Today for review I have the last of the Siig Wireless-N networking related products, this one is a router. The router features all the latest security, and even WPS. There’s a ton of options at the control panel for you to fiddle with if you like or you can just use the Quick Setup to be up and running in three simple steps.

Specifications:

Wireless-N Router

Easily upgrade your network to 802.11n high speed wireless

Part #: CN-WR0512-S1

Features:
* Compliant with IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g standards
* Great for digital home entertainment, HD Video streaming, and VoIP
* Wider coverage and maximum throughput via MIMO technology
* Dual external antenna with 1T2R feature enhances data throughput with increased transmitting range for all compatible legacy bands (802.11 b/g)
* Special Access Point feature

Specs:
-Up to 300Mbps Data Rate
-NAT/NAPT IP Sharing
-Anti-Dos Firewall
-Supports QoS-WMM, WMM-PS, 64/128-bit WEP, WPA, WPA2
-Supports Port Triggers, DDNS (DynDNS, TZO)
-Supports PPPoE/Static IP/PPTP/DHCP
-Web User Interface (Remote Configuration)
-Supports WPS (WiFi Protected Setup)
-Supports Cisco CCX

-Dimensions:
** 7 3/8″ x 4 3/4″ x 1 1/8″ (antenna folded)
** 7 3/8″ x 4 3/4″ x 4 3/4″ (antenna up)

MSRP: $79.99

Unboxing:
Well the pictures I have for you are taken after I tested it out. The reason is because I have no clue where my original pictures went to. Same stuff in the box, just not sealed in plastic bags and looking nice and fresh.

Inside you’ll find the router, software/driver disc, power supply, rubber feet and user manual.

The router is rather small and it has two antennas on it. It’s rather sleek looking really, with many cooling vents on it.

The Siig logo is on the left side with the name in the middle and then over to the left you have assorted LEDs.

On the back you’ll find four ports for the LAN and one for the WAN, then there’s the WPS button and power connection.

Installation, Performance, Comparison
Installation is easy, just power it on and hook up the cables. Sadly the router doesn’t come with cables, but I’ve got plenty of them floating around.

Let’s take a look at the interface.

The first page has options for Quick Setup Wizard, General Setup, Status Information and Tools. There are also buttons on the side that correspond to these on the side. On the top you’ll find another smaller menu up in the right corner with options for Home, General Setup, Status and Tool.

Quick Setup is just that, very quick, just enter Time Zone, Broadband Type and IP Address Info.

Under General Setup you basically input everything manually. There’s several options down the side for System, WAN, LAN, Wireless, QoS, NAT and Firewall.

Here they are expanded:

Wireless is what’s important, at least to me, I use it for many things.

Under  mode you’ll find many choices for AP, Station-Infrastructure, Bridge-Point to Point, Bridge-Point to Multi-Point, Bridge-WDS and Universal Repeater.  I’ve had several routers over the years and none with this many choices..

If you then hit the drop-down box for Band you’ll find B, N, B+G, G, B+G+N but there is not G+N and I can’t figure out why. I think it’s rather odd actually as to why no G+N mode.

Then here’s the security settings:

or you can use the WPS mode if you want.

Then you can enable or disable UPnP and the Firewall.

You also have Application Later Gateway controls as well.

The other day I reviewed the Siig Wireless-N PCI card.

I enabled Wireless N only on the router and re-ran the SiSoft Sandra Wireless Test.

The basic results are:

Benchmark Results
Data Bandwidth : 6MB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Data Latency : 1.18ms
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Then here are the results with the router on B+G+N+

Benchmark Results
Data Bandwidth : 4.11MB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Data Latency : 1ms
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

As you can see there is a difference when running straight N as opposed to mixed modes.

For a further comparison here’s the results using the USB G dongle:

Benchmark Results
Data Bandwidth : 2.63MB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Data Latency : 4.5ms
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

So it’s more than double when going from G to N.

The router itself seems well made, it’s nice and small and very lightweight. When it’s on it doesn’t get very warm, and there’s plenty of vents on it to keep it nice and cool.

Range seems fine, I had the other computer in the other room and had no problems getting a signal. I could take my laptop to the attic of third floor of my home and still have a wi-fi signal, not wonderful but a signal and I could browse the web etc.

