Cheap at the “eaten” speed
We received a total of five tools from Edimax for this article. Three of them are USB sticks and two are routers. Only one of the routers is nLite, the other is a piece called nMax from our previous article. - For those who want to read about nMax stuff, click quickly IDE. - The latter router sticks out of the article a bit, so we don't want to give it too many roles. We will test to see if you can use it to gain bandwidth compared to the nLite router. We suspect we won’t, as the bottleneck in this case will be the 150 Mbps transfer rate for USB interfaces.
Based on the above, you can already guess that we will measure, but before we get to that, we need to introduce the hardware. Let's get started!
Edimax EW-7711USn
We take the largest box first, in which the USB interface arrived. We can’t write too much interesting about this tool. Unpacking the box reveals the device itself, the installation CD, a USB extension cable, and an antenna.
The latter is perhaps the only accessory that may surprise the customer, as it is an unusually large antenna. It is 13 centimeters long and has a power of 3 dBi according to the data shown. This data is striking because we are talking about a USB solution, and such transmit power is rare. Of course, this is natural, as the manufacturer promises a theoretical transmission bandwidth of 150 megabits per second above the ag standard. Although this does not reach the value according to the n standard, it is more than enough for normal office work.
Of course, the device also received EZmax to facilitate installation. Can also be used for Windows 2000 / XP / Vista and Mac. Windows 7 support is not yet included in the box, but we can be sure that we will not have any problems installing during the new operating system.
Edimax EW-7711UAn
A second box may follow. We also find a USB stick with an antenna, but a more compact solution than the former. In the case of the UAn, the antenna is an inseparable part of the device, and although smaller than the previous device, according to the manufacturer, it is also 3dBi. With regard to antennas, it is worth mentioning that if we are not bothered by the fact that this white plastic splint protrudes from the machine, it is definitely better to choose one, as they can provide higher transmission speeds than antennaless solutions.
Incidentally, the contents of the box, with the exception of the antenna, are the same as in the previous solution, ie in addition to the hardware, a description, a CD and a short cable.
Edimax EW-711UMn
By the end, the little salt remained. We really can’t write much about this tool. A completely simple, and thus small, stick without an external antenna can be found in the box, next to which we find a simple but sufficient garnish similar to the one above. The real question with this interface is not the sufficiency of the number of attachments, but rather the distance and signal strength we can expect from the antenna devices.
Edimax BR-6224n router
We have already written about similar routers for Edimax in several of our articles. We dealt with the predecessor of this product, as well as the version that was capable of receiving a GSM modem. The current version does not differ from these predecessors either. It can be managed remotely with EZview, pleasantly and easily set up with the EZmax installer. It has a switch that allows you to turn the wireless network on or off without having to rummage through the software, and there is a small button labeled WPS on the back to turn on network protection. Of course, it’s best to forget to turn off protection forever.
Incidentally, the device has been given the design of Edimax in recent years, which means that the glossy white cover has remained. We like it too, and not because it goes well with apple machines, but because it has good enough scratch resistance and isn’t sensitive to fingerprints either.
Now that we have reviewed the tools to be tested, the test may come, that is, the measurement, to then summarize the experience.
