X-Micro WLAN 11g Turbo Mode Broadband Router and PCMCIA card
Installation and setup
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The physical placement of the router was only one step in properly setting up our network. Once everything has been correctly connected, the user can access a number of features via a web-client utility from any system currently connected to the router, whether it be hard-wired or wireless. What we've included below are some screen captures from various sections of the utility, that can be used for most of the setup.
;) LOGON WINDOW |
;) ENTRANCE SCREEN
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;) SETUP WIZARD |
;) WIRELESS SETUP |
;) AUTHENTICATION |
;) ADVANCED |
;) STATUS |
;) SECURITY FILTERS |
;) STATUS LOG |
To begin, all we needed to do was open a browser and type in the provided IP address, and then type in a username/password to access the features. It's standard security fare, and we suggest modifying the password at the first opportunity. At any rate, a successful login brought us to the entrance screen, which gives some basic information such as starting and ending IP addresses, whether or not DHCP is enabled, and the systems that are attached. These settings can be left as is for the most part. To get a network set up really quick and easy, we suggest running the Wizard, which runs through 6 basic steps and then you're done. It covers basic steps such as changing the password, choosing a time zone, and the reviewing basic connection settings for the LAN, Wireless, and Internet sharing. Any changes are applied after a restart of the router.
For those of you who want to do things the "hard" way, buttons along the left side access each of the individual sections, with the same basic screens from the Wizard, but offering advanced options at the top of each page. Focusing in on the point of this review, we went to the Wireless section. The first page displayed simple information on whether or not wireless connections were to be enabled or not, and if so, what the SSID and channel should be set at. Clicking on 'Authentication' brought us to security settings for the WLAN, including enabling WPA and setting WEP keys. It's highly recommended that these security measures be enabled to not only stop Wi-Fi thieves from stealing bandwidth, but to keep lurkers out of your shared documents. On the 'Advanced' page, there were options that could have major effects on the transfer rates. For example, we could enable or disable 11g mode only, or choose from various turbo settings for Super G Mode. In effect, we could run our wireless connection from somewhere less than 54Mbps up to the (theoretical) maximum of 108Mbps.
By clicking on Status, we could get a quick glance at the LAN and Wireless settings, including the DHCP Table. Keeping up with the security measures, there were a variety of choices under Access - Filters that would only allow or block certain MAC or IP addresses, or deny access to certain URLs or domains. Combining WEP keys while allowing only certain MAC addresses is a great start in protecting your data. Finally, the status log gives a running account of all system activity, allowing users to detect and identify unknown inquiries.
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Installing the PCMCIA card into our laptop was an even simpler task than setting up the router. To begin, we put the drivers CD into the drive and clicked on the only available option, which was for PC Card/PCI Card. As shown in the screenshot above, the drivers were not WHQL certified, but the manual explained that this was to be expected. Once the installation completed, all we had to do was restart the laptop, plug the card in, and make sure the status lights lit up. There also was a small utility program that gets installed that gave us helpful details like transmit and receiving data rates and whether or not there was an active connection. We could also enter in specific information such as the SSID and WEP keys to match the information stored in the router.
