Review: Buffalo Nfiniti wireless router

Although wireless networking is fairly new, manufacturers are working on the next version, which will be even faster. It’s called 802.11n, and products such as the Nfiniti router, are based on an early version of the specification.

That means while it works now, it may not work with new kit once the specification is published. The router works fine as it is, although we had a little trouble setting it up, eventually having to use what's called 'channel bonding'. This means the router was using two wireless channels rather than the one that most use.

This had the advantage that the signal was boosted a little, but because there is only a limited number of channels to go round, if your neighbours were to use similar routers, the neighbourhood would rapidly run out of channels, stifling the wireless signal.

The router works well, although not at the speeds Buffalo claims, and we found it less reliable than a standard wi-fi router. The company reckons the kit is capable of reaching 300Mbits/sec - for comparison, a wired network generally runs at a maximum of 100Mbits/sec, so it's a fairly bold claim.

But the actual speeds we saw peaked at around 50Mbits/sec in a normal home environment. It's quite normal for wireless equipment speeds to be far below what's claimed, and 50Mbits/sec is a decent enough speed, a bit quicker than standard wi-fi kit. That said, broadband connections run at a maximum of 24Mbits/sec, so it's not going to make much difference to most home users.

It doesn’t include an ADSL modem, making it mainly suitable for cable internet users who already have a modem ­- ADSL users will need a separate Ethernet-capable ADSL modem.

Those who have a wireless network are advised to stick with it, at least until products based around the 802.11n standard appear. Anyone looking to set up a network from scratch will also probably find better value in standard Wi-fi routers.

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