One year after entering the home networking market, Microsoft has released the second version of its wireless home-networking hardware. A new base station and wireless adapters for PCs and the Xbox game console use the 802.11g wireless protocol, which offers data transfer rates up to five times faster than 802.11b, the protocol on which the first generation of wireless products was based. The new lineup also supports the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) security protocol and parental controls. However, the adapters are not available in USB versions.

802.11g Support, Security Additions

When Microsoft entered the home-networking market in fall 2002, the company felt that existing home networking products were too difficult to set up, but that perhaps products sold under the familiar Microsoft brand might encourage more consumers to experiment with home networking. This could then drive users to purchase multiple PCs and wireless-enabled devices and spur new home entertainment scenarios with a PC as the hub.

The technology has moved quickly in the last year, with wide adoption of the faster 802.11g protocol and more robust wireless security protocols.

The new products, released in Sept. 2003, keep Microsoft on par with the rest of the market, as well as adding some unique features. Improvements are as follows:

Faster network. The new products use 802.11g, sometimes called Wireless-G, which offers wireless speeds up to 54Mbps—much faster than 802.11b, which has a top speed of only 11Mbps. The new products are fast enough for streaming video, which opens new digital media scenarios in the home: a user could send recorded TV programs from a Media Center PC to a laptop computer in another room, for instance. The 802.11g protocol is backward-compatible with 802.11b, so users with the new adapters can still connect to 802.11b networks, which are common in public locations.

Security features. The Wireless-G products have the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption standard turned on by default and also support the newer and more secure WPA protocol (for which Windows XP Service Pack 1 is required). Among other improvements, WPA changes encryption keys at regular intervals, so that even if one is cracked, only a limited amount of information can be read. The new base station’s hardware-based stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewall makes it more difficult for outsiders to gain unauthorized access to the network. New parental controls let users restrict specific devices on the network (or the network as a whole) from accessing certain domains.

Xbox adapter. With the introduction of Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming network for the Xbox console, many users faced a logistical problem: their Internet access point was in one room with their PC, but their Xbox was in a different room with their TV. These users either had to run Ethernet cable to their Xboxes or use a third-party Ethernet-to-wireless adapter, most of which must be configured from the PC and lack built-in security. With the new Xbox Wireless Adapter, users insert a CD into the Xbox, enter their network name and security key, and their Xbox will be connected to the network securely.

Automatic updates. A new Broadband Networking Update Service, similar to Windows Update, will prompt users to download new firmware, drivers, and software, such as support for new security protocols.

Setup fix. Previously, when users set up the base station, they had to copy certain settings to PCs on a floppy disk. Settings for the new base station can be stored on any type of drive, including a recordable CD or DVD or a USB-based flash drive, for transfer to another PC.

Pricing and Resources

Microsoft's Base Station MN-700 is available for a suggested retail price of US$109—that's US$40 cheaper than the 802.11b base station when it was released.

Adapters to connect desktop or notebook PCs to the 802.11g network are US$85; a Wireless Notebook Kit, consisting of a base station and one notebook adapter, is available for US$179. Unlike the 802.11b products, which come in both USB 1.0 and PCI versions, the new products are not available in USB because of USB 1.0’s low bandwidth.

The Xbox Wireless Adapter has a suggested retail price of US$139, or US$99 when purchased with a US$70 Xbox Live Starter Kit (which includes a one-year subscription to Xbox Live and a headset used for voice communications).

For more information, see www.microsoft.com/hardware/broadbandnetworking/.

For background on WPA, see "Wi-Fi Protected Access for Windows" on page 7 of the May 2003 Update.

For background on the first generation of Microsoft home networking products and why Microsoft got into the market, see "Hardware to Promote Home Nets" on page 20 of the Nov. 2002 Update.