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[Pikken]

I boguht the 825 a few months ago just to gain signal strength over my old trendnet router I had. I now want to do some changes to my network. I'm wondering which netowkr adaptor would give me the best performance. The 552 or the 160. I have a wired xbox and a wired PC that play vids onto the TV. I have two wireless laptops in the house. The machine I wnat to buy adaptor for it basically a "storage" box for music, movies etc. So streaming will be it's main function.\ as well as a bit of web surfing. I don't completely understand the benefit of having dual band. So I'm not sure if I need the 160 or the 552 will do just fine and only use the 2.4g band. Whne I got thye router I figure it was better to have more then less. Thanks for any help in advance.

[smlunatick]

The dual band adapter (DWA-160) will give you access to the 5.0Ghz radio band, which has a lot less interference from other "radio" type devices.  The 2.4Ghz radio band gets a lot of interference from cordless phones, Bluetooth, microwaves and most other single band routers.

[claykin]

The dual band adapter (DWA-160) will give you access to the 5.0Ghz radio band, which has a lot less interference from other "radio" type devices.  The 2.4Ghz radio band gets a lot of interference from cordless phones, Bluetooth, microwaves and most other single band routers.

5Ghz is a much cleaner band however in most cases range will be less, about 1/2 of 2.4Ghz.

[KaarSar]

I don't see the point of the dual-band, especially when the range is absolutely atrocious on this router. Unless if you plan to use it in the same room, no need for the 5Ghz. So it depends on your usage.

I'm looking for range, and I think I'll have to go to the 655 if it makes the N work better and further.

[claykin]

5Ghz works on the other side of my house with my Fujitsu notebook equipped with Atheros a/b/g wireless.  Range is less than 2.4Ghz, but is totally usable in my environment.

[d1gw33d]

I don't see the point of the dual-band, especially when the range is absolutely atrocious on this router. Unless if you plan to use it in the same room, no need for the 5Ghz. So it depends on your usage.

I'm looking for range, and I think I'll have to go to the 655 if it makes the N work better and further.

I just posted a new topic regarding reception with my 825 and the 5Ghz band. I disabled traffic shaping on it and my reception jumped about 20%. You may want to try that. Though I didn't notice any reported improvement with the 2.4Ghz band.

Also - I had the 655 before I returned it for the 825 and the reported reception was indeed higher. If you're not using the 5Ghz for video streaming and other similar uses then you're right. 2.4Ghz is fine and you can save a few bucks between the two.

[smlunatick]

I don't see the point of the dual-band, especially when the range is absolutely atrocious on this router. Unless if you plan to use it in the same room, no need for the 5Ghz. So it depends on your usage.

I'm looking for range, and I think I'll have to go to the 655 if it makes the N work better and further.

One method the routers are marketed for the 5,0Ghz radio is that the band could be used for streaming "media" file to a digtial media centre.  Since the 5.0Ghz band is clearer, the media files should stream correctly.