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[cmarinetti]

My DIR-855 arrived yesterday. 

Last night I set it up and replaced my DGL-4500. Everything works, but I saw that according to the router wireless status I'm getting lower signal and speed than with the 4500. A DAP-1522 that consistently showed 100% signal and 240 speed now gets 80s and 90s signal and speed under 100.

The 855 and the 1522 are about 20 feet apart with nothing but air between them
855 firmware is updated to 1.11
1522 firmware is 1.02
Security is WPA/WPA2 with AES only
Connection is set to 5GHz, auto 20/40
Otherwise defaults

Disappointing.  I'll continue to fiddle, but could use some help.

[cmarinetti]

Strangely enough, after a couple of days the link speeds have improved to almost the level I got with the 4500, especially to another 1522 that's farther away and behind walls and appliances. Signals are still lower overall as shown in the 855 wireless status. Client devices show better numbers; I don't know which to believe. Is the 855 just reporting lower numbers or is there a real difference? No obvious drop in actual upload/download speeds so far but I haven't done any organized testing.

I've noticed that whenever I make a change - a device comes on the network, etc. - the speeds seem to drop temporarily. That's my impression, anyway.

[Lycan]

the radio in the 855 is more powerful then the 4500, putting devices to close will cause poor signal and performance.

[AWDL]

Make sure antenna are set at \|/ and do not put the antenna too close to walls or other common sources of interference  (or in this case refraction/reflection).

Treat as you would a high output outdoor radio. All wireless can interfere with itself but increase output increases the opportunity..

[Cranium]

Do you know if this was the newer DIR-855 Rev A-2?

[rlcronin]

I ended up returning my DIR-855 for a refund.  The performance just wasn't up to snuff. 

My DIR-655 has better wireless signal strengths and speeds.

Was the signal strength and speed less on the 2.4GHz band, or were you running it on the 5GHz band?

[Cranium]

Thanks for the info.

That is not a good thing to hear considering the issues with the first batch; which, were recalled.  If these are also exhibiting problems, well....I don't think I need to say more.

D-Link guys:  What is your take on this?  Did dstring just get a bad one or is it more than that?  Conjecture would be ok.

[AWDL]

Conjecture=Environment. The speed difference 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz through walls and obstacles would favor 2.4Ghz.

If RF interference was common in a line of sight environment 5Ghz would probably be less affected and therefore would have higher speeds/~range.

[Cranium]

Conjecture=Environment. The speed difference 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz through walls and obstacles would favor 2.4Ghz.

That would make sense.  5Ghz doesn't penetrate as well as the 2.4.

dsring:  Did you try 2.4Ghz before you sent it back?  Was the signal having to go through walls/floors?

[rlcronin]

I really don't remember what the 2.4 GHz signals were, because I was primarily interested in the 5 GHz capability of the DIR-855.  I was going to use the 5 GHz band in N-only mode to connect to my DAP-1555 and DAP-1522.  The 2.4 GHz band would be used for my laptops.
 
The distance from my DIR-655 router to the DAP-1522 is about 15 feet with one wall in between.  Speed is 162 Mbps with a signal of 100%.

The distance from DIR-655 router to the DAP-1555 is about 20 feet with three walls in between.  Speed is 270 Mbps with a signal of 93%.

The DIR-855 5 GHz speed and signal strength was about half that of the DIR-655 2.4 Ghz band.

What firmware is on your 655?

[rlcronin]

I have firmware version 1.11 on my DIR-655.

I recently flashed my 655 to 1.2 firmware and it destroyed my signal strength and throughput (for both n and g clients). I went back to 1.11 (which the 1.2 firmware's readme said I would not be able to do, but fortunately it worked) and now all is well. I have a feeling that recent firmware releases from Dlink for both the 655 and 855 are fundamentally broken (and I am not convinced it is all necessarily attributable to the implementation of the "good neighbor" IEEE guidelines, rather I suspect that the implementation is flawed). A simple tightening of rules with regard to when to bond another channel would not account for the drastic reduction in signal strength and throughput for single-channel connections that I observed.

[carnagerover]

I wish that there was a 1.10EU firmware available for my DIR-855 as i would really like to try the original firmware on because at the moment the 2.4 wireless is absolutely abysmal and that is being kind.

I have asked for a refund for mine and i will only have it a few more days before it goes back, so i don't think a new firmware is likely to come out in that time frame but i am completely disappointed with it.

I would stick the US 1.10 on there but i dont want to break the device so i have bottled it.

[cmarinetti]

Thanks for the suggestions - I put the antennas in \|/ position, and since you said the transmission might be too strong, I put the 1522 which was about 20 feet away with no obstructions inside a cabinet. Signal strength went down. As for moving the 855 away from the wall - how far away? Putting it in the middle of the room is not very practical.

[AWDL]

Wouldn't that cabinet be an obstruction?

Think of wireless in "line of site" terms, it is a radio wave.