AirLive WN-5000R 802.11n Wireless Router - Review

[Doomer D. Great]

Review: AirLive WN-5000R 802.11n Wireless Router
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:
The second device that I'll be exploring is the WN-5000R. As discussed earlier, these days, almost everyone wants to have a wireless setup at home or office. Unlike the WL-5450AP, the WN-5000R is more professional and it intends to break barriers. Because, it supports the soon to be globalized 802.11n standard! That's 6 times the transfer rate then the current '.g' offers. 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

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Contents:

• WN-5000R
• 3 x Detachable Antenna
• Power Adopter
• Network Cable
• Manual
• Warranty + Regulations
• CD

Unlike the power adopter for the WL-5450AP, WN-5000R has a slim lightweight easy to fit any extension power adopter. this a good plus point as installing this device in an office will not call for a special dedicated extension port. It can simply fit straight into a small UPS.

Figure: The slim Adopter!

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Specifications:
Now, let us focus on the capabilities of the WN-5000R...

At a glance:

• 2T3R Data Stream
• 802.11n Speed, Up to 6 times faster than wireless-G!
• WDS repeater function, WEP, WPA, WPA2
• PPTP, L2TP, PPPoE, DHCP, Fixed, Bigpond ISP supports
• 802.11e, 802.11d, and WMM support

Details:

Figure: Specification Table

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Review:

Figure: The WN-5000R

The AirLive WN-5000R is fully compliant with the 802.11g and 802.11b standard making it compatible with most wireless devices today. Plus it can take on 802.11n standard as mentioned earlier as the 802.11n is the future. In fact, such device are rare as the standard hasn't been finalized yet. On the back side of WN-5000R, you’ll find one WAN port and four LAN ports. Apart from the LAN ports, there is the usual Power input and the tiny Reset button. There is another button here labeled WPS and there are three mount-points for the three detachable Antennas.

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

The WN-5000R does look more futuristic then the WL-5450AP so it get more point in the design department but there is an indirect benefit here too: The management software on WN-5000R is also much more advanced then that of WL-5450AP and the UI is different too. Starting with the WAN setup tab, you can see the different WAN extension WN-5000R supports. If you want to eliminate any DSL modem, you can configure WN-5000R as your ISP's (Internet Service Provider) CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) device.

Figure: WAN Setup

The WN-5000R also has different modes of operation and when multiple WN-5000R are combined, the 802.11n standard implement, you must appreciate the fact that you'll be transferring data at almost 300 Mb/sec!

Figure: Wireless Settings

The Advance Setup tab is full of all sorts of options that many users will probably never set... probably never on a WN-5000R!

Figure: Advanced Settings

Moving on, the Security Tab becomes the highlight. Selecting different Encryption settings, you enable/disable the different security related options here. After security, there is the WPS tab. The WPS or WiFi Protected Setup. The concept of WPS is the the SSID of your Wireless network is also hidden and hence no one can even stumble upon your wireless cloud making it extremely secure. The WPS button found on the rear of the device is directly related to this tab as pressing it toggles the WPS mode live!

Figure: Security Settings


Figure: WPS (WiFi Protected Setup)

As with the WL-5450AP, 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

My laptop couldn't sync on 802.11n and I can't blame it as the standard is not yet a standard. Reverting to the usual 802.11g, I continued testing hoping to see a trend. A and B were again, very nice spots and file transfer and other tasks were all very well. The sudden drop in RSSI at B was still there but there was no issue at all I couldn't feel any difference in Tx speeds. At C, I ran into transfer issues when dealing huge files but this time, file weighing over 250 Mb had issues unlike the 50 Mb limit imposed by WL-5450AP. Finally at D, I noticed I wasn't being disconnected over and over again and I could actually browse the networked PC and even see list of shared files on each. small office documents could be opened and edited/saved but attempting to play a clips or a MP3 would simply cause a hang or a long pause and then produce an access error.

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Conclusion:
WN-5000R is an attractive device with a lot of potential and a card under the sleeve that makes it future proof as well. It had solid indoor and outdoor performance and I'm sure when running at 802.11n, the numbers will go over the roof. You need to be 802.11n complaint if you want to enjoy the hight transfer rates over very long ranges. Just installing WN-5000R is NOT going to get you there!

The WN-5000R is so sophisticated and yet, i have yet to tweak any security option. it work out of the box flawlessly and produced less heat then the other two device i tested along. I'm really impressed. Do mind that having three antennas doesn't mean this device gets super powers. The number of antennas is related to the concept of Diversity in wireless world and explanation is out of the scope. Also, WN-5000R implements the MIMO (Multiple Inputs - Multiple Outputs) elegantly along with AirLive's own 2T3R (2 transmitter - 3 receiver) Technology.

With so much bells and whistles, the WN-5000R easily fits into the elite high end sector unlike the WL-5450AP. At time of writing, I checked from multiple sources and found WN-5000R to be fixed-priced at 99$ and that equivalent to almost 7500 PRK. Now that a price tag to be worried about. After conducting a small survey of the market, I could not find any Wireless AP/Router within the 6500 PKR to 7500 PKR price range that performed all the functions of WN-5000R. This gives the WN-5000R an edge. i hope to see AirLive products in the market soon.

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

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