The best AP-only solution so far!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Quick configuration, good range, excellent compatibility

Cons: Must upgrade to get the pros listed above. =)

The Bottom Line: 
If you want to go wireless cheaply and easily, this is your best bet if you don't need an integrated switch or router. A signal booster is available, too!

Author's Review
I was so excited when my company purchased a brand new Thinkpad T40 for me (see my review here at epinions!). It had everything, a Pentium M processor, a ton of RAM, and integrated wireless! I was especially thrilled about the integrated wireless because I was tired of having to plug a PCMCIA adapter into my personal laptop to get on the internet. Well, after spending an hour on the phone with IBM's technical support, the conclusion was that the Intel wireless card in my T40 just wasn't compatible with our office's Netgear ME102 access point.

I had a couple of options; I could use my existing PC card and live with the ugly card protruding from my new laptop, or I could go out and find an access point that was compatible with the Intel card. Of course, I opted for the latter, and ran next door to the electronics store to purchase the Linksys WAP11 v2.6. I also purchased the Linksys WSB24 signal booster, but I'll save that for a separate review. =)

Configuration was very easy, except that I had to pull out the instructions to find out what Linksys used for the default IP address. I'm used to most off-the-shelf products using 192.168.0.1, but Linksys uses 192.168.1.251. I simply connected my laptop to the AP using a crossover cable and opened the configuration web page in my browser.

The settings are pretty straightforward; the important ones to set for simple use is the AP's IP address, subnet mask, and gateway. Setting these values alone is enough to get any wireless-enabled device on the web. However, for greater security, you'll want to look at some of the other settings. My first step was to enable 128-bit WEP, which essentially encrypts data passed between the AP and clients. I always use WEP for basic security, but in a corporate environment, it's also a good idea to leave the AP outside of your LAN, and then use VPN to tunnel into your company's network. Anyhow, WEP setup went smoothly and everything worked fine. Once I changed the IP address to one compatible with our company network, I had to also reconfigure my onboard NIC to be on the same subnet.

Next, I decided to disable the SSID broadcast option, which prevents users from seeing our AP through the use of scanners like the one built into Windows XP. Unfortunately, my laptop's wireless configuration tool (IBM Access Connections) was unable to detect the AP, even though I already had the profile configured with the SSID! Once I re-enabled the SSID broadcast, everything worked fine again. Oh well!

My final attempt to add extra security to the new access point was to restrict access based on MAC addresses. A MAC address is a universally-unique identifier given to every network interface controller. By enabling this restriction, I can guarantee that the only wireless devices capable of accessing the network through this access point are the one that I manually enter into the table. Sure, it's not an extensible solution, as every new wireless card used in the company would require that I add its MAC address into the table. It does ensure safety, though!

It's using this table of authorized MAC addresses where I hit my first hiccup with the WAP11. As soon as I enabled it, I lost my connection to the AP. I figured that this was okay, since I was connecting to it through my onboard NIC, whose MAC address was not in the list. When I connected the AP to our network and re-enabled my wireless card, everything was working fine! Sounds good so far, right? Well, not exactly... you see, I'd still have to get to the WAP11's configuration web page to add more wireless MACs in the future. Unfortunately, when I enabled the MAC filter feature, it wouldn't let *any* PC on the network access its web page!

My only solution to this problem was to reset the WAP11 and perform the configuration from scratch, which was a little tedious because I had to change my onboard NIC's IP address again. This time, I figured that I'd check Linksys's website for a firmware update, since this sort of behavior is definitely not ever "by design". Fortunately, they did have a firmware update so I upgraded my current firmware from version 1.06 to 1.07. Sure enough, that did the trick! I was still able to restrict access by MAC address, but the AP's configuration web page was accessible by any computer on the network. Unfortunately, I still couldn't use the SSID broadcast disable feature, but I believe this is a problem with my laptop.

The range on the AP was extremely good. We work in a very large warehouse with few obstructions, and I can get a signal anywhere within the 12,000sqft. building. Once I step outside of the building, though, the signal drops to 0%. This is kind of a bummer, since I've always wanted to pull up a lawn chair at work and program outside in the sun. =) My dream may still come true -- check out my review here on Linksys's WSB24 signal booster.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with the WAP11. If you need an access point without the features of an integrated router and switch, you'll love this device. After a simple firmware update, it's ready to go and is super simple to administer. Good compatibility and range round out the package.