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Wireless Networks That Do More

Want to share connections, devices, and entertainment? Here's what to buy and how to use it securely and reliably.

Eric Knorr and Becky Waring

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Wireless Gateways: No Strings Attached

If you've been waiting for wireless to come of age before installing a nome network or upgrading your current wired setup, wait no longer. Today's reliable, affordable, and fast wireless gateways make it easier than ever for average PC users to link several computers in a home or small office. Thanks to manufacturers' enthusiastic participation in the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification program, you can be confident that the Wi-Fi equipment you buy will be compatible with all other such equipment--on your local network or anywhere else that wireless networks are in place.

We tested ten 802.11b gateways intended for homes and small offices. Besides offering wireless connections, every product offers from one to four ethernet ports as well as a port for your cable or DSL modem. This lets you easily share broadband Internet access among all your computers without having to set up one PC as an always-on "Internet connection sharing" server. And to protect your network from prying eyes and hacker attacks over the Internet, each has a built-in firewall.

Our three top picks are the D-Link AirPlus DI-614+, the Linksys Wireless Access Point Router BEFW11S4 Version 2, and the SMC Networks Barricade Plus SMC7004WFW. The DI-614+ has a special 22-mbps mode that delivers up to twice the transfer rate of the other gateways when connected to compatible D-Link client adapters (to find out more about these see " Speed Matters, But..."). Of the nine 11-mbps products, the Linksys and SMC gateways offer the best combination of speed and range, and they provided the most reliable connections. All three of our Best Buys have excellent firewall and hardware features, and all were easy to set up.

Wireless gateways now cost less than $100, and prices for wireless interface cards--whether PC Cards for notebooks, internal PCI cards for desktops, or external USB adapters for any computer--are about $69 and dropping. All ten gateways have the same basic functionality, but they differ in key ways in their installation and setup, hardware design, firewall features, and performance. See the features chart and the performance chart for more details.

With simpler setup, more reliable connections, faster performance, and lower prices, it's getting harder and harder to say no to wireless home networks.

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