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F E A T U R E

WaveBase: A Gateway to Wireless Heaven

October 29, 2001
By Dave Molta

Colubris Networks CN100 Wireless LAN Router

Imagine a review comparing economy cars priced less than $15,000 with a Lexus at twice that amount. That's the dilemma we faced in evaluating the Colubris CN100. We liked the product, but at $795, it's nearly twice as expensive as the next highest-priced offering. It's good, but not that good.

Unlike most of the other products, which are packaged in boxes that look like modems with antennas attached, the CN100 follows in the footsteps of Agere, providing an upright form factor reminiscent of the ill-fated network computer. The gateway is cool-looking, and its design may save some desk space, but does it contribute to the product's functionality? Maybe. Even though the CN100 was based on the same Orinoco wireless NIC used on the Agere and Nexland products, it performed significantly better than those competitors in our range tests. Network performance is also excellent, and it is one of the few products that has received WiFi certification.

The CN100 uses an embedded Linux-based operating system, which provides the company with significant feature flexibility. One example is the integrated VPN client. By establishing a VPN connection from the gateway to the remote network rather than from individual clients, all devices on the network are able to take advantage of the secure connection. We were impressed with the product's diagnostic facilities, which include a built-in ping utility and a text-based network monitor.

The CN100's logging capabilities were also among the best of any product we tested. We can't tell you how good Colubris' technical support is because we never had occasion to use it. The product performed flawlessly from the moment we powered it up.

We did find room for improvement. (Don't we always?) The CN100 does not have an integrated multiport Ethernet switch or DMZ support, a feature that may be important for sites wanting to provide Internet-accessible services behind the gateway. Also, the lack of access-control-group support could increase administrative overhead if you have lots of devices on the wireless network. Still, if range, WiFi compatibility and a hefty feature set are key concerns, this device may be worth the added cost.

CN100 Wireless LAN Router, $795. Available: Now. Colubris Networks, (450) 680-1661, (866) 241-8324; fax (450) 680-1910. www.colubris.com