Abstract

RDC commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate the PortLAN*PCMCIA Wireless LAN Adapter and four competitive 2.4 GHz band wireless products: the Aironet Wireless Communications Inc. ARLAN AP3000-E, Breeze Wireless Communications Inc. BreezeNet PC Card Adapter SA-PX, Proxim Inc. RangeLAN2 7000 PCMCIA Adapter, and the Symbol Technologies Inc. Spectrum24 Wireless LAN PC Card. The Tolly Group evaluated product operation in a typical office environment. Key aspects of wireless systems, such as raw throughput, robustness/reliability, and throughput fairness, were exercised and quantified. 

Results show that the RDC PortLAN provides the most robust and reliable network connectivity of the products tested along with consistent and competitive performance. The PortLAN also demonstrated equal throughput for multiple wireless stations simultaneously accessing the network from different locations (termed fairness). The PortLAN maintained client/server connections even when construction elements (doors, plaster walls, elevator shafts, etc.) came between the user and the base station (access point). Other products failed to establish a connection to the test server in many of these same environments. In interference tests, a “jamming” created by the operation of a microwave oven, was introduced in the test environment. The PortLAN maintained stable connections and consistent performance even though other products were adversely affected by the interference. In fairness tests, the PortLAN delivered nearly equal bandwidth to two end stations despite the fact that one station “roamed” while the other remained stationary. Other products could not deliver consistent link fairness.