LOSTCIRCUITS

Broadband Internet access is now quite common and wireless has become popular in the form of the IEEE 802.11 standard. Wireless routers are abundant at reasonable price points, yet a question lingers: is an Ethernet cable still necessary for those on-the-go situations when broadband is available, but wireless is not? According to the good folks at Asus, the answer is “no,” and they don’t expect you to lug around a plastic cigar box with a wall brick power cord, either. Meet the WL-330, a versatile access point only slightly larger than a cell phone.

Teapot Tempest or Tiny Terror

The name “Asus” has traditionally been associated with excellent motherboards and a line of graphics cards, but the company is also offering a selection of compact PC accessories. Today we have the Asus Pocket Wireless Access Point (WL-330), a nifty little box which the Asus literature describes as having a credit-card profile.

(Ed. note: Despite the physical dimensions, you don't need a thick wallet for this "Credit Card Profile")

       

Left to Right: Shipping contents include the box and access point, the manual and driver / utility CD and a variety of cables. --- Close-up of the AP, top-front ¾ profile. --- Close-up of the AP, bottom-rear ¾ profile

Included with the WL-330 are a 100-240VAC power supply, a USB power dongle (not pictured) for the optional Wireless Ethernet Adapter conversion, a CAT-5 patch cable, a travel case, a driver CD, and a manual. The switch on the back selects between the Access Point/Wireless Ethernet Adapter modes; the recessed button by the DC jack resets the unit if depressed for five seconds, and scrolls through available access points in Wireless Ethernet mode.

The WL-330 is an 802.11b (11Mbps) device. (Two similar Asus models, the WL-300G and WL-330G, feature 54Mbps 802.11g.) The AC power supply is an autoranging type and the onboard 10/100 Ethernet port features autocrossover, so no special cables are required. Plug it in and away it goes, metaphorically speaking. Cables aside, the unit has just three major hardware aspects: a reset button, a switch, and a trio of LEDs.

The LEDs are respectively labeled Power, Wireless, and Ethernet, and each indicates the corresponding function. According to the Asus manual the Power LED will also blink to indicate a failed firmware flash upgrade, but we didn’t test that feature. (Should a user accidentally – uh – “enable it,” a flash recovery utility is included on the driver CD.)

Speaking of which, the manual is reasonably comprehensive. The average tech junkie might neglect it but the less gizmo-inclined will discover an adequate description of the device setup, with good supporting figures. The manual included in our kit provided only English and Chinese instructions but additional language versions are available on the Asus website.

Foraging beyond basic plug-and-play will, of course, require the user to understand terms like MAC address and firmware upgrade as something other than apple.com and a successful exercise program. Otherwise, the manual’s “Simple Setup” routine should suffice to get a user up and running in under five minutes, which is nice, because a device like this almost begs to be used on a hotel broadband connection. Simply patch the WL-330 to the port and a wireless-equipped laptop can be taken over to the bed or nearby exterior locations, without the inconvenience (and derisive commentary from family members) associated with unrolling several meters of CAT-5 cable.

The WL-330 is a versatile actor and has a couple other tricks up its sleeve. Toggle the switch on the rear, and the unit becomes a Wireless Ethernet Adapter. In that mode it can also be configured as a bridge, allowing multiple wireless networks to link up using the WL-330 to rebroadcast. The user can dictate which external networks have access to the bridge by adding MAC addresses to a configuration list.

Ethernet Adapter mode does require an existing 10/100 NIC, and for mobile use the setup is a bit awkward compared to the low-profile design of a typical PCMCIA wireless card, or even a USB wireless adapter (which won’t require the second cord for the Ethernet link). But in a time of need the WL-330 will suffice. A USB power dongle permits an escape from the tyranny of the wall outlet, at the expense of drawing about 4W of power, which together with the 10/100 NIC operation can be a lot relative to some slim-form laptop batteries. To Asus’ credit, the manual makes a note of that limitation.

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