The term "thin air" used to be a term with little meaning. We are proud to say that the air is FAT in the cablemodeminfo.com labs. Fat with the new standard IEEE 802.11a protocol being pumped out by SMC's latest offering to SOHO wireless networking. Just how "standard" will this become? We don't really care as long as the bandwidth is as fast or faster than this puppy, but let's discuss this new technology briefly before we get knee deep into this SMC product.

The 802.11a protocol works on a different radio frequency (5GHz) than its counterpart, 802.11b (2.4GHz). Another difference is in the modulation method of the broadcast signal. 802.11a utilizes a technique called orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM for short). The difference here is the signal is broken up into several slower signals that are transmitted at the same time over slightly different frequencies. This allows for a more robust transmission, although there is not much traffic on the 5GHz wavelength unlike the saturated 2.4GHz frequency used by your standard microwave and cordless phones. This different modulation combined with a completely different frequency means that 802.11a and 802.11b will not talk to each other.

Now, I may be way off line, but I would argue that to really have an efficient successor to 802.11b, you would want the technology to be backwards compatible. This lacking could be a big deal for the (albeit very few) large corporate IT departments that all ready have significant investments in 802.11b hardware. Perhaps the vendors can make an AP that will utilize both the old and a new frequencies and signal modulations (hint hint). So much for a perfect world.

The SMC2755W access point is a very tight package that can be wall mounted in several orientations. Its footprint is a mere 7" wide by 5" deep and it sits no taller than two inches at its' highest point. It also seems very light. Power is supplied via a 3.3v DC wall wart. The LED display on the front consists of three lights for power, LAN and wireless activity. There is one auto-sensing 10/100 RJ-45 jack on the back to connect to your existing network. Antennas are located on either side and can swivel 180 degrees. Overall, it seems to be of sturdy construction.

The SMC's advanced setup screen detailing TCP/IP settings..

How Fast?
The claimed performance of the SMC 802.11a access point is 54mpbs with a range better than 1600'. There are many things that may influence this, and of course, these unseen factors can degrade the signal and speed to some extent. This is really no different with 802.11b. We found that our test unit did not come close to this range, nor did it come close to the promised 54mbps speed, but more like half of that. Again, this is not unlike it's preceding protocol. There are some settings on the card and access point that will allow you to reach better than 70mbps in what they call "turbo mode". This is obtained by doubling the channel bandwidth from 20 to 40 MHz. Alas....we never even came close to that 72mbps figure.

Security encryption options are standard 64 and 128bit, but SMC has also enhanced this by adding 152bit WEP that spawns a KEY ID containing 32 HEX digits. This extra security is a good thing as we all know the potential for exploitation with existing WEP technologies. There is no extra support for VPN, Radius or any other standard security protocols. Advanced WEP options include MAC filtering.

One point of 802.11a worth mentioning is the extra headroom provided by the faster throughput. This means that the performance hit you take by enabling WEP is not nearly as noticeable as with 802.11b. Yes, it is significant, but it only slows it down to around normal Ethernet performance.

As for networking options, you'll find the standard fare for access points. There is a built in DHCP server, though out of the box it is not active. The device is given a fixed IP which you will have to deal with at first in order to configure it. This may sound easy...and it would be if it were mentioned anywhere in the documentation. This leads me to the first low-point. The documentation is a bit lacking.

Security settings of the SMC 802.11a EZ Connect Access Point

The 802.11a PC card is very similar to 802.11b cards. Take note that it requires a CardBus supported PCMCIA port and will not work with the older style slots. This shouldn't' be a problem on most relatively new systems and even most older ones. The card comes with a manual and the same CD-ROM that is included with the AP. This is where we ran into some trouble. Right off the bat, a funky message appeared during the driver installation. Actually, it occurs when the card's utility program installs. It says "This version of the WMI core components is only supported on Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 or later versions of Windows NT 4.0". Huh? SMC tech support claims this is not an error. If not, then it is a very misleading message.

SMC 802.11a PCMCIA card utility program.

This was only present on XP or Win2k installations. The drivers appear to install correctly, but you don't' get an IP when you are finished because the AP ships with DHCP disabled. It sits there plugged into your laptop and continually "searches" for an IP...not very elegant. If you try to run the cards utility program, it comes up with an error messages that reappears as soon as you acknowledge it by clicking "OK". Very annoying. You must get into the router via your LAN connection and configure DHCP properly for the wireless client to come alive. Once this is complete, you are on your way. I have to admit to a certain amount of hair-pulling prior to this. On a good note, SMC's tech support personnel were right on top of all of these issues and provided quick and courteous solutions. They were a real pleasure to deal with.

In a rush to be the first guy on the block with a 802.11a retail product, it would seem that SMC neglected to put the finishing touches on the 2755W Access Point and matching 2735W CardBus Adapter. Personally speaking, when I dump $500 into a product, I expect top notch. This isn't quite on the same page as the rest of the SMC product lines we have played with, but we're sure it will only get better.

Features of the SMC2577W Access Point and SMC2735W CardBus Adapter:

- High-Speed 802.11a protocol is a solid 5X faster than 802.11b
- Increased range of operation
- Built in DHCP server
- 152bit WEP
- Nice utility program for Wireless CardBus Adapter card.
- Web based configuration is a snap

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars.
Pros: Fast wireless performance
Cons: Poor drivers for CardBus adapter are finicky with Windows XP/2000. Documentation could stand to be revisited. Performance is nothing close to that suggested by SMC.

SMC 2755W 802.11a Wireless Access Point and CardBus Adapter
Current Street Price: $365 for AP, $145 for client card

SMC Networks Worldwide
38 Tesla
Irvine, CA 92618
http://www.smc.com/