Tests of Wi-Fi equipment by Hawking Technology
Configuration
To set up the device, it is suggested to us a special utility
which can be found on the bundled CD.
The utility allows selecting the module's operation mode - an
adapter or an access point, as well as set up all the necessary
parameters. Besides, it affords the opportunity to view the list of
available networks, as well as the signal level and the quality of
communication.
Utility
To protect data, WEP and WPA standards using various methods
of encryption and authentication are allowed. In using the former, you
can choose the key length to be 64, 128, or 256 bit, and define up to
four keys both in the hexadecimal and ASCII formats. If WPA is
selected, PEAP or TLS protocols can be used (the certificate and the
login/password pair should be used), or the WPA-PSK when the access
password common for the whole password has to be entered. Note that the
relatively new decryption-resistant AES protocol can be used for
encryption.
WEP Setup
WPA Setup
In the "access point" mode, the selection of settings is not
that wide. For example, the WPA is not supported - the maximum what can
be enabled is the WEP of 256 bit key length, and of security tools the
MAC filtration is used - you can create a list of allowed or banned
addresses. Parameters traditional for the access point are also
defined: the SSID (which can be hidden), the frequency channel,
operation speed, power-saving and some other parameters.
Access-point parameters
HWP54G PCI-adapter
The PCI adapter is the third device of the kit that arrived to
us for tests. There is nothing special on the outside but for the
external antenna with a one meter cable. As regards the functionality,
all is quite traditional and nothing special: traditional support for
security - WEP, WPA; the only thing noteworthy is the support for AES
encryption standard. All the wiring is made on a single board, the
Ralink RT2560F is used as the wireless controller and runs jointly with
the RT2525L transceiver hidden under the protective housing. Therefore,
controllers of different manufacturers are used in all the three
devices.
PCI adapter
RT2525L transceiver
The adapter's package bundle is rather moderate - the adapter
itself, an antenna thereto, a brief printed version of the installation
& setup guide, as well as a CD with documentation, drivers and
a utility. The utility is different from that used to set up the USB
adapter but offers similar functionality. For faster switching between
wireless networks, a number of profiles can be created and each profile
can contain the required settings.
Adapter setup
The Link tab displays the info on network connection status,
including the quality of connection and the signal level.
Utility - connection
The integrated search utility is convenient enough, it
displays not only the channel and the signal level, but the type of
encryption and authentication.
Utility - search for available networks
Utility - statistics
On the next to last tab you can select the adapter's operation
mode (B or G) as well as enable/disable the protection mode and set the
transmission rate.
Utility - operation parameters
Finally, the last tab displays the summary information on the
utility and the driver.
Utility - About
Tests
For tests, we used the following hardware: a computer on the
base of AMD Athlon 64 2800+ with 1 GB RAM and integrated Gigabit LAN
controller on the Marvell chipset (here, wireless adapters are
installed) powered by Windows XP Professional SP2; a dual-processor
computer on the base of Intel Xeon 2800 with 2 GB RAM and integrated
Gigabit LAN controller on the base of Intel chipset (was used as an
Ethernet finite point) powered by Windows Server 2003 Enterprise
Edition. To test the USB adapter for operation range, we used a
notebook PC based on Intel Pentium M 1500 with 512 MB RAM, powered by
Windows XP Professional SP2. To measure the speed, we used the NetIQ
Chariot test system.
We ran a series of tests to measure the routing speed. The
first two systems participated in these tests. For connection, we used
Gigabit LAN controllers. To the LAN interface, we connected a computer
based on the AMD processor, and Intel - to the external, respectively.
For the inner interface, we assigned an address of the 192.168.5.õ
template, for the external interface - 192.168.72.õ, with 255.255.255.0
as the mask. We assigned addresses from the respective networks to the
computers as well. On both computers, we started finite points of the
test system, and on one of the computers we started the Chariot test
console.
