Initial Installation

I've done numerous installations on routers before, in all kinds of environments. We initially hooked the Wavebase up on our office LAN which uses a Dlink 704 router on a dedicated ISDN line. The 704 is set to DHCP, so it assigns addresses to any device plugged into it and provides us with an excellent simulation of a normal cable modem users installation, as cable providers generally use a DHCP setup. Following the quick install guide we plugged everything in, powered the unit up, it grabbed an IP address, and assigned an IP address to the test machines that were plugged into it. Bang, we're online and good to go. Also many lights lit up. I like lights. Lights are a good thing on units such as this. They impress the ladies, just ask 'em.

what's in the box.

All the machines on the network worked fine and had full Internet capabilities. We set a few machines up with static IPs, no problems here either. (Of course we changed the DNS pool that the router was assigning from and set the static machines outside the pool to prevent any conflicts.)

We do quite a bit of computer tech work at the office, and there's dozens of different types of machines going on and off the network constantly, so it's a good test of any networking device. (We run a mixture of 10 and 10/100, no problems with any of them.) After a few days of running the Wavebase unit like this, doing various tasks including network transfers, surfing, tons of downloads, and other common Internet stuff I decided I'd better get a wireless device on here and test it out. I've never done any wireless networking before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Wireless Hookup

A Dlink DWL-650 (802.11B standard) network card was purchased and slapped into Skeezix's wife's notebook, which she was kind enough to loan to us for the day for testing. The supplied Nexland PCMCIA wireless card was inserted into the rear of unit, and the active light came on on the unit.

After playing with it for half an hour or so, I finally read the manual for the router. (Heh, RTFM guys, RTFM!) and realized that I had to have the same ESSID on the unit and on the laptop for it to work properly. (ESSID is basically a workgroup for wireless units.) As soon as we RTFM'd, and made the changes... Bang. We were on at 11mps. We strolled around outside with the laptop and got something like 93 feet of range. Not too shabby! There's a great deal of RF noise in our office, with all the monitors, alarm system, and 2.4 ghz wireless phones which likely cut the range down a bit. I think if you were in a warehouse or a big open office you'd get better range but I can't see anyone needing to go further than what we got, and if you did you could just get repeaters or multiple routers. We did numerous downloads and network transfers with the laptop, and the speed was comparable to our 10/T hub, as you'd expect. (We got some mighty odd looks from people, walking around the parking lot staring at a laptop avidly. Heh.)

The Dlink DWL-650 card of course worked flawlessly as well, which we've come to expect from them.

You can do some more advanced configuration for wireless, but we didn't find it necessary to fiddle with settings. For businesses, the fact that the unit also supports 40 bit encryption would be of extreme interest. One of the things that always concerns me with a wireless network is that anyone within range who happens to have a wireless card is on your network. With this bad boy, that's not really a concern. You can also set the unit up for great reliability in areas with poor signal quality.

advanced wireless config

More Wired Setups

Our next step was to hook the unit up directly to the DSL line which uses a fixed IP address. No problems were encountered, it was a simple matter of plugging all the data into the Static IP & DNS fields and we were off to the races. (Most people will never use this option, as the majority of used have normal PPOE DSL or cable with DHCP.) When the unit reset itself, we were on. Everything ran flawlessly like this as well. I love this little unit.

Fixed IP setup.

As the finally installation test I took the unit home and gave it a go for a few days on my home DSL connection. Plunked in my logon name and password and it worked flawlessly again. Everyone had full Internet and network connections. Webcams and Netmeeting machines didn't experience any issues once their ports and virtual servers were setup on the Wavebase. (More on special apps in a bit) This unit just seemed determined to not give me any problems. I like that, I like it alot.

Help!

If you're going to be playing with the settings on the Wavebase unit, just let it assign you an IP address and type in the unit's IP. (Details on doing this are given fully in the quickstart.) Enter your password (The default is blank, you can easily assign a password for security. You can also do remote access if you like.) Once you get in there if you're feeling a little lost with all the menus and options it's not a problem. Each of the menus has a help screen that tells you exactly what each option does, and the unit also comes with an extensive manual to help you out. We didn't experience any problems during the setup or playing about that we couldn't find help for in one of these two references. The quick install guide is also one of the best I've ever seen, and should get you up and running under any normal configuration quickly.

