Testing

I tested the Network Card while it was installed in a system with the following specs:

• Asus P3B-F Mainboard (440BX)

• Celeron-II 566@850MHz on:

• Abit Slocket !!! FC-PGA Convertor

• 384MB PC133

• Abit Siluro TNT2 Ultra

• Maxtor DiamondMaxPlus 6800 (20GB UDMA/66 7200rpm 92049U6)

• OS: Windows 2000

Throughput was conducted using the QCheck program. The second system used for throughput tests was:

• Abit BE6 Mainboard (440BX)

• Celeron-II 566@850MHz on:

• Abit Slocket !!! FC-PGA Convertor

• 128MB PC133

• ATi Xpert@Play Card (Rage Pro w/ 8MB SGRAM)

• SMC EZ-NIC 10/100 NIC

• Quantum Fireball 6.4GB 5400rpm HDD

• OS: Windows 2000

The wireless setup was tested in three ways -- first at a 2m range, then at a 10m range through two walls, then at a 2m range with 128bit WEP enabled. All ranges are in metres from the access point. I should note that I didn't find any difference in performance (throughput and response time) between 64bit WEP and 128bit WEP. All Wireless tests were conducted through the Belkin Wireless Cable/DSL Gateway Router that also serves as an Access Point.

The first test I conducted was a TCP response time between each station.

As you can see, response time was consistently an average of 3ms higher than 100baseTX, regardless of the distances tested or whether WEP was enabled or not. Three milliseconds is not a helluva lot, so I don't think this should be much of a concern to you. The throughput tests are where things get a little different.

As you can see, the highest average score for 802.11b was about 4.8Mbps, about 15x slower than the average rate for 100baseTX. Things got even worse when the range between the Wireless client and the Access Point increased. Enabling WEP caused a 50% decrease in throughput at a 2m range. After getting these results, I looked around at other reviews of wireless cards and found these results to be pretty typical of the products available nowadays. Still, it seems like quite a sharp fall from the throughput of 100baseTX. Still, for small file-sharing or multiplayer gaming sessions, this wireless card will do its job fine, and for users with whom wireless access is a must, 802.11b is still very useable. I regret that I could not test throughput at greater ranges, because of the lack of a notebook or portable computer.

Conclusion

The advent of wireless computing is certainly an innovative thing -- it's really neat to be able to connect your computers without having to run more wires around. However, the costs are going to be an issue. While prices have gone down, the Belkin Network Card and PCI Adapter combo sell for $164.99USD at Belkin's site (cost is for both items, not for just one), while you may find them for less at other retail or Internet stores.

The second big issue is that of throughput. No one likes having to wait a long time to download files. How much this issue affects you somewhat depends on the speed of your internet connection. Obviously, if your internet connection throughput is much lower than 4.8Mbps, there won't be much of a difference in downloading files from the internet through a wireless client than through a wired client, but where the throughput issues comes into play is LAN file transfer, which will be undoubtedly slowed.

However, it would be unwise to dismiss the usefulness of a wireless card for a notebook/laptop user, and for this reason I can recommend the Belkin Wireless Network Card. It's ease-of-setup and the ability to freely roam with a notebook and still have a network connection are abilities that cannot be overlooked.

Pros

• Response time is not adversely affected

• Throughput and other conditions still useable for gaming sessions or small-file transfers

• Easy to setup, and configuration program is well-documented and intuitive

• Wireless Access is certainly a nice thing

Cons

• Throughput is extremely slow compared to 100baseTX

• Cost

Lastly, I want to thank Belkin for providing these products to me for review. Their contribution and personnel were most helpful! Please mail me any of your comments, and thanks for reading this review.