Uniquely, Western Multiplex's Tsunami bridges have the ability to pass T1 traffic over the air. We found that one of the primary differences among the bridges we tested was whether each device used a PC Card radio or an internal radio. The advantage of the PC Card approach is that it affords the ability to upgrade the radio, with the possibility of increasing the bandwidth or encryption options as budget and technology allow. With the PC Card radio products, however, we noticed generally lower throughput compared with those units that used an internal radio. Also, the prices of the PC Card bridges usually don't include the PC Cards themselves, which must be purchased separately.
Prices vary depending on encryption options.
The majority of the PC Card-based devices we tested used PC Cards manufactured by Lucent, which explains the similar results we saw in testing their performance. Today, issues concerning interoperability haven't been completely resolved, but the situation has improved significantly. IEEE 802.11 has had an impact on the wireless-bridge arena as well. And compliance with the standard could become an issue if Internet service providers begin to offer wireless connectivity and you wish to own your own wireless bridge or router. Ironically, IEEE 802.11 can hold back a wireless bridge's performance, in that it introduces a rather large gap between data pack-ets.