Product Reviews

Proxim makes a number of wireless networking products under the Skyline brand name, and its latest release is the Skyline USB Adapter.

It's basically a small, wireless transceiver that connects to any Mac or PC via a USB port. This means the USB Adapter can be used with Mac models that don't have a slot for an AirPort card. And even if your Mac doesn't have a built-in USB port, you could still use a USB upgrade card to add USB as long as the Mac has a PCI expansion slot. As such, the USB Adapter can be used with many older machines that would otherwise be unable to network wirelessly.

Using an external USB device for wireless networking has other advantages. You don't have to open up your machine to install it, and it's a simple matter to switch the Adapter from one machine to another. The USB Adapter works with both Macs and PCs, so it will be useful for organisations that have both types of machine.

Easy does it

Installing the device is straightforward: it just plugs straight into a USB port. It doesn't need a separate power supply, but it's probably best to plug it straight into one of the ports on the back of your Mac rather than to connect it to a USB hub. The USB interface isn't that fast, and it might slow down your network or Internet connection if the USB Adapter has to share the interface with other devices on a hub.

Like the AirPort card, the USB Adapter will allow you to create

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an 'ad hoc' network in which two more computers - each with its own USB Adapter - are directly connected to each other. However, most users are likely to use it to connect their computer to an existing network, or to a broadband Internet connection, such as an ADSL or cable modem. To do this you need to use the USB Adapter with an 802.11b access device, such as Apple's AirPort Base Station.

The Proxim software installs a new Control Panel on to your Mac, called Wireless USB. This allows the USB Adapter to scan the immediate vicinity and locate any access points. The software worked well in our tests and the Adapter immediately noted the presence of our AirPort Base Station. It also provides simple options for entering a password and choosing encryption settings that work with the Base Station.

Unfortunately, our AirPort Base Station turned its nose up at the thought of connecting to a non-Apple device. We needed some help from Proxim's technical support department to reconfigure the Base Station to enable it to connect to the USB Adapter. This was partly Proxim's fault, as the documentation provided with the card is rather skimpy. To be fair, Proxim's software worked well and it was Apple's AirPort software that caused our problems. Non-experts might need to think twice before mixing and matching Apple and non-Apple wireless devices.

Connecting people

One other detail to note is that the first shipments of the USB Adapter only included PC software, and we had to download the Mac software from Proxim's Web site. The Mac software should be included on the Skyline CD-ROM in later shipments, but in the meantime you can download the software from the company's Web site. It's only about 300K in size so it shouldn't take too long.

We'd certainly recommend the USB Adapter to anyone who can't use an AirPort card in their Mac, or who works with both Macs and PCs. And if you're worried about using it with an AirPort Base Station, you could always opt for a Skyline access point instead.