NetGear has been keeping pace with their competition of wireless access points by releasing its thin and sleek Prosafe Wireless AP device, the WNAP210. Like many of the AP devices on the market today, NetGear opted to go with a white sleek and thin body.
At just over 1.10 inches thick, 6 inches across, and 8 inches tall, the device is narrow, sleek and able to be placed nearly anywhere on a desk. If the desk isn’t your preferred location it can be moved almost anywhere. The Net Gear Prosafe WNAP210 Wireless AP device weighs less than a pound and comes with a wall and ceiling mount kit to make sure your NetGear AP device fits in where you need it to. The antenna was built inside the unit, adding to the sleek design. No worries though if you want more antennae, because it accepts accessory antennas.
Unlike many of the AP devices on the market, the Prosafe WNAP210 comes with an installation guide, a resource CD, and even a support information card to make sure you get all the help you need when setting up your new AP device.
The Prosafe by NetGear comes with 802.11n 2.0 specifications, 2.4 GHz, and a Power of Ethernet cord, so that there isn’t any unnecessary wires leading to the unit. The other physical pieces of hardware that come with the unit is a 12 DC power adapter, and four LED lights – for the power, test, LAN, WLAN. The PoE cord makes getting power and a signal to the device simple and efficient.
NetGear also boasts high security, but what exactly does that mean? The Prosafe Wireless AP unit comes with Wi-Fi protected access providing your choice of WPA and WPA2. It also comes with Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) for 64-bit, 128-bit, and 152-bit encryptions for IEEE 802.11b and IEEE802.11 g. The Prosafe also has the unique feature of peer-to-peer blocking so users won’t be able to access each others computers, keeping things private and safe. Which is a good thing since the Prosafe can support up to 30 users at a time.
The Prosafe Ap device by NetGear also comes with wireless access control so that you can identify authorized network devices, making it possible to link them together. It provides a MAC address authentication for added security and VPN pass-through support. It also has the rare feature to be able to detect unwanted, or rogue, AP units. Bearing all this in mind makes the NetGear Prosafe AP unit one of the most secure and safe units you can buy.
The warranty and customer support have turned out to be some of the best as well. Most AP devices don’t come with much more than a support disk and a phone number for an answering machine. With NetGear you receive a lifetime warranty on the Access Point and a 3 year warranty on the power supply. The support is nothing to scoff at either. NetGear offers on call 24×7 telephone and Internet support.
The system requirements are right on the nose as well. If you have a Mac operating system or a Microsoft WIndows format this AP unit will work for you with XP, 2000, 98, UNIX, or Linux as well as Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Thanks to it’s wide ability to take almost any browser, except Safari, this makes this AP unit one of the best choices for your small or home business.
The outside reviews can be a little more harsh, it can handle up to 30 users but it’s has been described as perfoming on average in terms of throughput during testing. Throughput is also not well maintained over longer distances. Based on its performance, though, the price ranging from $137.00 USD to $152.00 USD is perfect for small businesses.
The system is great if you install more than one AP to cover your home or office space. The small size of the unit makes it convenient for installing as many as you need to create a strong bridge across your Wi-Fi area.
It seems that when it comes to Net Gears Prosafe Wireless-N access point WNAP210, the support, hardware and warranty are excellent. The problem they need to address is the range of the device by finding a better way to increase the signal. As it stands though, the Prosafe is a great deal for start up businesses and home businesses.