Product Name: Asante FrientlyNET( FR3302AL-1PCM Wireless Router
Company: Asante
Category: Wireless networking
Price/Options:
FrientlyNET( FR3302AL-1PCM Wireless Router Retail $289, although commonly available for $259.
OS X: Yes
Testing System(s): 2002 iBook 600 Mhz, G4 dual 533 Mhz, Macintosh systems 9600/233 and 9600/300 upgraded with Newertech G3/500, and other machines including G3 Powerbooks and Windows laptops. (Even a Powerbook 5300cs!) Internet backbone connection.
Rating: 4 bounces – Pure Lust.

We can thank Apple for starting the industry trend for wireless networking in the personal computing arena, but while wireless networking is a new and impressive technology to many, it should be noted that the first true wireless networking technology allowing computers to communicate without using copper wired phone lines was created by Norm Abramson at the University of Hawaii back in 1970 thus making Alohanet the first wireless packet switched network in the world. Fast forward to 1997, when the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) drafted the 802.11 standard for wireless local area networking giving networking manufacturers a formal technical basis to make wireless networks compatible with each other. In 1999, the 802.11b standard was drafted and accepted by the networking industry, allowing for wireless networking over the 2.4GHz frequency. This is when Apple stepped into the game and made wireless networking available to the personal computer buying public through their Airport technology. However, because Apple adopted an industry standard, there are a variety of products that can fill individual needs for the wireless networking of our Macs that are available from a number of companies, with a number of options available as prices have come down significantly in the past year along with quality and feature improvements.

Because of the number of wireless routing options available, picking one can be a little confusing. We were looking for a wireless networking option for the laboratory environment and Asante came through with their FriendlyNET(R) wireless router. Asante got their start back in 1988 and has long provided networking solutions for Apple while producing switches, hubs, and adapter cards under the Asante brand. My experience with Asante products goes back to the first networking card I ever purchased for my Mac IIci, an Asante Nubus 10BT Ethernet card. I followed this up with a number of hubs and localtalk adapters and have always been happy with the quality. Therefore, I decided to evaluate Asante’s wireless networking option, the FR3002AL wireless router. Apart from the rather vague name, the FR3002AL has a nice set of features including a dual 10/100 ethernet switch, a firewall that supports telephony and video conferencing, the ability to share up to 253 users via network address translation, and a built in print server for Postscript based printers.

The one feature it does not have is a dial up option. However, while the inclusion of a dial up adapter in Apple’s Airport is convenient for some who do not have broadband accessibility, the majority of people looking for wireless networking are going to have broadband at work or in the home. This is Asante’s target market, and as such I do not see the lack of a dial up connection as a deficiency.

The Asante FR3302AL Wireless Router with the print server comes in two configurations, with and without a wireless PCMCIA card. (Which is required for wireless networking). Opening the box (with the PCMCIA card) reveals the router, the wireless networking card, power supply and software on CD-ROM. Asante also includes both printed and PDF based instructions (nice touch).

The router itself is designed for upgradeability (as opposed to Apple’s Airport in which needs to be completely disassembled in order to upgrade which is definitely not supported by Apple), and the design has been well thought out with hooks provided in the back for mounting on walls and molded hooks for physical security if your router lives in theft prone areas. (Although there is no way to physically secure the wireless PCMCIA card). Available connections include the parallel port for the print server, a wireless port, and two 10/100 based ports for hard connections to the router providing for more secure connections as well as allowing for Airport equipped Macs to connect to pre-wireless Macs like my old workhorse 9600′s as well as providing up to 200 Mbps in full duplex mode for more modern hardware with 10/100 ethernet.

Speaking of security, while it is not impossible to spy on computers connected through physical means (hacking, Trojan horses, TEMPEST based methods etc…), wireless networking with an industry standard makes for a distinctly less secure connection. Asante compensates for this to some degree by offering full 128-bit encryption in the FR3002AL, but if you are working with truly sensitive data, it is doubtful that your federal/corporate IT security folks would let you consider wireless networking based on industry standards anyway.

Setup

Having used wireless networks but not having any experience setting them up, I was a little concerned. However, setup and configuration proved trivial and consumed all of 5 minutes. Setup for a wireless connection with the Asante wireless router consists of connecting the Ethernet cable from your broadband connection (backbone, ADSL or cable modem), plugging in the PCMCIA card to the wireless port on the back of the router, and powering up. Configuration is done through a browser interface, and your Mac should be set up to connect via TCP/IP and configured for using DHCP server. OSX makes this incredibly easy as it is a true multi-homing OS meaning I can be connected to the internet using multiple independent connections such as the Airport card and the 10/100 ethernet port and I do not have to manually make changes every time I switch.

