If you're having problems with your Wi-Fi reception, this adaptor from Edimax should help you go that extra distance.
Wireless networks can sometimes be a giant pain in the proverbial. If you’re in a house with thick walls, surrounded by other wireless users, or you just have a neighbour who likes to microwave popcorn, then your wireless network may suffer.
But the biggest bugbear we have with Wi-Fi is that it’s often not powerful enough. Like many in the inner suburbs of Sydney, I live in a terrace house, which is long and narrow. With the phone line (and wireless router) at the front of the property, connecting anything at the rear of the house mostly doesn’t work. It’s too far, and the signals aren’t strong enough to support web browsing, let alone streaming video or moving serious data around.
Enter High Gain equipment. This form of Wi-Fi networking uses a more efficient antennae design and directivity to increase performance.
This device from Edimax is a strange beast. It’s a tiny form factor USB 802.11n wireless adaptor with a honking great antenna. Well, it’s big compared to others, at around 15cm long. And it works a charm. We did some artificial distance testing here in the Labs, setting up a Wi-Fi access point at a distance our reference device (a D-Link DWL-G122) could only just maintain a functional link. The Edimax did just beautifully. The throughput moved from our 1Mbit/s baseline achieved by the D-Link model to a steady 24Mbit/s at the same distance over 802.11n.
The downside? The software. The Ezmax setup software is compulsory to get the drivers on your system and also loads on the Edimax Wireless LAN Utility software, which is completely unnecessary for the use of a wireless adaptor.
Still, if your wireless is driving you mad, and it’s not feasible to run a cable, then this might just save some sanity.
Available from Edimax, retailing for $69.APC rating: 8/10 (Editor's Choice)