Kcorp Lifestyle Silver Series ADSL Router review

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Verdict:

Review Date: 17 Dec 2004

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Reviewed By: David Ludlow

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Most wireless routers on the market expect you to have a modem with an Ethernet port.

If you lack an Ethernet ADSL modem, KCorp's 802.11g Lifestyle Silver Series ADSL router could be the product you're looking for. It also includes a PC Card or PCI wireless network adaptor, making it quite a bargain.

The low price means that you don't get the latest technology, and the router supports only basic 54Mbit/s 802.11g. The lack of a turbo mode, which many other products offer, isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. In particular, the 108Mbit/s mode that many routers use can be problematic, as it uses three channels in a process called channel bonding. This increases the chances of interference.

With a basic 802.11g setup, you minimise interference problems and get enough bandwidth to share a network connection. It helps that there's also a built-in four-port switch, as you can use this to connect any clients that sit close to the router.

One of the biggest problems with wireless kit is getting it working. KCorp provides a simple installation procedure: just connect a PC and point its web browser at the router. A quick setup wizard connects to the net with the username and password that your ISP gave you. The wizard doesn't prompt you to change the wireless settings, though, so make sure you change the network name and turn on WEP before you continue.

The router's single aerial made transfer rates slower than they are on pricier routers. On average we got a transfer rate of 9.9Mbit/s, which is fine for most applications but it's slightly slower next to the competition. If you simply want to share a broadband connection and won't be streaming videos all over the house, it's £80 well spent.

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