The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
Entered CNET Catalog: 10/11/2003
SKU: CNETASHTONDIGITALWIRELESSUSBSTICK
Manufacturer: Ashton Digital Corporation
Manufacturer description
The all-new Ashton Digital AirDash Wireless USB Stick is designed to provide a complete wireless networking solution without using a traditional Access Point/Router. The AirDash Wireless USB Stick device turns your wired computer into a virtual access point and router - broadcasting wireless signals to any 802.11b/g devices. It lets you share files as well as Internet access with multiple users in an enhanced Peer-to- Peer/Ad-Hoc mode. It will even work with a dial-up connections. With Quick and Easy Set-up Wizard, installation is simple. In matter of minutes, you can enjoy the freedom of wireless connection. Now, who says that only experts can set up a multiple-user wireless network? With AirDash Wireless USB Stick, you can do it in a snap!Product summary
The good: Quick setup; excellent performance; inexpensive; three-year warranty.
The bad: Outdated security; works only with Windows systems.
The bottom line: Looking for an easy, inexpensive way to share an Internet connection? Ashton Digital's wireless USB sticks are the best deal.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: Yes
- Reviewed on: 11/24/2003
Ashton Digital's WRUB-2011i AirDash wireless USB stick is compact, and it installs in a snap on Windows 98 SE or newer systems. (Unfortunately, it doesn't support Mac or Linux operating systems.) The AirDash stick comes with a removable USB port-direction adapter that lets you flip the orientation of the USB plug to keep the AirDash stick in whichever position gives it the best reception. The box contains a CD with setup software and a well-organized, 38-page PDF manual. You also get a useful one-page, printed quick-install guide.
About the size of a disposable cigarette lighter and weighing less than an ounce, the AirDash stick is as unobtrusive as networking gear gets. It's about the same size as the Linksys WUSB12, and it's tiny compared to the Siemens SpeedStream 1022 wireless USB adapter or Buffalo's wireless USB adapter. Because the 3.3V device is powered by its USB connection, you won't have to mess with an AC adapter or a clumsy power cord. All this makes the AirDash an excellent 802.11b adapter for both notebooks and desktops and an easy, inexpensive way to share an Internet connection wirelessly.
Installing the AirDash software only takes a few minutes and gives you the choice between standard and advanced setup routines. The standard routine is geared toward those planning to distribute an Internet connection with the AirDash adapter and requires you to do little more than click through a few screen prompts. The advanced setup routine gives you more configuration options and lets you configure the adapter for an existing network with predetermined security and IP settings.
The most notable feature of the Ashton Digital WRUB-2011i AirDash wireless USB stick is its Internet-sharing feature. The AirDash software taps into Microsoft's Internet Connection Service software, already built into your Windows operating system, to distribute an Internet connection via a standard Wi-Fi ad-hoc network. The Microsoft Internet Connection Service works with other adapters as well, but it's complicated to configure without the AirDash software.
Once you've configured an AirDash adapter for Internet sharing, you can use it to distribute a connection to any standard 802.11b/g adapter. Ashton Digital makes it easy to configure additional AirDash sticks to participate in an Internet-sharing network, but you have to dig around in the manual to learn that this is all done in ad-hoc mode and that other adapters will need to be configured for this mode to join the network.
The security features of the AirDash stick suffice for most home users, but don't expect ironclad protection for your small office. The AirDash stick comes with 64- and 128-bit WEP encryption buts lack support for stronger WPA and 802.1x encryption schemes, which are rapidly becoming the new security standards for wireless networking.
The AirDash installation places an icon for the Wireless LAN Configuration Utility in the Windows notification area to the right of the taskbar. The icon is blue if there are data frame errors, yellow if you are not connected or have poor link quality, and green when you have a solid connection. Clicking the icon launches the utility, which lets you view or alter the adapter's settings. From there, you can turn the radio on or off, check bar graphs that display link quality and signal strength, and change the wireless channel of your enhanced peer-to-peer network.
In CNET Labs' tests, the AirDash WRUB-2011i wireless USB stick reached an impressive maximum throughput of 5.3Mbps at close range. That's a little faster than the Siemens's SpeedStream 1022 wireless USB adapter.
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CNET Labs maximum throughput tests (Longer bars indicate better performance) |
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| Note: Throughput in Mpbs. |
The AirDash stick also has good range. Connecting at a distance of 175 feet in our tests, its range is significantly farther than the SpeedStream's 100 feet but short of the Linksys WUSB12's 225 feet. Still, the AirDash should offer plenty of range for an apartment or a small house.
Ashton Digital's enhanced peer-to-peer mode is not designed for heavy loads. Ad-hoc mode involves more protocol overhead, decreasing throughput as more computers join the network. If you're planning to share an Internet connection among more than five computers, you should consider getting a router. Still, AirDash sticks are more than capable of sharing an Internet connection between two or three computers.
