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Product Review: Page (1) of 1 - 06/27/07

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Buffalo WLI-CB-G54HP Wireless-G MIMO Performance Notebook Adapter

Good wireless connection speeds with inexpensive card

By Joshua Virata

The Buffalo WLI-CB-G54HP is a High Power wireless card bus notebook adapter. This adapter has excellent performance when connected to a matching WHR-HP-G54 High Power wireless router by Buffalo and also works great with other brands of routers. With the built-in amplifier range and throughput, performance is enhanced on any 802.11g or 802.11b networks.

Presentation is what you get when first unboxing this adapter card. When you first break the box seal and lift the cover the adapter is sitting right there encased in a bubble wrap sleeve, and not buried under Styrofoam or cardboard. Once you take the card out of the packaging you find that the card has a black top and an underside accented with Buffalo red on the sides and on the tips of the card. Buried underneath the cardboard that suspends the card in the middle you?ll find the Quick Setup Guide, the Buffalo Warranty Statement and the Air Navigator CD which includes the card drivers, the product manuals and the wireless utility. Simple and well designed packaging with little trash and wrapping, plus it?s all recyclable.

The first thing that I wanted to do was to insert the adapter into the PC card slot and install the drivers. My being a person who likes to fiddle with new things, I like to figure out how to install the drivers for a new device on my own without consulting the quick setup guide. After installing the adapter and then consulting the quick setup guide I found that the way I was installing the adapter was the way that was depicted. First I inserted the adapter and waited for Windows to prompt me about the New Hardware and then I followed the steps to install the drivers by inserting the included CD and letting Windows take over. After installing the drivers and getting the adapter to work I searched for available wireless networks. I found my network and proceeded to enter my encryption keys and other settings in order to connect to my wireless network.

The WLI-CB-G54HP has excellent performance when connected to a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 High Power wireless router.

I proceeded to install the client manager to see if I could connect to a wireless network faster and easier than using the Windows utility. I was able to connect to the AOSS-enabled Buffalo router in my house using the AOSS protocol, thus avoiding entering my ssid, encryption key or any other setting. The router and the adapter did it all for me. Using the AOSS setup protocol is a great way to easily configure your network devices and your router to work together, but I found it a bit meddlesome at first. After a few trials and errors I was able to get a handle on the system and when to push the AOSS button on my router and to start the AOSS call out from the adapter. After that I was able to get on the network with no problems.

The adapter fits in any Type II, or Type III PC Card slot

The adapter fits in any Type II, or Type III PC Card slot, that?s the older wider slots, and not the newer thinner slots. On the furthest edge of the adapter card there is a small flap of plastic that flips up to reveal an external antenna connector where you can plug in an external antenna to boost your wireless range even further than it already is using the internal radio amplifier and internal antenna. The flap is pretty small and out of the way so if you don?t plan on using an external antenna, then you won?t even know that it is there. On the sides of the card there are grooves where you can grip the card and pull it out of the slot so that you can, insert your laptop into a carrying case without the obstruction of the card or just to disconnect from the wireless network. I found that the inclusion of the grips is a great physical feature because many a people such as myself have large fingers that cannot seem to push in that small eject button found next to the PC card slot, I tend to just pull a PC card out of the slot without the use of the eject button. Two small LED lights can be found on the top one that indicates that the card is getting power and is enabled; the other indicating that there is activity on the network and that data is being transferred.

The words ?high power? are emphasized on the top of the card twice; once in red type print and the other embossed in a textured line right where the card is inserted into the computer. All of the certifications and registrations can be found on a sticker on the bottom of the card along with the model number. The only thing that I could never find was the adapter?s MAC address on the outside clearly labeled, I found it using the Windows utility. I then realized that it was the series of numbers on the back of the card below the bottom barcode, but it wasn?t labeled as the MAC address, like other cards, so I thought it was something else. Now this is a problem with the card because some people, like myself, use the MAC address filters on network routers to control who is allowed on and who isn?t; the fact that the MAC address isn't clearly stated on the adapter as such makes it harder to setup a network for that device. Sitck a MAC sticker on the card.

In range tests on my laptop I was able to get further from the Buffalo High Power access point than using the built-in Intel wireless card. My test started right next to the router where I proceeded to walk slowly away from the router till I was out in my driveway where I compared the signal strengths:

As you can see on the left the Built in Intel wireless adapter lost a lot of signal strength and speed while the Buffalo wireless adapter, at right, was able to hold onto more signal strength and still had good speeds.

This is a good wireless adapter that has a built in radio amplifier that boosts its range and performance. The adapter also has an external antenna adapter which is a first that I have ever seen on a wireless PC card adapter, this external adapter allows for the use of external antennas and other range expanders. If you?re one of those people who like to make homemade antennas or range boosters, this external antenna plug allows you to test your antennas and other homemade wireless range boosters.

For $45 (street price), you get a great wireless adapter that has bells and whistles to satisfy most people, especially those people who are frequent travelers and are constantly moving from one wireless access point to the next or want to be able to connect to access points that are just too far from where you are; the built in amplifier compensates for the interference that affects most wireless adapters and helps boost your range and performance that keep you connected to the Internet. For more information, visit www.buffalotech.com