Specializing in
Long Distance
Wireless Networking.

 Minitar MNWAPB

 802.11b (11 Mbps) Wireless Access Point

This page documents some of my personal findings on this AP. Like all budget units, it has its strengths and weaknesses. At this stage it seems to be excellent value for money, and is recommended in most situations.

Manufacturer's Specs

No need for me to reproduce them. Click Here.

Pro's

bulletHigh transmit power. My measurements show a consistent 4.0 dB (150%) increase in TX power across all channels (1-11), when compared to an SVEC FD1811-A. The manufacturer specs from the two companies say there should be 3dB (100%) extra TX power from the MNWAPB. So;
bulletif the SVEC is transmitting 'at spec' (30 mW), then the MNWAPB is transmitting at 75 mW. Or,
bulletif the Minitar is transmitting 'at spec' (63 mW), then the SVEC is transmitting at 25 mW.

As a point of comparison, an increase of 4dB means an effective 58% increase in range (distance between antennas). [This assumes the RECEIVE SENSITIVITY of the SVEC and MNWAPB are identical, which has not been verified.]
 

bulletRemovable antenna Uses the (now common) RPSMA connector.
 
bulletWWW Configuration. Unlike the SVEC, no special software is required to configure the Minitar; any standard WWW browser will do.
 
bulletMultiple modes. Like the SVEC, the Minitar supports a number of modes (see Manufacturer's Specs) including 'Infrastructure Client' (i.e. AP 'client) mode.
 
bullet[Linux based]. For some, this may be an advantage. However, at this stage it is more of a curiosity as it seems unlikely that the firmware can be 'edited' without access to a complete development environment.
 
bulletSize. Gee these things are small!
 
bulletEasy to POE. As all the regulation is done inside the AP, they are much easier to use with Power-Over-Ethernet (POE). No extra regulator required. They handle 30m (easy) of CAT5 (and probably a lot more) using the supplied external supply.

Cons

V2.32/2.39 Firmware

V2.32 version of firmware uses MAC Address Translation; that is as an ethernet packet traverses the wireless link, the SOURCE MAC address in the packet is replaced so that the packet appears to come from the MNWAPB. My personal opinion is that this strategy is flawed, and in fact is directly responsible for at least one of the bugs reported below (possibly more).
Update: This problem is 100% solved with V2.53 firmware!

bulletIncompatible with SVEC FD1811-A in Client (station) mode. It is relatively common for APs in 'Client' mode to have interoperability problems with other brands of AP, so this problem is NOT unique to the MNWAPB (and in fact may be a bug in the SVEC unit !!??). The reason for reporting it here is that the SVEC APs are in wide use already, so interoperability can be a key issue for many. My personal testing interoperability testing has shown:
 

AP

'Client' (Station)

Result

Success    Fail   
MNWAPB V2.32 DLink DWL-900AP+    
MNWAPB    
RoamAbout PCMCIA    
Dell Truemobile 1300 Mini PCI    
Netgear MA401    
SVEC FD1811A V0.0.1.16    
LinkSys WAP11 V2.2 MNWAPB V2.32    
SVEC FD1811A V0.0.1.16    
Orinoco RG500- modded    
D-Link DWL-2000AP    
Billion 743ge    
Netgear WGR614    
Compaq 510 (= Wavepoint2 E/AP1000)    
Cisco 350    
Belkin 54G    

 

bulletDHCP pass-thru. DHCP requests sent across the wireless link fail. In fairness, the MNWAPB includes its own DHCP server, so there is a fairly simple workaround; enable the DHCP server in the MNWAPB.
 
bulletRouting via a MNWAPB Client (station).
The MNWAPB strictly adheres the the 802.11 standard, which does not support multiple PCs (MAC addresses) connected to a 'station' (i.e. Client) AP. The standard says if you want to connect to multiple PCs, you should be in Bridge mode. In practice, this means:
 
MNWAPB Mode Connected to.... Comments
AP Multiple PCs No problems
Router No Problems
Station (ie Client) Mulitiple PCs No Problems
Router Can't see networks beyond the router via the wireless link. Workaround: send traffic via a tunnel (eg PPtP, VPN, ...) to the router.

Update: This problem is 100% solved with V2.53 firmware!

Bridge (Pt-Pt or Pt-MultiPt) Multiple PCs No Problems
Router No Problems

Site Meter    Copyleft: Rob Clark 2003    Comments?: Webmaster     

FWD Number:
71950

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