Conclusion:
I like the Siig router, especially the way it looks, there’s just something about it. It’s small and discreet and should fit most anywhere.

It’s easy to set up, and it seems to work fine.

Range seems fine, anywhere in my home I went I had a signal so that says something, but then again my other router did that as well.

The price is about the average price for Wireless-N routers, at least those that have all of the features this one does.

Pros:
+Lots of options
+Decent security settings
+Easy to use
+Small and discreet

Cons:
-No Ethernet cable included

Ratings
Overall: 5 out of 5
Performance: 5 out of 5
Aesthetic: 5 out of 5
Build Quality: 5 out of 5

Disclosure: http://www.bonafidereviews.com/disclosure-policy/

The other day I took a look at the Siig Wireless-N USB adapter, today I have the PCI version of it simply called the DP Wireless-N PCI Adapter. It’s very similar in the features it has like the ability to be an access point and it includes the same useful software. USB dongle style adapters are nice, but when you want a more permanent solution you’ll opt for one that goes in your computer like the one I have today for review.

Specifications:

DP Wireless-N PCI Adapter

Easily add 802.11n high speed wireless to your desktop computer

Part #: CN-WR0312-S1

Features:
* Dual profile wireless-N PCI card – fits into full height or low profile systems
* Compliant with IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g standards
* Great for digital home entertainment, HD Video streaming, and VoIP
* Wider coverage and maximum throughput via MIMO technology
* Dual external antenna with 1T2R feature enhances data throughput with increased transmitting range for all compatible legacy bands (802.11 b/g)
* Special Access Point feature

Specs:
* Supports 32-bit PCI slot
* 300Mb/s Receiving PHY Rate and 150Mbs transmitting PHY Rate
* Operating frequency: 2.4GHz
* Supports QoS-WMM, WMM-PS
* Supports 64/128-bit WEP, WPA, WPA2
* Supports WPS (WiFi Protected Setup)
* Supports Cisco CCX
* Dimension: 6" x 4.75" x 0.75" (with full height bracket)

MSRP: $69.99

Unboxing:
The Siig Wireless-N PCI Adapter comes in a nice little attractive box.

Inside you’ll find the PCI adapter itself in an anti-static bag. You’ll also find a brief instruction guide and driver/software disc.

When you open the bag you’ll find the card itself and two antennas.

It’s your standard PCI card, it has the Siig logo on it with what it is.

On the PCI bracket side you’ll find two places for the antennas to be attached, a WPS button and LEDs.

Installation, Performance, Comparison
Here’s the card with the antennas attached, but you really can’t install it in your system with them on.

The first thing you need to do is install the PCI adapter in a free PCI slot. I tried to get a picture of it for you, but the angle is difficult:

Here it is from the back side, or the antenna side. Not really much to look at with the VGA/DVI adapter in the way and the rest of the cables.

Installation is easy, just pop in the disc and load up the setup program, it will install the software and drivers for you.

If you read my review of the Siig Wireless-N USB Adapter, then the following screen shots will look very familiar. The interface is identical, and it works in most the same way.

On the first screen of the interface you’ll see the available networks with strength shown and which wireless version they’re using.

The interface can be expanded to show you the signal strength, link quality etc. of the network you’re connected to. I like the visual look of it really.

The interface allows you to create profiles so you can save your commonly used one for automatic access to them.

The other screen show you more information and allow you to change settings, and even help to set up your own access point. Yes, like the USB version, you can use the PCI adapter as an access point to allow others to connect to you.

I’ve been using an 802.11G USB dongle with this computer for some time now, so I figured why not compare the two. the computer is setup in the adjoining room, about 25 feet away on the other side of a wall.

I used the Wireless Benchmark Test from SiSoft Sandra 2010.

