ASUS WL-500gP Wireless Router

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

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This multi-functional wireless router is meant for small offices. You can configure it as a home gateway or configure it as an access point. The device directly connects to cable or ADSL modem. It has one WAN port to connect broadband router, four LAN ports to connect wired PC and two USB ports to connect additional storage, media center PC or a webcam. The router supports both 802.11b and g specs. The device is very easy to configure and even a novice can set it up using the ZESetup button given at its rear. You can also configure it using the configuration utility and Web interface.

It comes with a built-in firewall, content filtering and bandwidth management system. Plus, this router will let you watch videos from your home-theater system or enjoy digital music. You can even share your USB disk connected to the router among the connected users in the form of FTP or Windows shares (CIFS). The device supports six cameras with an external Web cam server running.

Tests
We tested this device with an IBM R52 notebook that had a built-in wireless adaptor. In our tests, it gave a sustained throughput of 22 Mbps, an average performance. And in streaming test, it gave very good performance without any data loss, streaming data at 100 and 50 kbps. We also did the same tests with Bluetooth interference and the throughput dropped to 16 Mbps and there it registered a 2 % loss in the streaming too. This shows that Bluetooth devices can hamper the performance of the device.

Bottom Line: A good choice at this price, given the rich set of features it has.

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