Quick Question - Why are WAPs so expensive ?!

[Mikey]

I have had the Netgear DG834 ADSL modem/router/firewall for about a year. I should have bought the DG834G, but at the time I didnt have a need for wireless.

So all I need is a simple wireless access point. But the majority of the WAPs I've seen are like £80-£100!! They are for the decent ones anyway. I think the cheapest good one I've seen is approximately £50.

It is crazy though that you can get a wireless router kit with a wireless pcmcia card bundled in for like the same price or less

I could be wrong, as this is only what I've observed over the last couple of days without looking too closely.

I just want a WAP for use with my PSP (when I get it), and possibly for using my notebok in the garden\around house.

So I guess what I'm getting at, is can anyone recommend any good value simple and basic WAPs? I missed the Linksys one that was being cleared out by Dixons/Currys recently for a low low £19.97

Thank you

edit - I understand that the Netgear DG834 is exactly the same as the wireless version , the DG834G. Apparently there is some kind of expansion slot inside it where the wireless thing is located on the wireless version.. I wonder if it is possible to modify/upgrade the DG834 to the DG834G by adding something, and then changing the firmware?

[BlackDwarf]

I was in the same situation as you.

I bought a D-Link AP 2000+ to add wireless capabilities to my house... and its working nicely.

Only problem i've encountered is that if your house has thick walls, the connection speed will be reasonably low, which is fine for your average web browsing/playing games, but if you're trying to copy files across, or install over the network, its a bit slow.

My network setup now goes:
Netgear DG834 > D-Link DGS-1008D gig Switch > To the pc's in my room & D-Link AP 2000+ > Wireless PC's with D-Link DWL-G520+ PCI cards.

[dave87]

Have you looked at the Belkin access points, they are slightly more reasonably priced. If you think £100 is relatively expensive, then you havent seen the cisco systems

Dave

P.S. My network

Belkin Wireless Router/Modem -> Netgear WGPS606 -> nforce 2 mobo gigabit ethernet

[Norky]

My Top Tip!

Don't bothered with WAPs, most of them only have a single ethernet port on the back. Instead, buy a wireless cable router for much the same price as they function perfectly as an AP (without bothering with the router part) and have a multiport switch on the back!

Linksys WAG54g (no speedbooster) WAP = £50.36
Linksys WRT54g (w/ speedbooster & 4 port switch) Cable/DSL router = £54.23

Prices: dabs.com

[Mikey]

Thank you very much everyone for the help & recommendations.

That's definitely cleared a few things up

[TheAnimus]

wireless.

I've been having even more fun lately with the joys that is wireless networking, or as i like to call it "i sure hope no ones using a microwave" networking. Or "why did i buy that linksys crap" networking.

I was really ill for a bit, and used to surf the net on my laptop in the lounge, sometimes if i felt well enough the garden, my solution, a 30meter patch cable. Regretably people seamed to lack the natural evolution to be able to step over said cable, and i broke a laptop NIC. I spent £400 on one access point, and one PCMCIA card, this was some 5 years back mind. Now so much has changed, there are 3 differnet standards, people seam to expect manifacturers to work with each other. Its scarey!

My advice would be, avoid like the plauge the following brands, despite what other people say, i've used exentisvely all these:
Netgear,
D-Link,
Belkin (i like their UPS's, but there wifi, no)
Linksys PCI/PCMIA adaptors, their access points rock, but their adaptors are very bad.

MIMO is a good technology to help get extra speed at longer range, only buy it if your adaptor in your computer will support it.

One of the best low price bits of kit around is the US Robotics Turbo Access point, i'm just about to get the 3rd i'll of used for my family. So there good kit. for <£50 its got great range, detachable ariels (very handy). Its won some awards for its performance from most PC mags, its pre MIMO thou. It has full WPA support which is very important as WEP is fundimentally flawed.

Linksys WRT54g is great gear, espesually with the 3rd party firmware it unlocks a lot of the same quality cisco gear. However, their PCI adaptors have put me off linksys for life, anyone that would slap their name onto that, and sell it to someone in the same box as the access point, its just criminal imo. These adaptors wouldn't even run WEP properly with the access point, when its all the same brand, and WIFI you don't accept that.

CISCO, if your stinking rich, get it. By far the best, some really nifty security tools too.

