AirLive WL-5450AP 802.11g Multi-function wireless Access Point - Review

[Doomer D. Great]

Review: AirLive WL-5450AP 802.11g Multi-function Wireless Access Point
By: Hassan "Doomer" Gulzar

Today, we will be looking at three different Wireless APs (Access Points). Two of them are from AirLive. To be honest, the company AirLive was rather new for me as I never heard of it before but after going through their corporate profile on their website, I found out that they are quite packing in Taiwan! Here is a well-put summary of AirLive:

"The manufacturer of AirLive products, OvisLink Corp. was founded in 1993 in Taiwan by a group of industrial experts who set out to provide the best combination of quality, service, technology, and value in the industry. Today, OvisLink Corp. is an international corporation, total networking solution provider with over 200 products and with hundreds of distributors around the world."

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Unpacking
• Contents
• Specifications
• Review
• Testing
• Conclusion

Introduction:
I’m looking at AirLive Indoor Wireless device, the WL-5450AP today. It’s small and cute and it does claim to have the features offered by high end devices already in the market. These days, almost everyone wants to have a wireless setup at home or office. The reason being that the wireless device that were simply out of budget for many companies are so cheap and easy to use that even home users can afford them and set then up to enjoy wireless coverage throughout their homes. I'll be looking at AirLive WL-5450AP which is also built to serve in office/home with ease of configuration and almost ready to use out of the box. So, let us begin by unpacking!

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Unpacking:
This step was rather simple and not exciting as it is not supposed to be. Nothing extra to be found here but the usual you’ll find in just about any Wireless AP packing.

Figure: Package


Figure: Package

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Contents:

• WL-5450AP
• Detachable Antenna
• Power Adopter
• Network Cable
• Manual
• Warranty + Regulations
• CD

One thing I found odd was the extremely over-sized heavy power adopter. I do not understand why they make such huge adopters when slimmer and light-weight variants are easily available.

Figure: The huge Adopter!

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Specifications:
Now, let us focus on the capabilities of the WL-5450AP...

At a glance:

• 54Mbps Wireless AP, 20dBm power
• Bridge, Client, Repeater, WDS functions, TX power regulation, watchdog
• Detachable Antenna, 2 LAN ports
• 1MB Flash and 8MB SDRAM

Details:

Figure: Specification Table

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Review:

Figure: The WL-5450AP

The AirLive WL-5450AP is fully compliant with the 802.11g and 802.11b standard making it compatible with most wireless devices today. On the back side, you’ll find two LAN ports for connection to router (WLAN) and LAN. Apart from the LAN ports, there is the usual Power input and the tiny Reset button. On the side, there is the mount-point for the 2 dBi detachable Dipole Antenna.

Figure: The Rear Side

The front side is all about different LEDs for visual representation of different tasks and device status.

Figure: The Front Side

There is not much to say about such devices when talking looks and design. Inside however, is a web server with the administration software on it. Starting with the basic tab, you can see the important Band Selection and the Operation Mode. The WL-5450 can operate an Access Point, Bridge, Repeater, or in Client Mode.

Figure: Wireless Basic Settings


Figure: Different modes of operation

The Advance Setup tab is full of all sorts of options that many users will never set... these options include the WatchDog feature: You setup an IP of a machine and WL-5450 starts pinging it and when the ping fails, WatchDog restarts the WL-5450.

Figure: Wireless Advanced Settings

Also, note the Tx (Transmission) Power Level settings here: I have applied the latest firmware that claims to have enabled a Tx power of 20dB but I cannot go higher than 19dB. Moving on, the Security Tab becomes the highlight. Selecting different Encryption settings, you enable/disable the different security related options here.

Figure: Wireless Security Settings

The last tab I want to show is the most common and famous tab, the LAN Setup:

Figure: LAN Interface Setup

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Testing:
There is no certified benchmarking when it comes to Wireless Networking as every office or home has a different environment i.e. placement of AP, position of clients, other APs in range, electricity cables and other noise. I will just place the AP in my room, use a laptop with a built-in wireless solution, and move around the floor to get some idea. Here is the range distribution legend:

• Zone A: 6 Meter
• Zone B: 10 Meter
• Zone C: 15 Meter
• Zone D: 22 Meter

A and B are on the same floor with obstacles commonly found in office i.e. dividers, cabinets, glass walls. C is one floor (~10 Meter) below and with more obstacles. D is two floors below (~20 Meter) outside the building on the pavement.

Figure: RSSI Measurement

A and B were very nice spots and file transfer and other tasks were all very well. There was a constant 'Excellent' coverage reported by the Laptop. There was a sudden drop in RSSI at B but I could not note any major drop in performance. C had issues upon transferring huge files (>50 MB) as the operation would be interrupted due to some sudden error but basic file transfer and task like Remote Desktop were still functional and the speed was not reduced greatly. D was the worst of them all. I could not stay connected continuously and when I was connected, I could browse folder shared on other devices let alone download/open files.

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Conclusion:
WL-5450AP is an excellent indoor device and probably best for a Home User rather then Office. Although it provides features and security that, a professional AP provides. However, it will work better in homes as the number of walls and other obstacles that affect the coverage and signal strength directly and in directly and in case of this device, it seems that obstacles and noise affect it a lot.

I have no price quote now but this is a tricky situation. The Pakistani market is being dominated by TP-Link. High-end devices manufactured by the likes of BayNet and LinkSys etc. are seldom seen. TP-Link is offering cheap and reliable product covering all requirements and actively challenging any new features being introduced by others. If AirLive is to enter Pakistan, it has to come cheap and easily available else I fail to see AirLive surviving.

I'd like to thank AirLive for providing us with the samples.

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