Product Reviews

Until now, wireless networks were difficult to set up, and even trickier to secure. Buffalo's AirStation 125 is designed to make things simpler. Its software, which you install on the PCs that the AirStation communicates with, includes an automatic setup routine that sets up and secures your wireless network. The only catch is, you have to use Buffalo's own network cards.

Finding the AirStation's wireless network signal wasn't completely straightfoward. We had to restart our laptop twice before the software found the signal. Once it was found, however, the wireless network icon popped up and we were connected.

With the connection established we needed to secure our network, as anyone with the right equipment can pick up the radio signals that wireless networks use to send and receive data. So unless you want your neighbours

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sneakily sharing your broadband or snooping around your private documents you must encrypt your network signal. Until now this meant a confusing and tedious procedure, involving passwords and hexadecimal numbers.

Buffalo's router does away with all this. You simply press a button on the AirStation and at the same time activate the 'AOSS' software that comes bundled with Buffalo's PC or laptop wireless card. The two devices then exchange security settings and encryption codes, and configure your network for the highest level of security that both devices support. The units we tested set themselves up to talk securely with each other within just five minutes.

The other claim Buffalo makes about the AirStation is that, when talking to other Buffalo products, it will run at a theoretical maximum of 125 megabits per second (Mbit/s), compared to 54Mbit/s - the previous wireless speed limit. In our tests, the AirStation was actually slower than the KCorp Gateway Gold, our current favourite wireless router. The KCorp completed our transfer test in 55 seconds, while the Buffalo does it in 1 minute 50 seconds.

It isn't as fast as our favourite wireless router, so we've given the AirStation four stars - but we still believe it's worth a Recommended award. If you don't want to stream video over your network the Buffalo will be fast enough, and its simple setup makes securing your network the easiest we've seen it.