Labs

Wireless routers

Linksys Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link [Computer Shopper]
COMPANY: Linksys	PRICE: �103inc VAT
RATING:	ISSUE: 241 DATE: Jan 08

Linksys's Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link looks very similar to the company's WAG325N, but it doesn't have an ADSL modem. The CD-based setup wizard is very similar, too, taking you through configuring your internet settings and getting a secure wireless network.

Once you're on the web-based management page, you'll find that even this looks familiar. It offers the same excellent options for QoS as the WAG325N, which allow you to prioritise traffic by type, and are the best that we've seen.

The big differences, though, are that it has a four-port Gigabit Ethernet switch, a USB port



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and Linksys's Storage Link technology. Plug a USB storage device into the port and you can share its contents. It's more than simple file sharing, though, as you can set up different users and give them different permissions. The speed at which you can share files will really depend on the type of storage you plug in. We managed to get 5.4MB/s when reading from a 1.8in external hard disk. As well as file sharing over the network, the router has an FTP server. Here you can designate a single folder that you want to share and then access it from anywhere in the world.

For music and video, the Wireless-N Gigabit Router has a UPnP media server on it, so you can share these files with media receivers easily.

Performance with our Centrino notebook was almost identical to that of the WAG325N, but we got only 2.45Mbit/s at 25m. When we used the WPC300N-UK CardBus adaptor (£47 from www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop), throughputs increased to 41.4Mbit/s at 1m, and a rapid 10.94Mbit/s at 25m.

The Wireless-N Gigabit Router is expensive and not as fast as its competitors, but for flexibility and features it can't be beaten, and it's great if you want to share a USB hard disk.

By Matt Smith

SPECIFICATIONS:
Draft 802.11n (300Mbit/s), 4x 10/100/1,000Mbit/s LAN ports, 1x WAN port , UPnP, QoS