Rate of routing a single stream
Rate of routing two streams
|
Test
|
Average speed, Mbit/s
|
Minimum speed, Mbit/s
|
Maximum speed, Mbit/s
|
|
Single stream
|
44,757
|
15,385
|
48,485
|
|
Two streams
|
45,959
|
8,333
|
45,959
|
As the tests showed, the speed under single stream amounted to
44.757 Mbit/s, and 45.959 Mbit/s with two streams. As regards the
stability of the stream, it can't be regarded ideal but is anyway
acceptable since the speed reduced for a short term to 1/3 of the
average result. The maximum speed proved a bit higher than the average,
and in both cases the difference was no more than 10%.
Somehow or other, the speed and stability demonstrated allow
to assert that the routing performance will be enough for most
scenarios of using the router. Considering that very few own the
Internet channel as fast as 100 Mbit/s, whereas most users still have
the access speed not exceeding 10 Mbit/s, so the router in most cases
will cope with data streams. However, the recently wide-spread
home-based networks running at 100 Mbit/s are able easily providing a
channel that the router can't cope. So it might take longer to download
another film or a disk image from the server in the neighboring house.
Speed of the wireless network
The first stage of test was about determining the running
speed of various adapters at the same distance, as well as the effect
of WPA on speed. The connection speed was selected automatically, the
power saving was disabled. To run this series of tests, we connected
one of the LAN ports (to exclude the effect of routing) of the router
to our test server based on Intel processors, then second in the line
were wireless network adapters, and conducted test metering. Note that
the distance among computers - more precisely, between the router's
antenna and the adapter's antenna - was about three meters. The data
was transmitted from the router to the wireless client. When testing
the bandwidth without encryption, the speed proved adequate enough for
the 802.11g wireless equipment, however, with the WPA enabled the speed
dropped substantially: by approximately 15% for the PCI adapter, and by
about 30% for the USB adapter.
|
Adapter
|
Average speed without WPA, Mbit/s
|
Average WPA speed, Mbit/s
|
|
PCI
|
23,821
|
18,152
|
|
USB
|
22,336
|
19,371
|
Operation speed of the wireless network without encryption
Operation speed of the wireless network with WPA encryption
Operation speed of the wireless network without encryption
Operation speed of the wireless network with WPA encryption
The second stage of testing the wireless network was about
measuring the effect of distance on speed. Since only the USB adapter
can be called mobile, only that device took part in this series of
tests. Note that encryption was not used. In the series, there were
three test measurements: at 3 meters away from the access point,
without obstacles; at 10 meters away from the access point with the
inner brick wall as obstacle; and 30 meters away from the access point
+ main brick wall in between.
|
Condition
|
Average speed, Mbit/s
|
Minimum speed, Mbit/s
|
Maximum speed, Mbit/s
|
|
Condition 1
|
22,336
|
7,207
|
25,807
|
|
Condition 2
|
10,636
|
2,524
|
21,053
|
|
Condition 3
|
2,364
|
1,610
|
3,162
|
Operation speed of the wireless network - Condition 1.
Operation speed of the wireless network - Condition 2.
Operation speed of the wireless network - Condition 3.
As can be seen, the results of operation range tests proved
rather middling. However, we should take into account the miniature
size of the adapter itself where it is hard not only to fit the chips
but to place the antenna. Therefore, with the miniature size of the
adapter taken into account, the result is worth of praises.
Findings
Tests of the presented kit proved interesting enough, not only
in terms of the produced results but also in terms of meeting this
manufacturer, practically unknown in our country. The router showed
dignified enough results for all the parameters, starting with the ease
of administration, functionality, up to the performance. As regards the
adapters, there is nothing unexpected either: the PCI version showed
what it should and no more than that. The USB proved more interesting -
apart from the functionality of the wireless network adapter, the model
can act as an access point. But being an adapter, it supports the WPA
standard, most topical today, and in the access-point mode it provides
256-bit WEP at best whose unreliability is already known to many not by
hearsay. Summing up all the above, we can say that the equipment will
be a good choice for home use, as well as for the network in a small
office, that is, just what it is positioned for by the manufacturer.
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