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Our AP of Choice. This AP does it all - with fantastic performance, at a great price.
Ever since the Minitar MNWAPB went out of production, Freenet Antennas searched for a replacement with the same great combination of performance and value. Not surprisingly - we found the answer at the same factory that made the original Minitar MNWAPB.
Customer Comments
- The best AP you will ever use. More...
- The UltraWAP will replace the MNWAP as the access point of choice that we recommend as a client device on the community wireless network. More...
Performance
How's this! Below are the results of a real world test performed by Freenet Antennas.
| Distance | 17.8 km |
| Antennas | 2 x 24 dBi grid |
| Cable loss | 2 x 1.5 dB = 3 dB |
| Connect speed | 18 Mbps |
| Data throughput | 7.7 Mbps, steady, using ftp |
See this page for full details of the performance testing.
Why is it so fast?
In a nutshell, because it is based on the latest high performance hardware. Here are some of the reasons it is fast:
- Fast CPU. This AP has an LX5280 32-bit RISC core processor, compatible with a MIPS R3000. It uses superscalar architecture, containing 2 execution pipelines.
- Intelligent Ethernet controllers. The on-board ethernet controller does the IP, TCP, and UDP checksum calculations internally. This means the main CPU is not interrupted to perform the calculations itself.
- Built in Crypto Engine. It is well known that most APs slow down when encryption is turned on. This unit has a built-in crypto engine - that offloads the main CPU from the very intensive encryption/decryption tasks.
- Separate TX/RX FIFO buffers. The wireless interface has separate First In, First Out buffers. This allows TX and RX packets to be intermixed with short interframe spacings. (Translation: shorter gaps between data packets while the CPU prepares the next packet => faster data throughput).
Features
- Multiple Modes
- Access Point (AP). Use this mode to create a wireless network, allowing PCs, laptops, etc. to connect
- Station Mode (AP Client Mode).
Use this mode to connect a device that only supports wired ethernet connections to an wireless network.
- Bridge Modes.
- WDS Bridge Mode (Repeater Mode).
The WDS (Wireless Distributed System) function lets this access point act as a wireless LAN access point (AP) and repeater at the same time. Users can use this feature to build up a large wireless network in a large space like airports, hotels and schools …etc. This feature is also useful when users want to bridge networks between buildings where it is impossible to deploy network cable connections between these buildings.
- Universal Repeater (Range Extender). The UltraWAP acts as both a station (to a central AP), and as an AP (with a new SSID). In this way you can simply extend the range of your central AP. The advantage of this mode over WDS is that the central AP does not have to have a WDS mode. (Some don't).
- Robust Wireless LAN Security. A total solution for you to build up a secure wireless LAN network environment is provided so that you can prevent all kinds of hacker intrusion. Controlled access can be enforced using:
- hidden ESSID
- MAC access control
- WEP encryption (64/128 bit key length)
- WPA/WPA2 (with shared key or with RADIUS)
- 802.1x authentication (using a RADIUS server)
- 802.1x authentication with WEP encryption
- Detachable Antenna
This access point provides a standard RP-SMA antenna connector that can let you apply all kinds of high gain antennas. This can help you enlarge your wireless LAN coverage.
- DHCP Server.There is a built-in DHCP server so you can automate the network configuration of the PCs that connect to your AP. The DHCP server can be disabled.
- Web Configuration.You configure this access point through a friendly Web user interface with a any standard Internet browser.
- Bandwidth Sharing ??. One user has reported that his UltraWAP AP appears to load-balance between clients. We can find no reference to this in the documentation - but Quality of Service (QoS) is built into the operating system on the box, and the WLAN hardware chips support packet prioritisation .... so it is very plausible.
I used to use a Minitar MNWAPB for my setup with 6 clients but noticed a severe problem when we deployed video streaming. Clients dropped off when more than 1 person watched it.
With Minitar MNWAPB:
PC1 starts a download from the router at 620KB/s
PC2 tries to download the same file and gets around 30KB/s
PC3 tries to download the same file and gets around 10KB/s
With UltraWAP:
PC1 starts a download from the router at 620KB/s
PC2 tries to download the same file and gets around 310KB/s and PC1 goes down to 310KB/s
PC3 tries to download the same file and gets around 210KB/s, as do PC1 and PC2.
In simple terms this seems to be load sharing over clients which has dramatically improved the general use for everyone.
Specifications
| Manufacturer/Model | Edimax EW-7206APg |
| Compatibility | 802.11b (11 Mbps)
802.11g (54 Mbps) |
| Transmitter power | 60 mW (18 dBm) |
| CPU | Realtek RTL8186 |
| RF Module | Realtek RTL8225 |
| RAM | 8MB |
| Antenna | 1 x rpSMA Detachable Antenna |
| Power | 12V DC, 0.5A Linear Power Adaptor
POE compatible for up to 20m CAT5/POE |
| Dimension | 30(H)*127(W)*96(D) mm |
| Temperature | 0~40ºC |
| Humidity | 10~90% (Non-Condensing) |
| Certification | FCC Class B, CE Mark,C-Tick |
Documents
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