The PenDragon is definitely a good idea, and Torspoal has got the design and functionality pretty much spot on. Unfortunately the Wi-Fi performance just isn’t good enough to make the PenDragon worthwhile purchase for a wireless user.
Note
Concerned with the poor performance of the PenDragon I requested a second unit from Torspoal to test. The second device did prove to be marginally better, maintaining a “low” signal strength in my living room as opposed to the “very low” strength managed by its sibling. I also managed to maintain an “excellent” signal strength standing just outside the bedroom where the wireless router lives, whereas I had to be physically next to the router to maintain an “excellent” signal with the previous device. Thankfully the second PenDragon didn’t completely drop the connection to the router when in my living room which was a definite improvement.
All this said, even with the second PenDragon the signal strength dropped to “very low” intermittently, and I have to say that I still would expect better performance. If anything it shows that the PenDragon will work very well in open spaces without many thick walls, so if you're planning on using it in an open plan office environment you should be fine. However, if you're trying to get a strong signal in an 1850s period property like I was you may have some problems.Read full review
Overall
5/10
By Riyad Emeran
Reviewed 22 January 2004
Updated 05 February 2011