RADIO-TESTED WLAN CLIENTS

摘要

Atheros, Broadcom or Centrino? Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo or Toshiba? These are your main choices when it comes to a Wi-Fi-equipped notebook computer. Select the right combination and the clients will operate seamlessly with your wireless LAN infrastructure. Pick a different client, however, and performance can be affected in unexpected ways. We tested the Intel Centrino-based clients available on notebooks from the top four vendors, as well as several of those vendors' non-Centrino options. Our tests covered rate versus range (signal strength based on distance from the access point), battery life and software use. Lenovo's IBM ThinkPad T43, equipped with an Atheros AR5211 radio, outperformed the competition in both 802.11a and 802.11g modes. The Atheros-based system also used power slightly more efficiently than the others. By understanding the differences among the major client platforms, you can provide product purchase guidelines to anyone who needs to access your WLAN and optimize infrastructure buildout to the most common clients.