claudeo
join:2000-02-23
Redmond, WA
| Airlink+ AR315W - having some fun
This new model of the cheapo brand wireless 802.11g gateway/router is on sale until tomorrow at Fry's for $29.99 (and no rebate). Looks like nobody ever reviews that brand's products, so I've been ildly wondering...
For a lark, I thought I'd try one. At that price, I figured if it doesn't work I can still crack it open for some cheap entertainment. Actually, it does seem to work pretty well, and it has some pretty nice admin and firewall features. Using it with an Orinoco Gold .b and WEP128 (obviously my .b card won't do WAP). The single antenna is detachable. It does get mighty hot though. Really hot. Makes me wonder how long it can last. It briefly drops the connection to my .b card every couple minutes or so, I guess to listen for .g cards (you can set it up to do .g only, .b only, or both). And, trying to save the config to a file, it seemed to lock up. Maybe I did not wait long enough. I have not tried it with my Orinoco .g card yet. Anyway, this is not really a review, just a little note for the easily amused. |
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claudeo
join:2000-02-23
Redmond, WA
| Update:
2 days later and it still works just fine (with one nit, see below). Installed it sideways with the hottest end up, to promote better airflow through the small grilles at each end of the case. I did take a look inside. Looks like the future--very few components. The major heat sources appear to be the RF circuitry, which is under a very low square metal shield, about 1 inch x 1 inch, and the brute force voltage regulator; looks like it brings down the 12V feed to operating voltage by dissipating as heat. Not a single heat sink in there. I have it installed as DHCP client (its WAN side is LAN side of my home network), and it gets a 1 day lease from my old BEFSR41 v1. It looks like when the lease is up it has trouble with the WAN connection for 5-10 minutes, and then it fixes itself and all is fine again (a manual power cycle fixes it well under a minute). My Proxim 54G card says it sees 54Mbps "rate" both ways. I'm not really equipped for a valid throughput test, so I don't really know. They tried to hit all kinds of markets. It has presets for games, VoIP forwarding, and even 2 DMZ computers if you have 2 WAN IP addresses. Now if only it had QOS... |
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andycdsl
join:2004-03-29
Lawrenceville, GA
|  Just bought the same access point. Works great and was only 28.95 at outpost.com. I even got my linksys wap11 (running dlink900AP+ firmware) to act as a wireless client off of the AR315W.
 |
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JakCrow
join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA
 ·DSL EXTREME
| reply to claudeo
I believe the router is Broadcom based and uses an embedded version of Linux. When I tested it out several months ago, every now and then when I did a config change and reboot, I would see various unix-y type messages leak out from behind the web interface. I eventually returned it and the Airlink+ 11g card I got because driver and firmware support was really lacking and the performance wasn't that great. |
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Nhan
@comcast.net
| I got the AR315W today. Tested out for 1 hour or so.
Seemed to have problem with DNS, sometime just took too
long to resolve a name, or not able to resolve at all
every 10 minutes or so.
Not ISP problem as my older 802.11b AP doesn't have
any problem.
Yes, it run very very hot too. I am thinking of returning it
tomorrow. :-(
Nhan. |
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claudeo
join:2000-02-23
Redmond, WA
| reply to claudeo
That one I bought a while ago is still running fine (and still hot). I left it at a friend's house. I had installed it there so I could use his cable connection with a couple of laptops while visiting. It does seem to have a DNS problem every hour or so, which then resolves itself in couple of minute; this might be influenced by the ISP's DHCP lease time. Very odd bug. What's even more strange though is that I only saw it on the wireless connections, not the wired ones, and it only seems to affect new lookups. A workaround that seems to work is to hard wire the addresses of DNS servers on the web in the PC's IP configuration, so as not to depend on the router's DNS. Still no firmware update as of today. To be honest, I did not even bother to contact tech support. BTW, Fry's had it on sale for $24.95 last week-end. As I said, cheap entertainment as long as you don't take it too seriously. |
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Invalidprotocol
@4.7.x.x
| reply to claudeo
I purchased this AirLink+ AR315W from Fry's for $25 on sale. Custom configuration was quick. Set up as G only using WPA-PSK. It works, however, there are a few flaws that should have been addressed by the manufacturer before ever shipping this product.
1. You can permit wireless users to access either the internet, lan or both. Essentially this should allow you to give wireless users internet only in order to protect the local network. However, if you block out the lan, you stop the wireless users from acquiring a DHCP address. This is because the router only issues DHCP addresses to the LAN. Surely they could allow a traffic to pass through to clients that have properly authenticated through WPA.
2. BIG BAD DNS problems! This router has intermittant problems with DNS. I experienced them every 5 minutes or so. Try performing an NSLOOKUP and you'll hose up the router for good and only a restart of the router will fix it.
3. Disable UPnP and the WAN connection dies. How nice, is this a new feature?
When this router is operating, it is very quick. However, you will need to statically enter your DNS settings in your PC to overcome the DNS problem. In my environment, I would like to allow wireless users internet traffic but keep them off of the lan without requiring statically entered IP information. Also, there are no updates available to fix the problem.
My recommendation is not to waste your time purchasing this router. Airlink isn't a manufacturer anyway, they just import Tawanese product, relable it and wrap it up real pretty.
