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[Pluripotent]

Perhaps someone could explain this to me.  I have the DIR-855 router and DWA-556 adapter in my computer.  I am not getting any 5 gHz connectivity that I can see.  When I log on to the router, I am broadcasting both channels, but when I select the status tab and select wireless, I see that there are no 5gHz wireless clients connected.  I tried broadcasting the 5 gHz for n only, and the 2.5 gHz for g only, and my adapter would only pick up the g broadcast.  I can only get n from the 2.5 gHz channel.  I don't appear to be getting anything from the 5 gHz channel.

I have tried creating a new network connection in windows 7, for the 5 gHz channel, since it has a different SSID, but the adapter software will only see the 2.5 gHz SSID.

Is there something I am missing?  How do I get dual band connectivity? I am running the latest firmware that I know of, 1.22NA, hardware version A2.

[lizzi555]

DWA-556 is a 2.4 GHz only adapter, so it can't see or connect to 5 GHz wireless.
You need a dualband adapter like DWA-160 or some of the newer Intel build in chips to use 5 GHz wireless.

[Pluripotent]

Hmm, that's discouraging.  Realizing this is my fault, I suppose I should have know that before I bought the DWA-556.  I was under the impression that an n-adapter from d-link would do it.  I suppose I didn't read up enough.  Sucks.  I'll have to see if I can return it, since I just got it, and exchange for the DWA-160.  Hopefully, they don't release an updated dual band adapter in the next month or so.

[smlunatick]

The DWA-160 is the only dual-band adapter provided by D-Link.  There are at least 3 versions:

A1
A2

B1

B1 version has been "reported" to be using the Ralink RT2870 "controller" and you can use the Ralink RT2870 drivers, which seems to provide a better user interface.

[Pluripotent]

Thanks for the reply.  I went ahead and ordered a DWA-160 adapter.  I suppose it's total luck of the draw which one you get, that is if you're ordering online.  Maybe I should have gone to the store to make sure I got the latest version, but I was unaware at the time of ordering that there are so many versions being sold as the same product.

At any rate, I now own Ver. A1.  So, I'm not sure if there are any advantages to having the B1 version or what they might be.  If it's just user interface, I'm not sure it's worth the trouble of returning (yet again).  I had heard that the chip maker of the A series had dropped firmware support, which is what necessitated the change to Ralink.  So if this is the case, I suppose I own a product without any firmware support.  At any rate, it doesn't seem to do 5ghz and 2.4ghz at the same time, and in pure 5ghz mode, the connection speed is actually pretty bad.  So I am using it just like I would my original DWA-556 that I already returned, just 2.4ghz.

Perhaps I bought this product too soon in its the evolution.  First adopters are often the biggest suckers...so I suppose that's me this time.

[lizzi555]

I have the A1 version here and it is running fine.
It runs with Atheros 90xx chipset as the DIR-855 and is supported by Win7.
Also the latest D-Link drivers re supposed for Win7.

But you're right, it can only handle one frequency band at a time but I don't know even one adapter that is really "dual band".

I'm happy with my A1.

[smlunatick]

The dual-band stands for the fact the adapter can use either the 2.4Ghz or 5.0Ghz radio.  No where in the specs is mentioned that the 2 radio bands can be used "simultaneously."

[vitin6039]

By the way, you would not want to use 5ghz band in a house set up. The 5 gHz is faster but only work if you have a 100% open space, any walls or barriers will brake the signal, thats why 2.5 is the standart..

[smlunatick]

Not True!  I'm using the 5.0GHz network with a few walls.  However, I'm in a 4 1/2 appartment without multiple levels