There is no such thing as a 5Gz N router. All N routers are 2.4 Ghz by definition. If you want to go to the 5 gig band, then your only choice is 802.11a

drodge said:There is no such thing as a 5Gz N router. All N routers are 2.4 Ghz by definition. If you want to go to the 5 gig band, then your only choice is 802.11a

There are some that use 5GHz band as well. That radio is not for the .11a, but for .11n but is priced accordingly.

I had a Netgear WNR854T and after 9 months it bricked. None of the lights would power up. Amazon reviews on this router had similar stories. I've heard great things about D-LINK's N-router and I would choose that one instead of Netgear's.

captainlynne said:jangell2 said:What about this one? It's getting good reviews.

I have this D-link DIR 655 and I like it. I have no data to compare the speed but mine has been very reliable. I also use the Xtreme N wireless pci adapter and an extended antenna with one of my desktops (running Vista). Set up is easy and I rarely drop connections, wired or wireless. I have all kinds of mixed things attached like a wired networked printer, 3 wired desktops with XP Pro, the wireless Vista I mentioned already, a wireless Dell 600M laptop with XP Home and a wireless Macbook. I did have to replace my DIR 655 once but that was because I got hit my lightning so I can't blame the router. Its a common occurrence at my home, having also blown out a Linksys WRT54G and a Netgear 614NA in the past couple years. I replaced the DIR 655 with the same router again because I like its ease of use and reliability in keeping me connected.Are you using a mixture of N and G devices at the same time? I don't believe this router supports N speeds when using a G device, correct me if I'm wrong.

jangell2 said:captainlynne said:jangell2 said:What about this one? It's getting good reviews.

I have this D-link DIR 655 and I like it. I have no data to compare the speed but mine has been very reliable. I also use the Xtreme N wireless pci adapter and an extended antenna with one of my desktops (running Vista). Set up is easy and I rarely drop connections, wired or wireless. I have all kinds of mixed things attached like a wired networked printer, 3 wired desktops with XP Pro, the wireless Vista I mentioned already, a wireless Dell 600M laptop with XP Home and a wireless Macbook. I did have to replace my DIR 655 once but that was because I got hit my lightning so I can't blame the router. Its a common occurrence at my home, having also blown out a Linksys WRT54G and a Netgear 614NA in the past couple years. I replaced the DIR 655 with the same router again because I like its ease of use and reliability in keeping me connected.Are you using a mixture of N and G devices at the same time? I don't believe this router supports N speeds when using a G device, correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes, I would have both N and G devices connected if I am using the Dell 600M wirelessly but I don't use it very often. The macbook and the Extreme N pci on the Vista desktop should both be N I believe. They are on all the time. I have no way to measure speed but when I transfer files I'm happy with how fast it is. I often watch movies stored on one desktop computer and streamed to my macbook wirelessly and there is no problem I can see in watching it. Buffering takes only seconds and I can start watching almost immediately. I pretty much went with the Extreme N because it was the newest technology at the time and since I needed to replace my router anyway I figured it was worth the money. If there is a software test that would help anyone here to evaluate the speed then let me know and I'll try it and post the results.

jangell2 said:captainlynne said:Yes, I would have both N and G devices connected if I am using the Dell 600M wirelessly but I don't use it very often. The macbook and the Extreme N pci on the Vista desktop should both be N I believe. They are on all the time. I have no way to measure speed but when I transfer files I'm happy with how fast it is. I often watch movies stored on one desktop computer and streamed to my macbook wirelessly and there is no problem I can see in watching it. Buffering takes only seconds and I can start watching almost immediately. I pretty much went with the Extreme N because it was the newest technology at the time and since I needed to replace my router anyway I figured it was worth the money. If there is a software test that would help anyone here to evaluate the speed then let me know and I'll try it and post the results.Ok it sounds like you're using N most of the time. If you start using the Dell, which I presume is G, does the router have to slow down to G speeds for everything? I'm getting back to the question of whether this router supports dual bands (2.4 and 5ghz simultaneously). I just looked at the DLink web site and it doesn't even mention the ghz there, which leads me to believe it's single band at 2.4ghz.

Still, it's doing great for you. I'm starting to lean towards the 655.

Sorry, I don't know the answer to that or how to tell which speed it is actually running at. In my router software that shows my connected computers right now I see the macbook as Mode: 11ng, Rate: 104, Signal: 96%. The wireless N desktop is showing as Mode: 11ng, Rate: 64, Signal: 100%. I have the router set to mixed 802.11g and 802.11n with wpa personal (wpa2). The router can be set to any combination of b/g/n.

Edit: In the wireless channel window the choices are channels 1-11 at 2.412 to 2.462 GHz. See pages 27 and 61 of the manual if you downloaded it from dlink.

I ordered the 655. Hope I like it.

captainlynne said:jangell2 said:I ordered the 655. Hope I like it.

I hope so too! If you have any setup questions just PM me and I'll try to help.Thank you, I appreciate that.

jangell2 said:The 655 arrived and I have installed it and it's working fine so far. All of about 4 hours. Since my desktop is hardwired to it and my wife's laptop is G rated, we aren't taking advantage of N speed. I notice there are USB adapters and PCI adapters and I'm wondering what are the pros and cons of either? Are there recommended adapters for this router?

I have the pci wireless N card with the extended antenna for my vista desktop. Not necessarily for better speed but because its a pain to run a cable to it and I only had a wireless G from Linksys (that tended to drop the connection often to my old Linksys WRT54G). I've had this N card for about 6 months and it is very stable in staying connected with good signal. I don't have any way to test the actual transfer speed between my computers so I'm not sure the actual difference between a gigabite wired connection on the mobo and a wireless N connection. If you know of a way to test I'd be happy to try it. I'm not so much into seeing the numbers myself. I just need it fast enough to transfer files quickly and it seems to do that for me.