I was an early adopter of Wi-Fi with Buffalo’s first wireless Access Point (AP) the WLA-L11. You could plug this AP into an existing computer network and have instant wireless access. Pretty nifty. The web interface was utilitarian in appearance and whatever online help provided was confusing at best. In short, as with other early wireless offerings, you needed a pretty good idea of what you were doing.
Two years later and Buffalo is trying to expand their SOHO market by breaking into the consumer market. As your premiere source of consumer information, Buffalo naturally sent Dig_iT one of their new WBR-G54 Cable/DSL Router/APs for a test run. I’ve been using it for about a month and the ride has not been luxurious.
The WBR-G54 retains the same tall and thin egg shape and size as previous Buffalo products. For AP functionality this is great, as the wireless card inside is aligned properly for best signal strength without the need of large external antennas like those sported by Netgear and D-Link. The footprint is about 3″x6″, so it doesn’t take up much space.
The hardware setup is plug and play easy. Connect the power cord and run an Ethernet cable (supplied) from the Ethernet port on your Cable/DSL modem to the ‘WAN’ port on the AP. Further setup is done via the embedded web server with your web browser.
The setup screens, while thorough, make me feel like I am still using Netscape 4 (shudder!). While some may appreciate the utilitarian look of the screens, I much prefer the interface of Netgear’s competing WGR-614 product. On Netgear’s pages the sections are broken up by good uses of color, and a detailed help screen for each setup page runs down the right side. Buffalo might want to consider retaining a designer to help the look of the web-based setup.
If you get confused by some of the terms during setup, Buffalo’s help boxes are not much help, and not very understandable. Much of the text reads as if it were badly translated from uber-Geek to pidgin English. I probably have too much experience with this wireless stuff yet with some of the double negatives, even I couldn’t understand what some of the help messages were trying to explain.
When I decided to try an admittedly complex configuration, I ran into trouble and had to call Tech Support. I was pleasantly shocked to talk to a live person within minutes. He was knowledgeable and friendly and answered my questions. Conversely, this is an area where Netgear could learn something from Buffalo.
When helping people setup their home wireless networks I often hear, “I don’t want the neighbor’s kid surfing for porn on my dime.” Buffalo’s SOHO past is of help with this concern. The WBR-G54 allows wireless authentication through Radius, 802.1x, AES as well as the new WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption scheme. Older security methods such as WEP and MAC address filtering are also available to wireless clients. If you don’t know what this means, don’t worry too much, but if you are really concerned about the brat next door who spends way too much time inside, ask your favorite IT person to come over and make sure the little git can’t get in. Barb Bowman has a good article on setting up WPA with Windows XP and this Buffalo AP.
The next question I hear is, “Does this mean I can work by the pool?” Leaving aside the fact that most notebook screens aren’t bright enough to be visible in direct sunlight, the WBR-G54 is definitely “better, stronger, faster” when it comes to transfer speed and signal range. In casual testing around the house, the WBR-G54 has a wireless range of about 30′ greater than the older WLA-L11. As for speed, yes, 802.11g is definitely faster than 802.11b. File transfers around the local network were noticeably faster with fewer network lags.
If the range still isn’t enough, an external antennae port is available on the back of the case. The antennae connector for this AP remains the same size as 802.11b antenna connectors, so you will be able to continue to use any omni-directional (sends a signal in all directions) or uni-directional (sends a signal in one direction) antennas previously purchased.
My conclusion? If you are a first time Cable/DSL subscriber, this router/AP will definitely do the job but there are other models by Netgear and D-Link that the average consumer may find easier to setup. Buyers with an eye towards tighter security or home offices will appreciate some the advanced security features offered in this model. At under $100, this is the only product in its class offering this level of security.
(Best Price: $85.95 – Dell)