Here’s the test results from the USB G Dongle in detail:

Benchmark Results
Data Bandwidth : 2.63MB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Data Latency : 4.5ms
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Performance vs. Speed
Data Bandwidth : 0.050kB/s/kbps
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Data Latency : 0.083µs/kbps
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Network Adapter
Name : Realtek RTL8187B Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter
Physical Type : 802.11g (ERP)
Encryption : AES-CCMP
Signal Quality : 80%
Download Rate : 54Mbps
Upload Rate : 54Mbps

Detailed Benchmark Results
Result ID : Realtek RTL8187B Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter (802.11g (ERP), AES-CCMP, 54Mbps)
Platform Compliance : x86
Average Latency : 4.5ms
Min/Max Latency : 786µs – 138.17ms
Speed : 2.63MB/s
Current Data Transfer Rate : 22Mbps
Bandwidth Efficiency : 40.90%

Then here’s the results of the Siig Wireless-N PCI Adapter in detail also:

Benchmark Results
Data Bandwidth : 4.11MB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Data Latency : 1ms
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Performance vs. Speed
Data Bandwidth : 0.078kB/s/kbps
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Data Latency : 0.020µs/kbps
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Network Adapter
Name : 802.11n Wireless LAN Card
Physical Type : 802.11g (ERP)
Encryption : AES-CCMP
Signal Quality : 94%
Download Rate : 54Mbps
Upload Rate : 54Mbps

Detailed Benchmark Results
Result ID : 802.11n Wireless LAN Card (802.11g (ERP), AES-CCMP, 54Mbps)
Platform Compliance : x86
Average Latency : 1ms
Min/Max Latency : 729µs – 3.7ms
Speed : 4.11MB/s
Current Data Transfer Rate : 34.49Mbps
Bandwidth Efficiency : 63.87%

The main thing to look at is the benchmark results.

The G Dongle gave me Data Bandwidth : 2.63MB/s, while the Wireless-N Card gave me Data Bandwidth : 4.11MB/s. Not exactly double in speed, but it’s faster, and I’ll take it.

Conclusion:

The Siig DP Wireless-N PCI Adapter works well for my needs. A USB dongle is nice because you can move it from one computer to another, but if you don’t have that need then the best bet is to go with an internal one.

This one from Siig works fine, and the included software is helpful and easy to use. The fact that it can be an access point is nice, it’s adds a little more functionality to it.

The card comes with common security standards, and I had no issues with it connecting to my router.

Yes the speeds may seem low, but that’s partially because I’m using mixed mode G and N. To achieve full speeds you must use only N, but not all my devices are equipped for N yet, so I have to use G as well. My children’s computer is hooked up wirelessly with G and my netbooks only has G in it, so I have to use mixed mode until I update those.

The idea here was to show what you can expect with this adapter on a mixed network and I think most people are using mixed modes. Since N is here, it’s still not a standard yet, so it’s going to be a long time before everything is fully converted over to the N standard.

Pros:
+Simple and easy installation 
+Decent speeds on mixed network 
+Seems well made
+Useful software included
+Can be an access point

Cons:
-None really

Ratings
Overall: 5 out of 5
Performance: 5 out of 5
Aesthetic: 5 out of 5
Build Quality: 5  out of 5

Disclosure: http://www.bonafidereviews.com/disclosure-policy/

All the cool kids are doing it these days, yes it’s 802.11N! We have the need for speed and N is pretty much officially here, but many of our products don’t have N built-into them unless they’re fairly new. My netbook is only  a year old, but it doesn’t have N in it, so I have two choices find a compatible card  and open it up or get a USB 802.11N adapter. Siig has sent me over their Wireless-N USB-Pro Adapter for review and it’s not a bad little product overall. In addition to giving you 802.11N networks, it also has access point functionality built-in so you can allow other to connect to you and access the internet, kind of like your very own little hotspot!

Specifications:

Wireless-N USB-Pro Adapter

Easily add 802.11n high speed wireless to your desktop or notebook computer
Part #: CN-WR0212-S1

Features:
* Compliant with IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g standards
* Supports Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface
* Great for digital home entertainment, HD Video streaming, and VoIP
* Wider coverage and maximum throughput via MIMO technology
* Dual internal antenna with 2T2R feature enhances data throughput with increased transmitting range for all compatible legacy bands (802.11

b/g)
* Special Access Point feature

Specs:
-300Mbps Receiving and Transmitting PHY Rate
-Supports QoS-WMM, WMM-PS
-Supports 64/128-bit WEP, WPA, WPA2
-Supports WPS (WiFi Protected Setup)
-Supports Cisco CCX
-Dimensions: 3 1/4" x 1" x 3/8"

MSRP: $69.99

Unboxing:
This product is a USB adapter so it’s not exactly what one would call exciting when it comes to what’s in the box..

