Thoughts on D-link DGL-4500 running at 5Ghz

This was my first attempt at establishing a wireless N network running only in 5Ghz and the results were fantastic. My connections are now all blazing fast, a considerably noticeable difference in performance over my DIR-655, which will now be returned. I noticed that the signal on the third floor of my house is significantly reduced, usually at around 20-60% now, but the connection is still a lot faster than before. I was still able to download large files roughly 300kb/s more than before which was a very nice surprise.

I had some trouble setting my dad's Intel 4965 to run at the theoretical 300mbps. It would stay at 130-140mpbs about 5 feet away from the router. To correct this, I changed the channel width from 20Mhz to Auto 20/40Mhz and it worked great. I'm still trying to do some research on this - I'm sure there's a way to do it at 20Mhz as well but I haven't found anything just yet. If anyone has any advice, please let me know.

I was quite surprised at my results because I heard a lot of mixed reactions from people running wireless N networks in 5Ghz. Actually, most comments I've read about people doing this have been largely negative, with many people recommending not to try this. What is the reason for this and why am I seeing such great results?

 

Every house or apt is different not to mention other things you have radiating rf signals, running at reliable 5GHz means location and settings, I had the 4500 and it was superb in my house, (then it got crushed) setting up this particular router means, forget a convenient spot or where its going to look nice, I understand the people who just cant do this because its not feasible for one reason or another, the 4500 at 5GHz has its limitations for distance, take in consideration where the signal has to travel through, you have concrete and wooden walls at multiples, I bought the dir-825 after for the simultaneous dual radios, but the 5GHz was not as good as the 4500, so this meant I had to move the router and home server, yes it was a pain in the butt, and I wanted the max through put as I throw around very large files, for the best through put at 5GHz I found you should have it set for N only, and this is why I wanted the 825, so I could leave my slower G stuff on 2.4GHz, the beauty of the 825 is you can switch from radio 1 to radio 2 in a few seconds, but this is if Im having problems losing signal for the internet as when I have a 10 gig file to transfer, I have no choice but to move closer if the signal is bad for some reason or another.
If you want to try different antenna ideas, I highly recommend you go to the Ham radio sites, these guys know their antennas and rf inside out, many have wireless networks in their houses, and have engineered and made their own antennas for next to nothing yielding them amazing results.

 

Not many people use the N especially at the full 300mb/s, I do, Have an Apple Time Capsule running at 5GHZ N only, I get 5-7MB/s Read/Write with an Atom Laptop with Atheros AR5008 and a Vaio TZ with 4965 Intel, both run at 300mb/s on 5GHZ N, but 140mb/s on 2.4GHZ N, and 54MB G they manage 2-3mb/s Read/Write, drawbacks of 5GHZ band is very limited range, where I get 4/5 bars for G I get 0 Bars for 5GHZ N..., the Latest D-Link DIR-855 was rated the best 5GHZ N Router having better range/speeds than the other routers...