At present 802.11g is the best official wireless networking standard on the market, with its 54Mb/s transfer rate, as we have been waiting years for the faster 802.11n to be ratified with its promise of a transfer rate of "up to" 540Mb/s.

In the meantime we've seen a number of interim wireless technologies that boost the speed of 802.11g with the use of MiMo. This acronym stands for Multiple Input Multiple Output, which refers to an antenna technology that boosts the speed of 802.11g from 54Mb/s to 108Mb/s, by bonding two connections together to give a Super G connection.

The other aspect of MiMo is its use of a technology called multipath, where signals get reflected and diverted between the transmitter and receiver. This has historically been a problem for wireless networking as it causes all sorts of confusion because there are multiple out-of-phase signals. MiMo uses the multipath effect to boost speed by deliberately sending your data signal along multiple paths simultaneously and then checking the packets at the other end to remove interference.

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Linksys uses its SRX200 MiMo technology in the WAG54GX2-UK ADSL Gateway router and WPC54GX PC card (PCMCIA) adapter, and it makes some bold claims for SRX compared to regular 802.11g.

For 'same room' connection, the claim is that you can expect speed to be doubled. Three rooms away speed is 4x faster, and 'out by the pool' (i.e. through an exterior wall) SRX is 8x faster. This highlights the way that 802.11g signal strength drops when you present it with obstacles.

While we found that the Linksys kit achieved a connection speed that was slightly faster than 802.11g, both at short range and when the router and adapter were in different rooms, we found no evidence that it was twice as fast as 802.11g. However, we did find that the signal strength was maintained as the environment became more difficult. Although the SRX200 hardware doesn't quite live up to the claims made by Linksys, it performed far better than similar wireless routers that we have seen recently.

There are some neat touches in the design, with the ports on the one side and the activity lights on the other, or, if you prefer, with the antennae on the side rather than on the back. This is a little unusual, but it makes for a very neat installation if the router is wall-mounted.

Installing the Linksys router is as simple as can be, as the set-up CD includes a step-by-step guide that walks you through the process. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the Admin IP address and default name and password are moulded into the casing. In addition we noted that the configuration screen includes both the model of the router and also the current firmware version, so it is easy to decide whether you need to concern yourself with a firmware update.

Over the years we've been teased by the claims from various wireless networking companies, but Linksys has come closest to fulfilling those promises. This package is simple to set up, maintains signal strength when faced with walls and other obstacles, is small and unobtrusive and costs very little.