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Page 1 of 3  We have a look at a range of Wireless Draft-N networking products from D-Link to see if the claimed 300Mbps transfer rates can finally be a match for a cabled network.
Today we’re going to be looking at 3 different 802.11n (draft) wireless adapters from D-Link’s Wireless N range: DWA-140 – USB Adapter (Rangebooster-N Range) - AU$110 DWA-556 – PCI-Ex1 Desktop Adapter (Xtreme N Range) – AU$120 DWA-643 – Express Card Notebook Adapter (Xtreme N Range) – AU$125
These 3 adapters will be connecting to a DAP-1353 Access Point (RangeBooster N 650 Range) – AU$280 The DAP-1353 access point offers wireless speeds up to a claimed 300Mbps, although only utilises a 10/100Mbps Ethernet connection for hooking on to the rest of your network, so I don’t know what it plans to do with the remaining 200Mbps of bandwidth, it’d be trying to fit three cars down a one lane road... it’s not going to be pretty. D-Link DAP-1353 Wireless-N Access Point  The DAP-1353 was extremely easy to setup onto our local network, it utilises a very simple and easy to use web interface so all we had to do was setup some security in the form of a WPA2 passkey and it was done, easy as that and took all of about 1 minute. About the Wireless Cards: The DWA-140: D-Link DWA-140 USB Wireless-N Adapter  The D-Link DWA-140 is a USB2.0 wireless adapter from D-Link’s ‘Rangebooster-N’ range of network adapters. It uses the Draft-802.11n wireless networking standard just like the other 2 adapters and has a claimed maximum throughput of 300Megabits per second. There is no MAC compatibility however, so only Windows 2000/XP/Vista machines will be able to make use of this adapter. Installation was extremely easy, just run the D-Link CD to install the drivers and then plug in the adapter. There’s no complicated software needed to get the adapter to connect to your network as D-Link recommends sticking with the Windows Zero Configuration (WZC) service, there is however software on the CD if you don’t like using the standard WZC. Connection and IP address allocation took just a few seconds, but the best connection speed we could get was 130Mbps, even with it just a couple of meters from the access point and clear line of sight. It did however manage to hold this speed when it was taken further away from the AP with a few light obstacles in between. The DWA-556: D-Link DWA-556 PCI-Express x1 Wireless-N Adapter  The DWA-556 is part of D-Link’s “Xtreme-N” range of wireless adapters, again using the Draft-802.11n wireless standard with a claimed maximum throughput of 300Megabits per Second. It utilises a PCI-Express slot at x1 speed, so it shouldn’t have a problem running in most computers made in the last couple of years, however the box only lists support for Windows 2000 and XP, no mention of Vista at all. After a little digging we find that Vista will be supported in future driver updates, so right now this one’s off the list for people with Vista systems. Installation was again a very simple affair, plug it in, turn on the PC and run the install CD. We also chose Windows Zero Configuration instead of the D-Link software, but the choice is yours really. Again connection to the Access Point and IP address allocation was done in just a few seconds, unlike some other wireless adapters I’ve used in the past which can sit there “connecting” for ages with no obvious reason for the delay. The DWA-556 reported a connection speed at the full 300Mbps, first go. The DWA-643: D-Link DWA-643 ExpressCard Wireless-N Adapter  Another member of the “Xtreme-N” family of wireless adapters from D-Link, the DWA-643 uses a notebook PC’s ExpressCard slot for that extra bit of speed over a conventional Cardbus/PCMCIA slot. Installation is just as simple as the other two via the D-Link install CD and Vista is supported out of the box, as are Windows 2000 and XP of course. Connection to the access point via the Windows Zero Configuration was quick and painless, and managed to connect first go at the full 300Megabits per Second.
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