AuraOne Systems, Inc. AuraGrid Wireless Extension System
| Summary:
AuraOne Systems, Inc. AuraGrid Wireless Extension System |
 | Intriguing, easy to install, and cost-effective solution for solving your whole-home wireless problems. | |
| Full Review:
AuraOne Systems, Inc. AuraGrid Wireless Extension System |
| We all have wireless deadspots in our homes and you can resolve them by buying more access points (which means configuring them and maintaining their firmware over time), buying so-called signal boosters (too expensive, why waste your money), buying a later model access point (like a pre-802.11n Belkin AP, eg.), or a wireless extension capability like AuraOne's AuraGrid. Installing this system is relatively simple if you have ready access to your home's cabling network. You install the main signaling unit where the cable enters your home, and the antenna units in your various rooms. Note that it does NOT work on cables that have satellite signals on them (sorry DirecTV and DISH users), and it won't work with newer model MIMO multiantenna access points. We also had issues with multi-interface wall jacks where the AuraGrid device covered the other jack so it was not usable. And you need to have an AP with a detachable antenna or this won't work. If you can get past these constraints, the AuraGrid is a piece of cake to justify relative to the other hardware-based options on the market. Dollar for dollar, you're better off getting one of these units so you can have one access point for your whole house, than to try to maintain a multi-AP home network! |
| Expanded Ratings:
AuraOne Systems, Inc. AuraGrid Wireless Extension System |
| Design |  ( / 5 ) |
| Nice attractive little units. We'd prefer that we were able to actually put it inside the gang box altogether, but that's not an option anytime soon from anyone. The linkage to the AP is via a direct connect cable that makes sure the connection is solid (note this requires that you have an AP that has a detachable antenna). We wish this did not have so many 'buts' about -- you can't have a MIMO AP, need an AP with a detachable antenna, can't have satellite on the wiring, and so on. We think there's an exposure of lots of returns based on these types of issues. |
| Features |  ( / 5 ) |
| We like the flexibility of these units and the co-existence with the cable communications. We'd feel more comfortable if there was a signoff from CableLabs somewhere in here about compatibility with its signaling over the home cabling. |
| Performance |  ( / 5 ) |
| To be honest, performance was not our number one concern, simply because for most of us, getting signal -- any signal -- around the home is better than nothing. We are doing more detailed performance testing when we can get to it, but the throughput to websites and serving content from our servers in the house did not seem to show any noticeable problems. If you have a 20Meg Internet connection into your home, then you might indeed see some issues, but if you have that, we're too jealous to even consider your issues anyway. We would liked to have seen something that provided us with some sort of throughput or other network health indicator, but that's probably incompatible with the low cost of the devices. Still yet to be evaluated as well is the impact of locating devices too closely together; common sense would say if you put too many of these in your home and too close together, you'll get some sort of interference. What those boundaries are we're not sure exactly yet. |
| Value | ( / 5 ) |
| At a retail price of $89 to outfit three rooms (which should cover anyone's house) we think this is a fairly solid value. While access points are less expensive, you have to deal with maintaining them over time -- and if you change any settings you have to do it twice, etc. This is just a far easier solution, at a reasonable price point. |
| Total | ( / 5 ) |
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