Fun in the park with the MAXg router

The router includes a new type of technology that boosts the range and speed of wireless networks.

Accessing the internet wirelessly has become a part of life for me. My house is a wireless network which three people use to access the internet and a central file server.

Most of the time I have one cable plugged into my laptop which provides power, but I'd happily run off the battery cable-free were it not for the fact that mains power gives me greater screen brightness.

Once the fuel-cell technology being developed in Japan hits the market and delivers extended battery life and greater power, computing will be truly wireless.

Wireless networking is provided by my US Robotics USR9105 router. It isn't powerful enough to extend internet access to the leafy park next door, but its successor, the US Robotics MAXg US5461, certainly is.

The router includes a new type of technology that boosts the range and speed of wireless networks - from the 40m to 50m you'd expect from a standard 802.11g network up to around 150m to 200m.

Wireless networking vendors such as Linksys and Belkin have settled on a wireless standard called MIMO (multiple in, multiple out) that uses multiple radio antennae to increase the range of wireless networks and the speed at which data can be passed over them. This is good news for those who want to stream video or music over wireless networks.

Even standard 802.11g wireless equipment that supports a theoretical maximum speed of 54Mbps (megabits per second) often struggles to deliver high-quality video smoothly over a distance of 20m to 40m.

Although MIMO seems to be in vogue now, US Robotics is using a different technology it calls MAXg.

It says the router uses "advanced digital signal-processing techniques" to allow faster data throughput over wireless networks and transmission over greater distances. Maximum data throughput is a claimed 125Mbps, faster than some fibre networks.

The consensus in the tech community seems to be that the MIMO technology allows for information to be sent wirelessly over greater distances than MAXg but that the latter is more cost-effective.

The MIMO-enabled Linksys SRX router and PC card package I reviewed earlier in the year cost $486. The US Robotics router and PC card cost $342.

The US Robotics' set-up process hasn't changed much. Everything is still configured from the ground up through a web browser that displays the router's settings. It's a user-friendly interface that features a series of menus to let you set up the all-important wireless security. You can choose an SSID to identify your router and assign a WPA encryption password to prevent unauthorised access.

The router also features WPA2, an improved encryption standard that delivers better security for wireless networks.

There are four Ethernet ports on the rear of the plastic-cased router for wiring in computers. The router can also act as a printer server, taking printing orders from several computers.

You may already have an 802.11g wireless networking card or wireless capability built into your laptop, but for the higher speeds and range offered by MAXg, you'll have to use a card that supports the technology.

Regular wireless cards will still connect to the US Robotics router but at standard speeds and over shorter distances.

I was able to surf the web at an estimated 80m from the MAXg router where speed tests suggested the connection speed was 35 to 40Mbps. That's a lot less than the maximum 125Mbps claimed by US Robotics, but fast enough for decent web surfing.

The closer to the router, the more reliable the signal and the faster the connection. I was able to stream web radio station www.knac.com from a sunny spot in the park, which was my main objective.

Although MIMO has the edge on network distance, MAXg routers such as the US5461 provide a cost-effective way to extend your network without having to install extra wireless access points.


How it rates

Price: $224 (PC card $118).
Pros: Easy to set up, boosts wireless speeds.
Cons: Distance covered not as extensive as MIMO.
Herald Rating: 7/10.

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