In our tests, the AirDash stick installed successfully on five notebooks and a desktop PC of varying vintages and worked just fine with a three-port USB hub. It connected easily with both 802.11b and 802.11g access points. In ad-hoc mode, an AirDash stick on a connected client was able to distribute a broadband connection with another stick and several other brands of Wi-Fi adapters.
For more details on how we test networking devices, see the With a three-year warranty, Ashton Digital provides good coverage for the AirDash WRUB-2011i wireless USB stick, but it comes up short compared to Belkin's lifetime coverage. The company's Web site lists FAQs and offers a downloadable product manual and the most recent drivers for the AirDash stick. Ashton Digital also provides lifetime, toll-free phone support, but only from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. You can also e-mail the company a question, although one note we sent took four days to get a response.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14out of 14 user reviews
This works great in linux.
Pros: Prism2 chipset, Kismet support, nice blue led, not as big as some.
Cons: wlan-ng uses non-standard commands.
Howto for Gentoo.
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Prism2_USB_on_Gentoo
..and FreeBSD and OpenBSD too. I think these have been supported for a long time also..
err.. "supported" by open source developers that is.
out of 14 user reviews
can not get to work on a secure network.
Pros: cheep price
Cons: cheep product
out of 14 user reviews
They worked for about 1 month!!!
Pros: One stopped working about 30 days after I purchased them.
Cons: easy to plug in.
out of 14 user reviews
Resonable Option for the Price
Pros: Works well with my (Host)XP system hooked up to my Direct Way Satellite Internet service and the (client) second computer in my daughter's room running Windows 98 SE. Comes with drivers on CD and Internet Sharing setup Wizard. Through put is excellent o
Cons: Once I created the Interent Sharing disk and loaded the files on the client computer everything came up working without a hitch. Security may not be top of the line but works well in my rural location. Ashton Digital's customer support leaves some to be
out of 14 user reviews
when it works-don't touch it
Pros: It works until the pc sleeps, or you move it. Works fine on win98osr2, windows 2000 and XP
Cons: It works until the pc sleeps, or you move it.
out of 14 user reviews
good luck getting support
Pros: None
Cons: Try to call support and get a disconnected line. Try to e-mail support and get no response. Is this company being run by 1 guy in his garage?
out of 14 user reviews
p.o.s.!! Crapped out in 1 month!
Pros: Easy as the average USB product. Yer basic Plug-And-Play. 11 MBp/s, just like the box says.
Cons: My wife's gotta STOP buyin' electronic CRAP offa Home Shopping Club! One of the units died after 3 weeks, the other one about a month later. And it wasn't the computers, there were at least 3 different computers in the network with these things plugged in
out of 14 user reviews
Had to return it
Pros:
Cons: Had issues from the beginning then, I got over the hump and it worked until....it stopped working. Tried evrything to make it work again including calling Mircosoft. Jst never worked right. Had to return it and brought a router. The router was $59.00, the
out of 14 user reviews
Worked without a snag
Pros: My in-laws live next door so I ordered the unit. Already have XP on all PC's. After installing and allowing windows to re-install the software I have been able to move the receiver to each of the other four PC's and it has worked with fine.
Cons: The documentation was really useless. Did better just fumbling through the install by myself.
out of 14 user reviews
above expectations
Pros: Ease of installation and portability, indoor range, overall reliability.
Cons: At first after installing with the ashton software each time the stick was unplugged then plugged back in windows recognized it as new hardware and it had to be re-installed with the installation disk. But I think I fixed that by allowing windows to inst
out of 14 user reviews
THIS IS GREAT!
Pros: all pros...i hooked up my computer which is cable modem with my sons computer and it works great!! installed very quickly and easily!
Cons:
out of 14 user reviews
Once over the initial hump - it works
Pros: Seems to work as described
Cons: I've learned that this product is now being sold on HSN. I wasn't surprised customer service was busy. I'm not a novice user and I couldn't do the install. To get the network to work correctly, you need a "peer to peer" ad hoc set up. Once that's done, t
out of 14 user reviews
Good Marketing, BUT needs better support
Pros: Easy...if you get it to work
Cons: Product intallation stated NOT digitally registered with Windows XP, so I'm not sure if it's completely installed. I see the signal in my laptop & desktop, but no internet connection, which is the reason I got it for. Maybe because I have AOL?, but
out of 14 user reviews
Total lack of customer support makes this product valueless.
Pros: Easy to instal. One wastes no time in installation procedures...right up to the final screen to inform the user that "internet connection not complete"
Cons: Once the user receives the bad news, the nightmare begins. The phone number one is requested to call in the event one gets that screen is "leave your name and number and we'll get back to you". 72 hours and I'm still waiting. Another number on "easy insta
