2. Internal Details

Though the WBR2's outside looks virtually the same as its predecessor, under the skin it's a very different animal, designed for lower manufacturing cost.

Figure 1 shows that Instead of using Broadcom's BCM4702 Wireless Network Processor, the WBR2 is powered by the newer

Figure 1: WBR2-G54's Board
(click on the image for a full-sized view)

Since the MAC/baseband is included in the BCM4712, the on-board integrated radio (at the right side of the picture) consists of just a BCM2050 2.4 GHz radio and power amplifier, instead of the mini-PCI module that the WBR-G54 used. Rounding out the design are RAM, Flash memory, and an ADMtek 6996 for the 10/100 WAN Ethernet port and four 10/100 switched LAN ports (replacing a Broadcom BCM5325 5 port switch).

Although the board layout is different, the design is very similar to that of Linksys' new WRT54GS "SpeedBooster" router [reviewed here]. Note, however, that the WBR2 does not include the Broadcom "Afterburner" technology that is used in the Linksys router. That's being reserved for Buffalo's mysterious WHR2-G54 AirStation 125Mbps Wireless Cable / DSL Router-g, which was announced in January 2004, but subsequently pulled from Buffalo's website.

The WBR2 and Linksys designs definitely diverge in antenna design. While the Linksys sticks with dual external dipoles, the WBR2 uses a new on-board antennas. The "main" antenna is the "L" shaped structure at the bottom right of Figure 1, near the external antenna jack. The "Auxiliary" antenna is in the open area to the right of the lower part of the radio. You can't really see it in Figure 1, so I've included a closer view in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Integrated "auxiliary" antenna