13. Wireless Performance

NOTES:
• "Signal Strength" readings are % from Buffalo Client Manager 2
• Testing was done with a Buffalo Tech WLI-CB-G54A Cardbus client card in a WinXP Home Dell Inspiron 4100 laptop
• WEP measurement was not taken

It's been many moons and many driver releases since the last time I looked at the throughput performance of a full-Buffalo setup. Since both the test environment and equipment has changed since the WBR-G54 review, the results in Figure 17 can't be directly compared.

Figure 17: Four location throughput comparison - AOSS enabled
(click on the image for a full-sized view)

Since the main thrust behind the WBR2-G54 is its AOSS capability, I departed from my normal wireless throughput test practice and performed all testing with AOSS enabled. This basically means that WPA TKIP was in use for all four test runs. It also means that the 25Mbps average best-case throughput isn't bad for a Broadcom-based product running with TKIP-enabled.

Figure 18: Location 1 - AOSS vs. No AOSS
(click on the image for a full-sized view)

Figure 18 compares Location 1 (best case) throughput with and without AOSS enabled. Though the plot shows slightly better throughput with AOSS disabled, the results are within 3%, which I consider within the margin of error for my testing.

Since I normally see about a 25% throughput reduction when running with WPA / TKIP enabled on a Broadcom-based product, either Buffalo has done some performance tuning, or the new Broadcom chipset used in the WBR2 includes improved WPA / TKIP performance. Either way, you won't pay a throughput penalty when using AOSS.

I should also note that although the throughput vs. range performance in Figure 17 isn't as consistent as you might like, the average throughput is better than many 11g products I've tested that have dual external dipole antennas! But perception counts for a lot in the consumer product business, and I think Buffalo continues to put itself at a competitive disadvantage by sticking with internal (invisible) antennas.

802.11g Wireless Performance Test Results

See details of how we test.