Netgear Prosafe WNDAP360 Wireless-N Access Point Review

Before we take a look at performance of the access point under various conditions, let’s have a look at what options are available under the cover. Being a business class product, there are a number of features that we will see that won’t be found on a domestic class access point.

After login to the system, the first tab to come up is brief with a general set of system settings, including date & time configuration, region selection for the wireless channels and also the access points name as shown on the network.

Depending on the current network configuration, IP settings are fully adjustable which is recommended for ease of access and maintenance, although this can all be set by DHCP is preferred.

The next tab is probably one of the more important tabs that we will find and one that all users will find themselves landing on is the wireless settings. Alongside the standard ability to change the default SSID’s and wireless modes, another neat feature that we find under here is the ability to have the system turn the radios on and off at set periods. This is handy for businesses in that over the weekend, the wireless turns off to not only save a bit of power, but also add a little extra security to their network from intrusion.

Under the security tab is where access keys and pass phrases are assigned for each of the two radios. Each radio can broadcast up to eight SSID’s simultaneously and each SSID can be assigned to a separate VLAN based on the network requirements and privileges that a network administrator wants for particular user groups.

Another feature that the WNDAP360 has is to act as a wireless bridge, either from point-to-point or point-to-multi-point. This is handy in larger deployment areas where a pair of access points can link two buildings together for example or multiple points can create a mesh network.

The monitoring tab is less settings, more information with this page showing a summary of key information for the access point such as MAC addresses, IP settings and current wireless settings.

The access point keeps a full system log in the event that any troubleshooting needs doing with a full date and time stamp.

Over time we generally find firmware upgrades are released to improve performance and also fix any system bugs that may be found.

Even though a manual and resource CD comes in the box, these are notorious for going walkabouts in the event that they need to be referred to, so on the last tab there are links to the systems documentation and registration pages.

Test system:

• Asus Maximus V Forumla
• Intel Core i7 3770k
• Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz 16GB
• AMD Radeon HD 7970
• Corsair H80
• Corsair HX1050W
• Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD
• 3 x AOC E2795VH
• Asus USB-N53 Wireless-N

We would like to thank AOC, Asus, Corsair, Kingston and Lian Li for supplying us with our test system components. Many different software applications are also used to gain the broadest spectrum of results, which allows for the fairest testing possible. Software used:

• LAN Speed Test