Every once in a while you can get lucky and get something that works well. But back to Fry's this goes... |
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JakCrow
join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA | Newsflash: Dlink, Netgear, Linksys, etc, etc, etc, aren't manufacturers either and probably OEM hardware from the same place Airlink got its hardware from too. |
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claudeo
join:2000-02-23
Redmond, WA
| reply to claudeo
The DNS problem is the major issue with this wireless router/NAT/switch. As I mentioned, what is weird is that it seems to affect the wireless client but not the PCs connected to an Ethernet connector. The problem is probably not in the hardware (unless it is severely starved for memory), but with the firmware. I suspect the firmare was cobbled together from various open sources by someone or a team who is not intimately familiar with all the issues to be resolved there. If someone could figure out how to fix the firmware and reflash it, it could be a sweet gadget at that price point. |
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JakCrow
join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA | I bet it's the same hardware that one of the major brand names is using, but since Airlink has almost no market presence, there's little information on their hardware. |
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andycdsl
join:2004-03-29
Lawrenceville, GA
| reply to claudeo
I haven't had any of these problems. Maybe because I am using it only as an access point and nothing else. I did find a website that says some guy flashed his with belkin firmware ( »homepage.mac.com/im_electronic/p···ork.html ). Emailed him, but never got a reply...
AndyCDSL |
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claudeo
join:2000-02-23
Redmond, WA
| Well, without knowing exactly which Belkin firmware version and which hardware version of the Airlink+, that is rather a crap shoot especially since there is no firmware download available to restore the old firmware if it does not work. There have apparently been 3 versions of the Airlink+ 802.11g router, each with a different model number (based on the table on their firmware download page). This current one looks like it might be quite different from the previous ones, and no new download is available for it.
But hey, that's cheaper than going out to a movie with popcorn and soda for two. |
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dsviper22
join:2002-09-16
Albany, OR
| Well, for all those wondering. Airlink+ uses the TI chipsets for their wireless cards and access points which is actually the same chipset that US Robotics uses for their wireless products. Myabe not all of their wireless products since i'm not going to research every single wireless product of theirs. But most of the wireless G products use the TI chipset.
»www.wi-fiplanet.com/reviews/arti···088971_1
There's a link to a review
I can't speak on behalf of the access points, but I do have a wireless PCI card of theirs that I use for a wireless link from a server in my garage to my DLINK wireless router in my house. I actually get great performance even though it's almost out of range. My garage is about 200ft away and through three walls and across the street I am able to get an 11mb/s link. I just got a directional antenna so now i'm getting the full 54mbp/s but it has been performing great! |
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claudeo
join:2000-02-23
Redmond, WA | I don't think this is the same hardware as the US Robotics. For one thing, the AirLink+ AR315W has only one antenna and no serial port. I should have photographed the insides while I had it opened, but it's now 1000 miles way, not convenient. |
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invalidprotocol
@4.7.x.x
| reply to Invalidprotocol
Update:
AirLink responds to technical requests via email very quickly, which is rare these days. They are aware of the identified problems and are in the process of developing fixes. When asked if a download might be released before the end of my return period with Fry's, they could not guarantee it. It's not what I wanted to hear but at least they were fast about it. |
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JakCrow
join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA | They have never released a firmware update for the router, and it's been around for almost a year. |
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TooHypE
join:2004-09-27
Elgin, IL
1 edit | reply to claudeo
I Purchase both the Airlink+ AR315W & AWLC3025 at Fry's for $24.99 (Router) & $16.99 (Wireless card) and honestly i would never have thought too much because im a Linksys Fan i have purchased several routers and switches from them. So then i figure i needed a 802.11G Gateway/Router and i notice the Airlink for that price. Well i'll be honest im actually surprise that this product actually works not only do i get the speed which is a big improvement so far i haven't had a connection drop and i figure i give it a big time rundown & benchmark test with SiSoft Sandra, other warez and downloading test to determine overall performance. Well i must say so far so good but i do or did had a concern on the way it get's hot and i agree really freaking hot so i figure i open up the sucker and i found something so disconcerning to me eyes i mean not even 1 HeatSink that's awful i have HeatSinks for everything on my PC and even my laptop from Chipsets/Memory/VideoCard anyways you get the idea, well i had few extra videocard memory heatsink and i place them on several chipsets that tend to get hot and it actually solved or atleast help decrease the heat transfer so guys if you're Airlink+ AR315W gets Hot and it does for just $10-16 bucks for a package of 4-8 PGA or TSOP-PGA memory heat sink it will save and increase the life of you're Airlink.
Just my $0.02 cents
Peace Yo |
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azadnia
join:2004-09-27
| reply to claudeo
Went out and got the AR315W
So i went to Frys to buy this thing and the tag said 80 bux, so in actuality it is back to 25 at the register, it took a while to get hot on me, but i placed it next to my window, and it cools off and increases the range on the thing. overall you are getting a lot of bang for your buck considering the g router from netgear is 90 dollars and the linksys router is 90 also. i give it 4 out of 5 stars, it performs well, and great tech support from Airlink+ |
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JakCrow
join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA
·DSL EXTREME
| reply to claudeo
Re: Airlink+ AR315W - having some fun
Ah. I found out what's up with the Belkin firmware on the Airlink. This could be done on the old Airlink RT210W, which was discontinued. That was the one that's the same as one of the Belkin routers. The AR315W is a completely different unit, though I have seen a few "clones" around. |
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ooaa
@pacbell.n | reply to claudeo
the ar315w uses the marvell chipset |
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