In the box you’ll find the adapter itself, USB extension cable, software/driver disc and a brief instruction manual.

The adapter has the Siig logo on the top and an ID sticker on the bottom:

There’s also a small button on the side that’s used for WPS pairing mode:

and there’s a cap on the top, it’s like a big USB drive really..

Installation, Performance, Comparison
I used the adapter with my Acer Aspire One D250 netbook, since it doesn’t have Wireless N built-in, only B/G.

Specifically it has the Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter inside.

My netbook has Windows 7 on it and when I plugged it in Windows found it and installed the drivers automatically for me, from there I was ready to go really.

There is a little very tiny green LED on it that you can barely see, so I didn’t take a picture of it, but it’s there.

If you put the included disc in, which I had to transfer to USB since the Aspire One doesn’t have an optical drive in it, you’ll find drivers and software on the disc.

The software is interesting in that it can tell you some useful information about your network, and you can change settings of the adapter, but you don’t have to use it.

This adapter though does have Access Point Functionality to it so you can use it to let others access the internet through you. This is a useful function really that I think should be on more products.

Here’s what the interface looks like, there’s several tabs across the top.

You can also expand it to show the connection information:

My network is Gigabit and my 802.11n router is connected directly to my gigabit switch.

Basically to test this I compared the 802.11g card that’s built-in to my netbook to the Siig 802.11n USB adapter.

I used SiSoft Sandra 2010 Wi-Fi Test:

Wireless (WLAN/WWAN)

Benchmark the wireless bandwidth of your computer.

The test uses the ICMP (ping/echo) interface to measure the response time and transfer bandwidth to an access point.

No pretty graphs today, just data.

Here’s the results for the Atheros 802.11G test:

Benchmark Results
Data Bandwidth : 2.75MB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Data Latency : 1.24ms
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Then here is using the Siig 802.11N USB adapter:

Benchmark Results
Data Bandwidth : 3.68MB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Data Latency : 7.37ms
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

The latency is a bit higher with the Siig adapter, but we’re talking milliseconds so that’s not too big of a deal.

The bandwidth though is higher with the 802.11N connection, not exactly double, but it’s faster.

The SiSoft Sandra test works, but I wanted a real-world test so what I did was transfer a file from my NAS box to the netbook and see how long took and got the average speed as well.

The file is a 900MB .TS video file.

802.11G:

Average Speed: 2,526.9 KB/s

Time to transfer: 6 min 8sec

802.11N:

Average Speed: 4,711.6 KB/s

Time to transfer: 3 min 17sec

So it took almost exactly half the time to transfer the same file via the Siig 802.11N USB adapter. Not bad.

We all know that the speeds companies say you  should get a theoretical at best and only possible in the most optimum situations. I’ve never hit gigabit speeds on my wired network, no matter what I tried, even with Cat6 cabling I couldn’t hit those speeds. I think effectively doubling the speed when going from G to N isn’t bad at all really.

As far as range is concerned, my router is living room on the first floor of my house.

I’ve never had a problem with range in my home with the 802.11G network, I can go to the 3rd floor, or attic and have a signal. Using the the 802.11N adapter though the signal seemed stronger, really not much of a difference there overall.

I was going to mention that I thought price of $70 for this was a little high, but then I went and priced these things and they range from $20 up to $100 and sometimes more for them depending where you look. This one from Siig though offers access point functionality as well.

Conclusion:
The Siig Wireless-N USB-Pro Adapter works great really, I see no problems with it honestly. It’s small, it’s portable and it’s USB so you can use it with virtually anything. I like the UBS adapter better because it’s not permanent, and I can use it with something else if I need to.

The access point functionality is a nice feature, you can let other connect to your own little hotspot and share your connection. It has all the other common security features as well built right in.

You’re never going to get the rated speeds out of any of these types of networking products, so getting double the speed is good in my book. 

Pros:
+Access point functionality built-in 
+Quick and easy setup 
+Double the speeds of 802.11g

Cons:
-None really

Ratings
Overall: 5 out of 5
Performance: 5 out of 5
Aesthetic: 5 out of 5
Build Quality: 5 out of 5

Disclosure: http://www.bonafidereviews.com/disclosure-policy/