off without trouble, if you are one of those people who absolutely disdains the sight of more tray-apps. Let's go into detail about this configuration program.

Connection Properties for the wireless setup.

Link signal and quality.

Configuration Options.

Choosing the transmit rate.

The shot is just of the connection status window that is standard in Windows 2000. It shows that the connection rate is at 802.11b's max of 11Mbps. The second shot is of the first tab of the Belkin Config Utility. The main things to be concerned about here are the link quality and signal strength, as you'll know if there's any sort of major interference. The "Associated" information shows that the Wireless Card is in Infrastructure mode, and the BSSID, which is the MAC address of the Access Point, is listed here. The "Channel" option lists one of 11 channels that the wireless card can be using (Although 802.11b defines up to fourteen channels, only 11 are available for use in the U.S). By using different channels, several wireless LAN's can supposedly be set up to run concurrently. Finally, the main configuration screen shows options for switching between Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc modes, setting the SSID, Transmit rates and an option for enabling Power Save mode. When running in Ad-Hoc mode, all systems should bet set to the same SSID, while when running in Infrastructure mode, all clients should be set to the SSID that the Access Point is set to. The transmit rate can be manually or automatically set depending on signal strength and link quality.

WEP options page - 64bit.

128bit

The WEP options page is also very important. While it is true that WEP is not unbreakable, it is still recommended that you take at least some steps to protect your wireless network from eavesdropping. The Belkin Network Card supports either 64bit WEP or 128bit WEP. In both cases the configuration program has made it easier for the end-user by allowing them to just enter a "passphrase", from which a hash (I'm guessing) is obtained to generate the key(s) needed for encryption. Makes it easier than manually entering the keys. In addition to the wireless configuration program described, Belkin also includes SOHO Networking Software for Windows 98/ME that allows less-experienced users to configure a network to share printers, etc by use of helpful wizards. I did not use it.

All things taken into account, the setup of the Wireless Card and its Desktop Adapter into my PC was pretty easy. The manual for the Network Card was very helpful at times when I needed to figure out what a particular configuration option was for, and it also has a nice glossary at the back explaining some of the terms that are specific to wireless networking.