This article continues our series of reviews of network equipment that supports the draft 802.11n standard. As you can guess from the device name, the ASUS WL-500W carries on the traditions of such popular products from ASUS as WL-500G Deluxe, WL-500g Premium, WL-600g (counting ADSL devices in as well), etc.
To remind you, we tested the WL-500g Premium in our labs before (for details see our article called ASUS WL500g Premium Wireless Internet Router Review). At first sight the WL-500W seems to be the same Premium with the addition of support for the IEEE 802.11n draft. To be exact, it is a four-port Fast Ethernet router with two USB 2.0 ports and with functionality typical of hi-end home routers. The WL-500g Premium left a good impression on me, especially with its hardware section, despite certain drawbacks.
So, I’m interested not only in the speed characteristics of the new router but also in its hardware components – whether anytyhing has changed since the Premium model.
Specifications and Accessories Bundle
Parameter | Characteristics |
Wireless standard | - IEEE 802.11b/g
- IEEE 802.11n (draft) |
Encoding standard | - WEP (64/128bit)
- WPA
- WPA2 |
Antenna | - 3 external dipole antennas |
Signal modulation | - OFDM
- CCK
- DQPSK
- DBPSK |
Operating frequency | - 2.4 - 2.5 GHz |
Nominal data transfer rate | - 802.11n (draft): up to 270Mbps
- 802.11g: 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54Mbps
- 802.11b: 1, 2, 5.5, 11Mbps |
Transmit power | - 12~15dBm (g mode),
- 15~18dBm (b mode),
- 14~16dBm (n mode).
(at normal temp. range) |
Operating channels | 11 for North America, 14 Japan,
13 Europe (ETSI), 3 (non-overlapping) |
WAN | 1 RJ-45 (10/100 BaseT) Fast Ethernet 10/100Mb/s port
with auto crossover |
LAN | 4 RJ-45 (10/100 BaseT) Fast Ethernet 10/100Mb/s ports
with auto crossover |
Other interfaces | 2 USB 2.0 ports |
Power | External power supply unit |
Dimensions | 215 x 160 x 42 mm |
Additional features | - Download Master: Download ftp, http and BT (BitTorrent) automatically;
- FTP Server;
- WebCAM Server;
- Printer Server: TCP/IP
(LPR, supported in Windows XP, Windows 2000 and MAC OS). |
The contents of the box are quite standard for the device class:
- WL-500W router
- Power adapter (5V, 2.5A)
- CD with software
- Installation and setup guide
- Category 5e Ethernet cable
