Misc

Review: Sitecom WL-309 Gaming Router 2

Of all the routers that are built around Ubicom's excellent StreamEngine processor for prioritising network traffic, Sitecom's WL-308 Gaming Router was arguably the best for home use.How could Sitecom improve on its design? By adding a second transmitter for dual-band operation of course. Install the WL-309 Gaming Router 2 and you'll find two wireless networks cover your house, one in the normal 2.4GHz range, and one in the higher frequency 5GHz spectrum. StreamEngine toting competitors includes Engenius' Gaming Router and Linksys' WRT-330, while the technology powers D-Link's Xtreme N range too. Of them all, though, Sitecom's original Gaming Router was the one that seemed best geared towards gamers, and offered the most consistently low pings no matter what else was going on on the network. And it even managed to look good, too.Prices for both the WL-308 and the WL-309 are highly variable at the moment, but the newer model with its second channel carries a price premium of around ￡20. A bargain, if it's a big improvement.In order to simulate 'real world' scores, the benchmarking PC was positioned roughly 15m from the router, through one brick and one plasterboard wall. The second //Warcraft// test is designed to stress the packet prioritisation abilities of the router. For reference, the //WoW// ping in test 1 was 24ms with an ethernet cable.World of Warcraft pingSitecom Gaming Router 2 (2.4GHz): 114msSitecom Gaming Router 2 (5GHz): 213msEngenius Gaming Router: 149msEthernet cable: 24msWorld of Warcraft ping (while downloading RUSE demo and uploading to Dropbox)Sitecom Gaming Router 2 (2.4GHz): 134msSitecom Gaming Router 2 (5GHz): 223msEngenius Gaming Router: 245msPingtest.net ping test (three run average)Sitecom Gaming Router 2 (2.4GHz): 27msSitecom Gaming Router 2 (5GHz): 27msEngenius Gaming Router: 30msPingtest.net jitter testSitecom Gaming Router 2 (2.4GHz): 10msSitecom Gaming Router 2 (5GHz): 11msEngenius Gaming Router: 15msFile transfer across wireless LAN (1.7GB file)Sitecom Gaming Router 2 (2.4GHz): 13.59 minsSitecom Gaming Router 2 (5GHz): 9.19 minsEngenius Gaming Router: 17.05 minsFile transfer across wireless LAN (200MB small files)Sitecom Gaming Router 2 (2.4GHz): 3.03 minsSitecom Gaming Router 2 (5GHz): 4.27 minsEngenius Gaming Router: 2.13 minsDesignwise, the Gaming Router 2 is a step backward from its simple, sheer predecessor. The faux-leather casing is passable, but it's much bigger and the two antennas are huge and poorly supported. If you try to angle them for best coverage there's a high chance they'll flop like the ears of a dead rabbit.Our biggest concern, though, is whether or not a 5GHz network is worth it. The argument in favour is that the 2.4GHz spectrum is crowded: your neighbour's router, wireless DECT phones, Bluetooth devices and microwave ovens are all fighting for the same radio space as your precious Counter-Strike ping. There's less clutter in the 5GHz range, so you should get a clearer signal with fewer dropped packets.There's a couple of problems though. For a start, existing 2.4GHz network cards won't be able to see a 5GHz network, so if you want to get them working on the higher frequency, you'll need to invest in a dual band USB key too. That's another ￡50 right there. The next issue is that the 'simultaneous dual-band' moniker can misleading. The WL-309 can create multiple networks on each frequency, but your PC can only log on to one network at a time. So you can't download a P2P file over 2.4GHz and game over 5GHz at the same time. Every vendor selling dual band gear is guilty of wanting you to believe otherwise, or so it seems from the packaging. The deathblow, though, is that 5GHz signals don't penetrate through solid objects as well as 2.4GHz wavelengths. As our benchmarks show, it doesn't take much in the way of wallage to leave you better off with cluttered old 2.4GHz kit. The only area in which the 5GHz network shone at this range was transferring large sequential pieces of data.This is a good router. The WoW scores show how adroitly it filters network traffic to keep pings low. But no gamer who cares enough about their ping to spend £200 on networking gear should use that money for dual band. Get a high quality, StreamEngine toting router like Sitecom's older model and spend the change on getting your house cabled for Ethernet instead. We likedJust like its predecessor, the WL-309 Gaming Router 2 is an excellent example of how to build a StreamEngine-powered router. Wireless will never compete with cabling for low latency gaming, but its good enough that in most cases you won't notice the difference too much.We disliked The antennae aren't just ugly, they're too flimsy by far. More critically, there's not a lot to be gained by using a dual-band router unless you're PC is in the same room. In which case, why not just use an Ethernet cable for gaming?Related LinksRead more networking reviewsTechRadar's Reviews Guarantee

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