Buffalo Tech AirStation 54Mbps Bridge ( WLA-G54C )

Rating:
Summary: works great, but hard to set up and the docs are little help
Review: I needed to network a Tivo and Xbox in an upstairs bedroom but running CAT5 wasn't an option. So, after much research, I decided to use the Buffalo WLA-G54C as a wireless bridge to an Apple Airport Extreme base station downstairs.

The web based config tool is pretty bad -- there's no obvious way to get to the advanced settings. I had to look through the equally bad print documentation to find the URL for the advanced controls. I got the WDS bridging enabled mostly through trial and error. The documentation was very poor.

Technically, bridging with non-Buffalo products is not supported, but both the Apple Airport base station and Airport use the same Broadcom chipset, and once I got everything set up right, it worked like a champ. It's been up and running for a week now and it's working much better than the previous set-up - using a Linksys WUSB11 USB wireless adapter to get the Tivo on the network. With that adapter, despite 70-80% signal strength, daily updates frequently failed and we couldn't move programs from one Tivo to the other - the connection dropped too frequently. Now, we can reliably transfer programs and listen to MP3 streams.

In short, the set up was a pain, docs were poor, but the end result -- the performance -- is excellent.

John Lalande
Chicago, IL

Rating:
Summary: Not reliable
Review: Note that sometimes the picture of the unit shown here is not correct and sometimes it is. If it looks like a wierd box with a notch taken out of the bottom, the picture is correct. If it looks like a blimp with legs, the picture is not correct.

The WLA-G54C is a repeater to be used with other Buffalo wireless LAN products. It is used to extend the range of your network. Your DLS or cable modem needs to be connected to a Buffalo wireless router. You can then put the WLA-G54A in another room to extend the wireless range. This worked for me, to get the signal to a remote bedroom.

The problem with the WLA-G54C was that it kept losing the network. You need to unplug it and plug it back in again to reset it. This happened every couple of days.

I planned to call Buffalo to see what I could do to make it work more reliably. But, my Buffalo router went dead and I have to get it fixed first. (My Buffalo router was only 2 months old). Once I get my Buffalo router back, I will see if I can get the repeater to work better.

Buffalo does have knowledgable tech support in the US, 24/7. But, you have to wait on hold 30 minutes to an hour before you get in touch with someone.

The initial setup of the Buffalo repeater did not go well, and I had to call tech support to walk me through it.

The concept is great. When it did work work, it worked great. I was able to get a strong signal to my remote bedroom. Other solutions I tried did not work (like buying stronger antennas). But, the system has not been reliable enough to practically use it.