Update: WLAN works OK Now (Me Stoopid)
Written: Dec 02 '03 (Updated Jan 07 '04)
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Pros: Nice, fast wireless web performance. Good WLAN performance, decent range.
Cons: Signal quality a little unsteady. Tweaking the antenna helps.
The Bottom Line: The 2300 works just fine, except for a slightly unsteady signal. Disable firewalls and maybe the power saving feature of your wi-fi card.
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| jimbo92109's Full Review: Dell TrueMobile 2300 Wireless Broadband Router (TM... |
I was wrong about the 2300, and yes, eating my words does not taste sweet. My apologies to Dell. The 2300's "poor wireless LAN performance" was really due to my own ignorance about firewalls. Seems that the combination of PC-Cillin's airtight TCP firewall plus the firewalls that come with Windows XP combined to block all TCP/IP traffic between my notebook and my desktop PCs. I managed to drill a weak hole through the firewalls by installing the NW IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol, but the alternative protocol's performance was extremely slow.
After I finally figured out what was wrong, I removed the WinXP firewalls, then turned off PC-Cillin's firewalls, then removed the IPX protocol. Suddenly, it all worked! Also, I disabled the "Power Saving" feature of the 1400 mini PCI card, which was slowing things down as well. Now the WLAN transfer speed is up to what it should be--about 1/2 the speed of 10/100 Ethernet. Tip: Later, I added some "Exceptions" to PC-Cillin's firewall with the IP addresses of the various network adapters. Now the PC-Cillin's firewall doesn't block my little devices...
However, I did notice that my new NetGear WGT624 (Super G, 108Mbps) router was able to deliver smoother wireless streaming video from my desktop to my notebook, and the NetGear's signal quality seems superior to the Dell's. The 2300's signal seemed jittery, as if it lacked a sufficient buffer or something. When a Super G mini-PCI card comes out, I'll be able to get 10/100 performance without cables, plus better range. Far out!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 89
Driver Availability: Windows only
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Epinions.com ID:
jimbo92109
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Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
I write technical literature for high-tech companies.
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