I tested 4 N routers and 2 internal adapters - My review

I decided to do some testing with 4 different N routers and 2 internal adapter cards. Here's the lowdown....

Routers...
Netgear WNDR-3300
Netgear WNHDEB111
D-Link DGL-4500
D-Link DIR-655

Adapters...
Intel 4965AGN
Gigabyte GNWI06N

Both adapters were tested in a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop with 3 antennas connected and running Vista. Also, the routers were placed on the same floor about 50 feet apart with two walls between them.

The Netgear routers consistently returned lower actual speed than the D-Link offerings with either adapter. The Netgear routers would serve up around 5 mbps and the D-link around 9 mbps. The cards really didn't make that much difference beleive it or not. I was really expecting much better throughput from the Gigabyte because it uses the Atheros chipset just like the routers do. But it didn't seem to matter much.

I also discovered that the speed when connected to 5.0 GHz would be double that of 2.4 GHZ. The Intel card only runs at 130 mbps on 2.4 and full speed on 5.0 where the Gigabyte will run at full speed on both.

So to sum up, I found that the best speed was acheived using the D-Link DGL-4500 and the Intel card at 5.0 GHZ. I consitently get 9 11 mbps with this configuration. Not what I was expecting at all.

I should also tell you that I got amazing range when using 2.4 GHz. When using 5.0 GHz the speed dropped off fast as you moved farther away.

Another note is that Vista would report a 300 mbps connection constantly while the routers reported actual throuput of 180 - 300 depending on distance.

I hope this helps some of you that were wondering what setup would be best.

If any of you have any specific questions about my tests, feel free to send me a message and I will be happy to answer.

 

I'm glad to hear the D-Links are that great. I was about to place my order and I was certain it was what I wanted, but it's nice to have reassurance.

 

Those are not very good numbers for 5ghz. My 11g will do better than that.

Did you do any testing to verify what what actual speeds were? Speeds reported can not be trusted. Kind of like modems reporting 56k when only the fcc max is 53k. Do some large file (4gig) transfers with FTP and netstat and see what the actual numbers are. These must of course be done on your internal network with hardware capable of maxing out the connection.

 

I tested files that were in the 400 MB range and used the speed that the vista transfer window reported. I guess I just assumed that speed was relative and I chose the router and card that gave the fastest result.

 

I have the D-Link DIR-655. Works great! Much better than my old Netgear N, which broke anyway. Thanks for the review.

 

if you got 9mbps or 11mbps on your testings , then you did something wrong.
nice initiative but really those numbers dont fit.

 

9 to 11 mbps is what the Vista transfer window reported when transferring a 400 MB file accross the wireless netowork. The Connected speed was always 300 mbps (as reported in "Network Connection And Sharing").

 

That 11mbps is limited by hard drives , Although it worries me if thats 11Mb/s not 11 MB/s

 

I don't think it is limited by my hard drives because when I transfer a file of the same size between hard wired computers on my gigabit lan it reports 70 mbps speed.

 

Was the Gigabyte card on 2.4ghz at 300mbs faster in real world test then the Intel on 2.4ghz at 130mbs?

 

Just barely, I guess because the Gigabyte card can operate at 20/40hz in 2.4 mode while the Intel can only do 20 hz.

In the real world though it was a draw.

 

All Dlink here

DCM 202
\/
DI 102
\/
DGL 4500

On a 15mbit line.

 

Glad to hear I made the right choice, LOL. I have a D-Link DGL-4500 and a Intel 4965AGN setup here, as well...your tests are pretty much spot on with my results here, although I haven't delegated any time to doing any thorough testing.

 

Are there any new wireles routers to compare with these?

Is there better for a similiar price?