Intel PRO/Wireless 5000 LAN Access Point
The Intel Pro/Wireless 5000 access point has an unconventional appearance, though its aerodynamic shape does catch one's eye. The key difference between the Wireless 5000 and the other products in this review is its integrated antenna design, which lets you select the antenna beam. However, the Intel product is the only one we tested that does not support a higher-speed turbo mode. While turbo mode is just a proprietary extension of 802.11a, it can be useful in some cases. We wonder why Intel chose not to support turbo given its availability in the Atheros chipset.
If Proxim's Harmony and Intermec's 2106 represent enterprise offerings, and Linksys', NetGear's, SMC's and Skyline's devices are more appropriate for SOHO applications, the Intel offering is what we might term a "tweener." It will appeal to the value-conscious market and has almost enough features and functionality to be a contender in the enterprise.
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The installation procedure for the Intel access point is via an HTML browser, similar to that of the Linksys. The Wireless 5000 has a standard SOHO-oriented feature set, but its antenna design can be configured via software to function as either an omni-directional system or a higher-gain directional patch system. While we were impressed with the theoretical benefits of this system, which provides the flexibility to deliver coverage to certain areas within a building in a more efficient manner, we didn't notice much difference in our range testing. In those tests, which we conducted in omni-directional antenna mode, the coverage area is up to 130 feet in one direction, second only to Proxim's Harmony.
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