[Twigman]

buy WAG54G, sell you current stuff.
Jobs a goodun'

[Norky]

Linksys WRT54g is great gear, espesually with the 3rd party firmware it unlocks a lot of the same quality cisco gear. However, their PCI adaptors have put me off linksys for life, anyone that would slap their name onto that, and sell it to someone in the same box as the access point, its just criminal imo. These adaptors wouldn't even run WEP properly with the access point, when its all the same brand, and WIFI you don't accept that.

I have to agree about the WRT54g, but not the PCI cards. I had major problems with these cards but after extensive testing I put it down to problems within Windows XP and their complete arse wireless zero crap.

Eventually I gave up, dragged an old linux box up, put a spare Linksys card in that and got it running using ndiswrapper. Works perfectly as an access point in my room, whereas the Windows XP box next to it will be shifting about 3 packets every 30 seconds, while there's a 110kb/s download on the Linux box, which is even further away from the AP downstairs.

[Moby-Dick]

Buffalo wireless kit isn't too bad ( they make the apple networking kit IIRC )

they do a very cheap compact access point for very little cash.

[TheAnimus]

I have to agree about the WRT54g, but not the PCI cards. I had major problems with these cards but after extensive testing I put it down to problems within Windows XP and their complete arse wireless zero crap.

Erm, one of these boxes was 2k. I don't care about the OS tbh, quality gear thats sold to windows users, should work with windows. It damn well anoyed me when people called software modems "WinModems" is Xon/Xoff that complicated?

Those PCI cards are very bad, compared the AP.

[TheAnimus]

Buffalo wireless kit isn't too bad ( they make the apple networking kit IIRC )

they do a very cheap compact access point for very little cash.

Read any reviews, grossly overpriced for gear that isn't specail. Not best performer, not best in security. Tbh, saying they make apple gear is enough to warn people that thou.

[peterb]

I have used US robotics kit, using a standalone AP that plugs into the ethernet. It works well. Had one AP that died, but their RMA process was very good.

[Moby-Dick]

Read any reviews, grossly overpriced for gear that isn't specail. Not best performer, not best in security. Tbh, saying they make apple gear is enough to warn people that thou.

but outside of reviews and inside the real world , I found them to be one of the more sucessfully buts if wifi kits deployed with clients ( I'm not big on any wifi kit, but it was the lesser of many other evils )
We didnt have any issues with WPA tkip level security on it.

Reviews are designed to highlight relavtivly minor differences in kit becuase noone will buy a magazine which say "yeah they all work pretty well"

Unless somethign is truely abominable then that is usually pointed out.

apple's Wireless kit wasn't all that bad.

I dont suppose you have links to these reviews ?

[TheAnimus]

I think the reviews carry your claim quite well, most reviews don't have time to soak test for a week, find out that number 8's sheilding on the microwave desperately needs looking at etc. They just line them up, find best performer, best newb friendly, best range, best stability.

Saying its apple sums it up, its not bad as such, its just there are better ones that cost less. (ergo, in brief, there bad).

There are always issues with wifi, its the nature of it, you can only have 9 iirc operating next to each other before the frequencies run out. Mr Smith at # 10 didn't bother to set his up properly, and is on the same channel + frequency as you are, both DoS each other to death (802.11b/g/a all wait an increasing pysudo random time, if they are unable to get ack'd frames, end result, they stop transmitting).

not a great review, as it seams to take MIMO ones in the same breath:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/131/wire.../products.html

couldn't bring myself to countine looking for the pcplus one, its there. I'm not going to say the reviews are great, but i agree with their scoring on this one.

[Moby-Dick]

which is why I preferr a Cat 5 cable 10 times out of 10 ( wrap it in razor wire to discourage tripping )

just a very quick seach fo AP's shows up the following.

http://www.wireless4u.co.uk/products...eless%2054Mbps

its one of the more expensive ones out of the "budget" AP's , but it does have size on its side as its about the size of a Pack of Ciggarettes.

Its nearest competitor woudl be the dlink pocket AP which is well....dlink

I'd be interested tyo see how the gigbyte one is ( looks pretty cheap and cheerfull but I'm sure it will (not) work as well as the best of em.

[Moby-Dick]

Thats not the cheapest of routers is it ( and I quite like most of the Pc Pro reviews ) and I woudl agree with you on it, Routerwise I'd probably still go for a Draytek with either built in wireless or a regular one and decent AP ( to be positioned where the signall is good , not where the phone socket is ).

Perhaps the AP is just a loss leader for Buffalos other products