After setting up the hardware and ensuring that you Mac’s networking preferences are set appropriately, launch you browser of choice and go the default IP address for the router where you will be greeted with a log-in request. Enter the default “admin” and you are now wirelessly networking.

Configuration of the wireless router for its network settings, security and preferences can then take place. The default settings for the router are configured to work alone, but if there are multiple FR3002′s in your network, you have the option to configure multiple access points or to have separate networks. For one big network with multiple access points (say throughout your building), just leave the settings where they are. For independent networks, you simply have to enter a unique network ID name for each router in your network. To take advantage of the built in security of this router, one simply has to enable the WEP (wired equivalent protocol) button in the security portion of the web based interface and enter either a 10 digit or a 26 digit number into the WEP key box as both 64 bit and 128 bit encryption options are available.

However, it should be noted that if you are using Apple Airport cards with the router, (most Apple laptop users I would think) the WEP security will not work due to the differences in the way Asante’s router and the Apple Airport cards enter and store the key. Therefore, the WEP security feature needs to be disabled on both the Airport card and the router.

Use

In practice, use of the Asante wireless router is a fantastic experience in the work environment. My previous experience with wireless has been in airports and arenas outside of the work environment, but the inclusion of wireless networking in the lab is truly a wonderful and productive experience and the potential advantages are numerous. For instance, there are always situations where finding an Ethernet jack can be problematic and this issue often appears in older buildings that may not have Ethernet jacks available where one would want them. Collaboration is also enhanced as visitors to the lab can bring their wireless equipped laptops and get immediate internet and email access without having to unplug one of your limited number of connections or find an access point. Asante’s solution is especially nice given the built in print server functionality and cross platform compatibility allowing visitors to the lab to collaborate by sharing of files and ideas and even print out documents.

Additionally, Asante provides for cross platform capabilities. The ability to run OSX has gone quite a ways towards eliminating the need for Windows systems entirely in most lab environments, but the reality is that many environments have cross platform needs and Asante makes this easy by providing seamless cross platform access in their wireless networking solutions with Macintosh and Windows platforms and possibly others in the near future.

Recent Apple laptop customers are able to take advantage of built in networking cards with antennas built into their laptops, but older Powerbooks and Windows laptop users have to resort to wireless adapter cards which Asante also provides, like the wireless adapter cards used in this FR3002AL-1PCM wireless router. Driver issues are not a problem here either as Asante provides an extensive set of drivers for early Powerbooks including the 1400 and 5300′s, Powerbooks through the G3 series, drivers for Windows, and even drivers for Linux (which are technically currently unsupported at this time. Unfortunately, since the advent of OSX, I no longer have a Linux based computer available with which to test the functionality of the Linux drivers).

Wireless reception and range with Asante’s router were fantastic with no dead zones anywhere in our lab environment. In fact, range was so good that I can get reception with an iBook in labs across the hall, and even in the shielded electron microscopy room down the hall. Sitting on the lawn outside my building with the laptop also provides a means to enjoy the sunshine whilst accessing the lab network and Internet as well. I figure that in the new building we will be moving to, three or so of these Asante routers on every other floor would cover the entire building allowing scientists, physicians and students to get complete coverage anywhere in the building they go.

Overall my experience with the Asante FR3002AL wireless router has been a good to exceptional one. There are a couple of minor issues I would like to see improved however, not the least of which is the WEP compatibility with the Apple Airport cards used in most Apple laptops with 802.11 access. The other minor issue I had was the lack of a hardware reset button. Over the course of a month, there were two times when the router became unresponsive and the only remedy apparent was to unplug the router and plug it back in. I am not sure I can fault Asante for the router unresponsiveness as our network has been undergoing quite a bit of maintenance lately with many drop-outs in service. I suppose that not including a hardware reset button or on-off button was done for security reasons, but I would appreciate one.

The experience of others with this router has also been impressive. Again, many people have never before seen wireless networking as it is still a relatively recent technology. More often then not, they are amazed that I can be teaching down the hall and simply pull a file off our network right through the “ether”. Our lab PI has been so impressed that he purchased an Asante wireless card for his laptop and apparently is also purchasing an Asante FR3002AL router for his home and a number of visitors to the lab have also expressed an interest in equipping their labs and homes with this router.

In summary, if you are looking for a wireless router, the Asante FR3002AL is a fine option that includes print serving, ease of configuration and maintenance, upgradeability, a firewall and good performance in an affordable package.