Product Reviews

Implementing a wireless network can be much less of a headache than a wired network. Some people, though, have no choice, as some older machines don't have the internal architecture necessary to accept AirPort or AirPort Extreme cards.

For some, there is the option of fitting a wireless adapter into a PCI slot - we've discovered that the BT Voyager 1040 PCI card, though not officially Mac-compatible, works perfectly in most systems - but others either don't have slots, or just don't want to crack open their Mac to fit a card.

It's all these people that Macsense is targeting with the AeroPad Mini WUA-800. Basically, all it does is allow any Mac (or PC, Xbox and the like) with an Ethernet port to access an existing wireless network. The AeroPad Mini itself joins the wireless network then passes the data over a short length of Ethernet cable to the port on the computer. This is a commendable approach, as Ethernet was designed from its conception as a networking system; those that use USB - which was never meant for networking - tend to cause crashes.

But here's where the neatness of the system comes unstuck. The power to run the AeroPad Mini is supplied by a short cable running between it and a spare USB port on the computer. This isn't used to transfer any data; it just taps into the power via USB. The problem is not so much that this uses up an otherwise

The distributor tells us that a separate power supply will shortly be available, and that a new, white version, due for release in mid-October, will have one bundled.

The unit itself is tiny - about the size of a Fry's Turkish Delight - and has three lights on top to show status; the cables are so short, however, that it's likely to remain out of sight.

Setup is fairly simple. The included quick-start guide is clear enough, but doesn't take into account the variety of configurations that people may have set up; the base station we used in testing, for instance, automatically allocates a wireless channel, but the AeroPad Mini seemed to require a fixed channel. Happily, no software is required; configuration is handled through an internal web server.

We had little difficulty getting up and running, but if you don't feel confident in your knowledge of basic networking terms, you may struggle a little. Handily, the device's MAC address is printed on its base, so you can easy allow it access to your network if you filter MAC addresses.

Once configured, though, we were delighted. Because the AeroPad Mini takes care of all the wireless stuff internally, the Mac just thinks it's connected to a vanilla Ethernet network. It's an 802.11g device - so is theoretically capable of 54Mb/sec; in real life, this will be much lower, but the AeroPad Mini performed as well as any other wireless adapter. It also supports WEP and WPA encryption. It's a little expensive, but it's an excellent way to get old kit online; we even managed to cajole an LCII onto our office's wireless network. If you wait for the mid-October batch, though, you'll get the external power supply.