Wireless Reviews

At a glance
Product	EnGenius 802.11 N Multi-Function Access Point (EAP-300)   [Website]
Summary	Ceiling-mount 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n AP/Bridge/Repeater based on Realtek silicon.
Pros	• Four SSIDs • Supports WDS bridging/repeating
Cons	• Disappointing wireless performance • WPS does not work

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Overview

EnGenius has tried to differentiate itself from the wireless product pack by generally focusing on "long-range" products, typically with higher transmit power. In the case of the EAP-300, however, it looks like EnGenius has failed in this mission.

The product is aimed at businesses who like their access points ceiling-mounted and inobtrusive. So the EAP-300 looks and mounts like a smoke detector. It can be powered by a 12v wall-wart (included) or more typically for a real business installation, by 802.3af Power over Ethernet.

The top of the device has three bright blue indicators for power, Ethernet link/activity and Wireless link/activity. These can each be disabled in the admin interface. There is also a recessed button with a little wrench icon, whose function is not explained anywhere that I could find in the documentation. But I'd assume that it at least reboots the AP and possibly resets it to factory default with a longer press.

The bottom of the device shown in Figure 1 has recessed ports for power and 10/100 Ethernet. There is a gap in the case at the top of the picture for cables to exit without making a bump in the flat mounting plane.

Figure 1: EAP-300 bottom view

Inside

The FCC ID photos are a bit fuzzy. But EnGenius isn't shy about providing design details in its data sheet.

Figure 2: EAP-300 inside

Table 1 summarizes the key components, which show a design based on Realtek components. I don't run across Realtek very often in wireless products and certainly not in those advertised as high performance. So I'm surprised at EnGenius' selection.

Table 1:Component summary

Figure 3 shows an unobstructed view of the board where you can see the Realtek logos on the processor and radio devices.

Figure 3: EAP-300 board

Features

The EAP-300 has a decent set of features, including some that will be of interest to business users. Here's a summary:

• AP/WDS Bridge/WDS Repeater modes
• Four SSIDs
• Auto-channel setting
• SSID / VLAN tagging
• Traffic separation by SSID or between clients
• Adjustable Transmit power (11 dBm - 29 dBm)
• Wireless enable/disable scheduling
• WiFi Protected Setup
• WEP, WPA/WPA2 Personal and Enterprise security
• MAC address filtering
• 802.1d Spanning Tree support
• 802.3af Power over Ethernet or 12V power
• Dual 5 dBi internal omnidirectional antennas
• Traffic graphs
• HTTP/HTTPs/Telnet/SNMP admin

Figure 4 is a shot of the web admin interface so you can get an idea of the approach. If you've used an EnGenius router, the look and feel will be familiar; functional, but unpolished.

Figure 4: EAP-300 Wireless settings

Both HTTP and HTTPs connections are supported to the web admin interface. But if you just hit the AP's IP address, you don't get auto-forwarded to the secure interface; you need to specify https://.

As I said, some of the EAP-300's features will be interesting to business users. But admins used to Cisco or other Enterprise-class APs may be disappointed. Some reasons why:

• You can't set maximum transmit link rate
• MAC address filtering is deny only and you don't get a pick list to help build the list
• No rogue AP or other wireless activity monitoring
• Telnet access to a command line interface (CLI) is enabled by default and can't be disabled
• No ability to disable HTTP admin or control remote access
• There are traffic graphs and activity logs, but they can't be saved or emailed

Check the gallery for screenshots of key admin pages and further commentary.

Overview, Inside, Features Wireless Performance, Closing

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