Nexland is well know for superior VPN and rock solid routers, and now with the addition of the Wavebase, they have a excellent wireless offering in their product line. The Wavebase, which originally bundled with the Intersil Prism chipset for the wireless 802.11b interface, has recently switched to the Agere Orinoco wireless cards. The Agere Orinoco wireless cards have a superior antenna design, the option to add external antenna's with ease, and has some unique security minded features missing from the Prism based cards.

The main status screen of the Nexland Wavebase router

The Wavebase includes a 9 pin serial port for an analog modem or ISDN modem for a WAN backup if your Cable or DSL goes down. This port can also be used for configuration of the router from a terminal program such as Hyperterm. The modem backup is one of our favorite features of any router, since if your Cable or DSL connection goes down, you don't have to rewire your network to get back online with the integrated modem backup. Another plus is the soon to come addition of the "closed network" feature of the Agere Orinoco wireless chipset, allowing the Wavebase wireless network to essentially be "hidden" from popular wireless scanning programs like NetStumbler. For more on this feature and the release by Nexland, please see the Nexland website or the Agere Orinoco wireless website

The Wavebase is a slim design, much like the other Nexland routers. It's housed in a metal case and measures approximately 1" high, 4" deep, and 8" wide. The unit runs very cool compared to other routers in this class. On the front, the router has an 4 port switch, 1 WAN port for Cable or DSL connections, and several sets of LED's for the LAN link/activity and duplex, as well as LED's for power, error, LAN/WAN transmit/receive, and a serial port active LED. Since it's wireless, you alse get the wireless activty and ready LED's. The power adapter is a standard 9 Volt AC/DC converter, used with most routers, switches, and other devices in this class. The box also includes a CD with docs, a 10 user Axcent RaptorMobile VPN client license, and Adobe Acrobat reader for the docs. We also liked that Nexland bundles an RJ-45 Ethernet cable, and a 9 Pin null modem cable for configuring your router via a terminal interface instead of using the web configuration
















Dynamic DNS is also integrated into the Nexland Wavebase router


The Wavebase is not only a great wireless router, it also has some great features such DMZ, a nice option for custom virtual servers, and other features like Dynamic DNS (DDNS). The DDNS features allows you to run your own domain name such as yourowncompany.com even if you have a Dynamic IP address. This makes it simple to host your own domain name, including hosting your own web, ftp, and mail servers, and even game servers. The main DDNS function is powered by TZO.COM - the reliable dynamic DNS service. TZO.COM has many features and services that the other DDNS providers don't, and their reliability is top notch, making them the most popular Dynamic DNS service.

Overall, the Nexland Wavebase has some impressive features. With it's great security options, including the upcoming "closed network" feature, and Dynamic DNS integration, you can't beat it for the price. This router has been rock solid in our testing, and adding external antenna's to the Agere Orinoco card was super easy. We added omni and high gain directional yagi antenna's and got great wireless reception in a remote room of the office that would not get signal otherwise. We love the choice that Nexland has made in going ORiNOCO for wireless, and hope that more SOHO routers follow in Nexland's path and provide great wireless options for more flexibility at a very reasonable price.

- Easy setup using any browser, flexible Virtual Servers and DMZ
- (1) WAN port and (4) switched 10/100 LAN ports
- Orinoco compatible wireless, closed network feature coming soon
- Simple and easy to add external antenna's to enhance wireless signal
- Includes RJ-45 cable and null modem cable for configuration
- Fast routing speeds, rock solid stability, small and compact
- NAT supports 253 internal users, extensive port mapping
- Supports all clients, Windows, Mac, Linux
- Excellent Documentation included, Printed and CD versions
- IPSec, PPTP, L2TP and many more flexible VPN/Security options
- Backup analog/ISDN modem connection for a 2nd backup option
- Configuration from null modem cable allows more flexible setup

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars - The Nexland Wavebase from Nexland is one of the lowest priced, highest quality wireless 802.11b routers available.
Pros: Sturdy metal case, power switch, excellent price, platform independent, super easy setup, flawless performance and reliability, ORiNOCO wireless and VPN features. Also offers a lower cost Prism card and ORiNOCO wireless accessories on the Nexland website.
Cons: Seems to be missing MAC filtering on the wireless interface. Slightly higher price than competitors in the SOHO market due to superior wireless cards and features. Only available from Nexland direct or a reseller. Closed network feature was not implemented at this time, but Nexland says it is coming soon.

Nexland Wavebase
Current Street Price: $399.00
ORiNOCO Gold wireless card for wireless client - $159
Prism based wireless client card - $79

Nexland Inc.
1101 Brickell Avenue
North Tower - 2nd floor
Miami, FL 33131
Phone: (305) 358-7771
http://www.nexland.com
Available now direct from Nexland