2. The Products

I tested two products based on Broadcom's Intensi-fi chipset and one using Marvell's TopDog. And while Airgo has steadfastly refused to participate in the draft 11n feeding frenzy, I also included a product using its third generation (Gen 3) chipset - Airgo's solution for draft 11n-like performance. I decided to include an Airgo Gen 3 product initially to see how it performed in the adjacent legacy WLAN tests. But I also ran throughput vs. range tests and was glad that I did (you'll see why later).

Since products using Atheros' xspaN draft 11n chipset won't be available until later this month (June 2006), I couldn't include them in the testing.

The Broadcom Intensi-fi based products were the Linksys WRT-300N Wireless-N Broadband Router and WPC-300N Notebook Adapter...

Figure 1: Linksys WRT-300N Wireless-N Broadband Router

and Buffalo WZR-G300N AirStation Nfiniti Wireless Router & Access Point and WLI-CB-G300N Notebook Adapter.

Figure 2: Buffalo WZR-G300N AirStation Nfiniti Wireless Router & Access Point

The Marvell TopDog based product was the Netgear WNR854T RangeMax Next Wireless Router - Gigabit Edition and WN511T Notebook Adapter.

Figure 3: Netgear WNR854T RangeMax Next Wireless Router - Gigabit Edition

Finally, the Netgear WPNT834 RangeMax 240 Wireless Router and WPNT511 Notebook Adapter represented Airgo's Gen 3 chipset.

Figure 4: Netgear WPNT834 RangeMax 240 Wireless Router

To ensure that the products were the same as normal consumers can purchase, all the products tested were obtained from online retailers.