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Wireless Networking Round-up - Conclusion
Article Index
Wireless Networking Round-up
Bluetooth USB Dongles
802.11b Standard
The contenders
Installation
Testing Actiontec Wireless Router
Belkin Wireless Cable/DSL Gateway router
Testing the Belkin Router
Compex Netpassage 16
Conclusion
All Pages
Page 10 of 10
Testing

Same tests as before were carried out. The unit was hardly any different from the Actiontec gateway in terms of reception quality. While it's not as good in reception as the Belkin unit, it's still good enough. Of course if you require to cover a larger area, simply get a wireless access point. We connected one access point that we received from Belkin to this unit, and it worked just fine. This goes to show that most of these wireless devices are compatible with most manufactures. The netpassage gave a good quality connection reading for up to around 5m inside the house, however there after the connection started deteriorating. The signal strength was around 30-40% around 10m from the gateway. That is pretty adequate for most of us, though you can use an access point if want further range.


Conclusion

Compex is having a special mail in rebate program the last time I checked and they're giving a $10 discount of the usual US$99.95 price tag. Now that's even cheaper than the Actionec wireless gateway. However if not for the mail in rebate it would be in par with the Actiontec unit. Nevertheless these are extremely competitive prices which are tough to beat. You might find cheaper no-name brands in the market, however one cannot guarantee their quality. Overall I was really impressed with this unit, and the VLAN technology is something some of you would really look for.

If not for the help section in the setup, I really cannot find any fault with this device. It performs as it's supposed to and if you take advantage of the special rebate, this'll be one of the cheapest wireless gateways you'll ever own.

 

 

Now for a final conclusion relating to all the products featured in this wireless roundup.

After testing all three devices for a couple of days one simply cannot disregard the price advantage the Compex Netpassage 16 offers. Since it also incorporates all the features that are offered in the other units, it's definitely on top of my list. Next on line will be the Actiontec wireless gateway. It's also offered at a great price and there's a better documented setup for users. Actually it's quite hard to distinguish between these two products as they are priced almost equally and offer the same features, except for the modem backup and VLAN technology of the Compex unit.

As for the Belkin wireless gateway I really do like its increased range and more robust look. However in comparison to features to price, it's far from the other two units. If this was at least slightly closer to the price of the other two units, I would definitely go for the Belkin router, sadly though, this is not to be.

Thereforetry searching more my first choice would be the Compex Netpassage 16 depending on whether I'd get the mail in rebate or not. If I didn't get the rebate, then I would look into more finer details such as tech support, help, etc. I would consider the Belkin unit as my last choice, however one thing that's worth mentioning is that, if you plan on using this network in a quite a large area, it might be a good idea to get the Belkin unit since you would be able to save up on buying additional access points. This totally depends on your needs, so choose wisely.

I would like to thank Actiontec, Belkin and Compex for providing these review units for our roundup.



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