Linksys WRT310N wireless router

With no exterior antennas, this unit looks very different from most routers. With rounded edges it is far removed from the usual basic box design of many routers. The front panel is intuitive and the rear ports are clearly labeled and not too cramped.

We performed file transfer tests at varying distances using 10MB, 100MB and 700MB files. Our PC was connected via CAT5 cable and a wireless notebook was used as the destination device.  These tests are designed to give an idea of real world performance.  In addition, we also streamed video and music files to find the distance at where the stream degraded.  The results were quite impressive.

With the notebook beside the router the 10MB file was transferred in 4.12 seconds, the 100MB at 37.14 seconds and the 700MB at 4 minutes 13.07 seconds.  As we moved away from the router to distances of around 50 feet, the results were only slightly higher with a 0.05-0.09 second difference.  At 100 feet the 10MB was 4.45 seconds, the 100MB was 38.27 and the 700MB was only 4minutes 41 seconds.

Considering there is a concrete wall and various electrical equipment for the signal to navigate in that 100 feet, we were impressed at the integrity of the signal. Naturally the further we moved away from the router, the weaker the signal became but even at 300 feet, the signal was still strong enough to transfer a file, albeit at rather slow rates.  At 300 feet, the 10MB file was 32.03 seconds, the 100MB was 7min 29 seconds and the 700MB was 39minutes 27seconds.  MP3 and video files could be streamed at distances of up to 300 feet with ease but began to degrade after that.