Help!

More Advanced Playing Around

After doing the initial messing around, we began playing around with setting up virtual servers on the network at the office as well. (Come on, we all like to our little FTP and game servers running on our high speed right?) There's a nice little menu under Virtual Servers that lists all the common server types. Just punch in the IP address of the local machine that the server is being hosted on and it'll take care of the ports for you. Of course, most people I know are hosting their FTPs on non-standard ports, so you're going to have to go into the Custom Virtual Servers tab and set those special/custom port servers up in here. (Also good for Roger Wilco and game servers.) Just punch in the IP address of the hosting machine on your network, and the ports and you're good to go. The Special Applications tab also has fields for running these sorts of apps, but it's more intended for things like webcam or Netmeeting software.

common servers		custom servers

Also for those of us who like to run servers on our machines, the router supports Dynamic DNS. The usual problem with having a server on your personal machine is that ISPs tend to change your IP address quite often to prevent you from doing just such a thing. Dynamic services will keep track of your IP address, and point your domain there continuously. So even if your IP is changed it's not a problem. The router even has direct support for the TZO service. Ubersweet option and really shows some planning and thought on the part of Nexland. It also shows that they understand the needs and wants of their market. I love not having to have the software running on my machine, the Wavebase takes care of it.

dynamic DNS

As is common with all routers you can set a machine to be the "DMZ" or completely open to the Internet This is sometimes handy if a particular application or game is having issues with the firewall for some reason. Of course, this also basically removes the protection of the firewall on that machine.. And since it's on your LAN, from the rest of the network as well. I very seldom use this feature, and always turn it off when I'm done.

Hooking up multiple routers on your network? Not a problem, the Wavebase features the RIP2 (heh. RIP) routing protocol. You can also do static routing if needed.

routing setup

Want to block ports on certain machines on the network? That's not a problem either. The Wavebase allows you to set permissions to different machines on the network. They have a list of common applications such as WWW, Realaudio, FTP, Email, or you can set up custom lists.

access filters

Backup Analog/ISDN

I was very, very pleased to see that the Wavebase unit offers a dialup backup to your highspeed. (You could also use it exclusively on a dialup account if you wished to.) Many of our customers experience occasional downtime on their cable or DSL accounts and this unit offers the solution. Just put in all your dialup information, plug in an analog or ISDN modem and if the Wavebase detects a drop on the WAN connection it dials out on the backup unit. When the high speed comes back online, it automatically switches back. This impresses me to no end, and would be a complete life saver if your business relies heavily on it's net connection.

dialup backup

The sheer level of flexibility on the Wavebase is almost obscene. I can't think of a thing I'd want to do that isn't included with the unit. And of course, it's flash upgradable so more features in the future are a distinct possibility.


Bugs/Problem Report

Nothing. Not a thing! I tried to find one thing to complain about on this unit and... I have failed. And I find myself happy about it. :)

Conclusions

We hauled the Wavebase around for a few weeks, used it in three different locations, with all the different kinds of connections you're likely to see. We ran servers, played around with it and basically did everything we could think of and the unit never had a hitch or any problems. Hell, we even left it sitting on top of a running monitor for a week just to see how it would handle less than optimal temperatures (It was running pretty warm after a few hours) and it just kept running along doing it's job. Never any issues.

If you're looking for a reliable, fast, high speed wireless access point, and you want wired access as well, with security and ease of use the Wavebase Wireless 11mhz LAN is an amazing little unit. Simple enough for the basic user, flexible enough for the power user and business environment. Business users should be very interested in the ability of the unit to accept an ISDN or Analog modem for backup as well. (I know, they suck.. But hey.. If your cable goes down, it's better than nothing!)

Nexland has done one hell of a good job with this little unit, and I wouldn't hesitate recommending it to anyone. And of course, it's shiny purple and has lots of lights. ;) As the Germans put it: watchin der lighten goen der blinkin blinkin. I have a feeling we'll be using some of these for business network installs in the very near future.