Review

Linksys WRT320N

This Draft 802.11n router is well suited to the needs of SOHO users who need to share large files over a WLAN workgroup. By Prashant L Rao

This Draft 802.11n router works as advertised. It has the familiar Linksys software for configuring it as well as the more powerful browser-based UI that lets you configure things like Wireless MAC filtering etc. The device looks sleek and is fairly easy to configure. I tested it with a 4810T laptop which supports draft N and was able to connect at a max of 150 Mbps. With a Linksys WUSB600N dual-band USB adapter I was able to connect at 270 Mbps. Obviously, these numbers dropped when away from the router but overall it pumped out about 3-4 times as strong a signal as Linksys’ older wireless g router.

Who is it for?

This device is well suited for a SOHO setup where the computers are predominantly laptops and the users want to share files over a peer-to-peer network. Internet browsing from a client barely uses 1-2% of a wireless g connection. On this router, utilization while browsing the Web is below 0.5%. So you don’t really need the additional throughput if your users are only going to browse the Net. That being said, it will come in handy for sharing files and printers over a SOHO network.

Pros

• This is a sleek looking device
• It is fairly easy to configure and has a browser-based user interface for advanced users
• This wireless router supports draft 802.11n

Cons

• None really