Buffalo AirStation Nfiniti Wireless-N Router and Access Point (WZR-G300N)
The buffalo airstation Nfiniti has some unique features, such as an external switch that toggles between router and access-point modes; Buffalo’s AOSS one-touch encryption setup for easy Buffalo client-card connections; and an upright-oriented antenna cluster. But it also lacks important specs in a high-end router, such as WPA2 encryption support (though Buffalo said it planned to make this available via a firmware update that to be release soon).
In addition, the AirStation is the only router of the group that is missing Dynamic DNS support, which allows cable and DSL customers who don’t have fixed IP addresses to host Web sites or mail servers. Also absent are WPA Enterprise or Radius support, putting the AirStation at the bottom of the features heap in this group.
Designwise, the antenna cluster means you can use the Nfiniti only in an upright position, and you get no wall-mount option. This model had the same problem as with the Netgear RangeMax Next, as many ethernet cables toppled the router (although this happened less frequently with the Buffalo product since it weighs more than the Netgear).
In performance, the Buffalo was in the closely bunched bottom group of draft-n models, which all suffered on long range tests. But the biggest issue with this Buffalo was with its Web configuration tool, which was decidedly subpar. Explanations in the pop-up help on each page weren’t very helpful, and the poor graphics and confusing division of functions into Basic and Advanced pages just made things difficult to find, even when most of the experiece users knew what they are looking for.
Another annoyance is the wireless-card utility, which cannot distinguish between encryption types, so you have to know what type of encryption the network is using and select it from the menu before entering your key (unless you use the AOSS system, of course).
