Performance
Assessing the PWE1130's range is a difficult proposition, simply because at the frequency WiFi operates, building materials, plants, and even the human body can affect transmission. Most WiFi peripherals, if they claim range figures at all, usually say they're good for 150 meters in a line-of-site setting, and I've found in practice that that's a conservative estimate.

[You can also "hack" the range of a WiFi network by attaching a "big-honking" antenna to the back of some wireless access points. We've heard stories of directed network access of 5 miles or more with the appropriately non-standard antenna array. - DG]

For my range testing, I evaluated the PWE1130's range when communicating with my Apple Macintosh PowerBook G4 with Airport using our home network. Our network consists of two Airports situated at opposite ends of our house, one on each floor. Together, they provide wireless coverage to the PowerBook and handhelds throughout our property with little difficulty. In general, it appears that the PWE1130 is a little less effective than the Airport-enabled computer. Regardless, its range is certainly adequate for well-designed wireless networks.

True speed, too, is hard to assess, simply because there's no good network benchmarks written for the Palm OS. It's fair to say, however, that the unit connects at the WiFi standard 11 mbps, and that its performance is adequate for daily usage. It's far faster than using a modem in most cases for accessing the Internet, and synchronization is faster than serial synchronization. However, it's slightly slower than USB synchronization.

With a device like a Palm handheld, it's unreasonable to expect the platform to provide exactly the same level of performance you'd see from a notebook or laptop computer. Regardless, the combination of a Palm handheld and the PWE1130 running an Internet application is as fast or faster than what you'll see with a modem, and it works quite well.

Conclusion
The wireless LAN marketplace has exploded this year, and most analysts expect it to continue to grow over the next year. Even in the time between my last article in PalmPower and this review of the PWE1130, the cost of desktop WiFi cards and wireless hubs has dropped some. Consequently, the list price for the module, $299, feels a bit steep, especially if you're buying the rest of the hardware for a wireless network at the same time.

In all fairness, it's difficult for me to recommend the product at that price to the average consumer, but if you've got the cash and want the functionality, it's well worth it. Businesses, however, can quickly benefit from the PWE1130 if they've already deployed a wireless network, simply because of the added productivity ubiquitous network access provides. The Xircom Wireless LAN Modem is a first-rate product.