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[Quick]

Current situation:
I have a DIR-655 (A3, 1.21).
I use WPA2 and mac filtering.
802.11g/n
1 wired device (Xbox), wireless -- 2 PCs, handful of smartphones, couple of mini pcs, wireless network printer...

Coming soon, 2 dishnet boxes, 2 Vizio TVs with wireless N and internet apps like Netflix, etc.

I want to put some ethernet-only devices in 3 other rooms. These would consist of Xbox, the Dishnet DVRs, PCs, etc. Might be convenient administratively to have a separate subnet(s) for each room. May want to do QOS or bandwidth limiting. Possibly within a group of devices and then from a group as a whole.

I guess basically a number of wired networks with access points to the wireless network?
DIR-655s seem to be going for about $70 now. Would 3 more of those do what I want? Better alternatives?
I can sort out the topology/configuration later but I want to get the right devices to do what I want with some flexibility. Thanks in advance.

[davevt31]

Don't buy a router to be an access point, buy an access point. 

[Quick]

Don't buy a router to be an access point, buy an access point. 

Suggestions on access points that would complement my DIR-655? Would 1 or more DAP-1522s be what I want? Will the wireless bridge mode give me the bandwidth shaping/qos control into the wireless network?

[Quick]

Ok... (lol, options abound! ...maybe). I'm thinking one way to go would be 2 wireless networks in the house. 5 GHz for all the high speed traffic and 2.4GHz for everything else and my DSL connection to the internet. For this to work I think I would need at least 1 (1522?) connected to both. I would need full connectivity between everything. Ideally, high speed traffic between devices in the house routed over the 5 GHz network.

DIR-655: DSL internet connection, 2.4GHz wireless N devices, slower Ethernet devices.
first 1522: Ethernet<>5GHz, Ethernet<>2.4GHz, 5GHz<>2.4GHz
second 1522: Ethernet<>5GHz

Would this work? Would it be an ok topology/configuration?

[Quick]

Don't buy a router to be an access point, buy an access point. 

Given the above with two wireless networks (lower speed 2.4GHz and high speed 5GHz) and a DSL connection to the internet I would need a router/bridge right?

It sounds like a couple of 1522s would be the appropriate choice? The 1522s would implement the 5GHz network and one of them would bridge or route to the 2.4GHz network. Only the 2.4GHz network would be directly attached to the DSL/internet through the DIR-655.

[davevt31]

I don't have an AP in my network so not sure what to tell you.  You may want to also ask the same question in the DAP board and get answers from those using one.

[asindro]

Have you considered replacing the DIR-655 with a dual band (2.4 ghz & 5 ghz) router like the DIR-825.  Your going to end up with a configuration nightmare trying to running separate networks on one internet connection.
 
The DIR-825 has been a very good router which is very capable of managing the simultaneous dual band and hardwired traffic from multiple media devices including the Xbox 360, several laptops, a Sony Blue Ray DVD player. The 825 is essentially the bigger brother to the 655 with the segregated WiFi bands.
 
The DAP-1522 would be a good access point choice, but somewhere along the way your running into stability problems by adding a access points just to connect another device. 
   
Don't get a DAP-1360 they are nothing but trouble.

[Quick]

Thanks for the reply!

Here is my current update. I've decided to wire with cat6...
I looked at all the issues with the wireless setup I had in mind. I'm pretty good with the network topology and routing stuff so that wasn't an issue. It was the cost, product features or lack of, some of the issues with some of the particular boxes and then it always depends on the end devices too. For example the TVs I ended up with don't have N, the DishNet boxes don't have a decent wireless solution, etc., etc. Everything still comes with an ethernet port and wired ethernet is bullet proof (except for rodents maybe .

So I'll stay with the current wireless for the laptops, Ipods, and transient things. Everything else will be wired.

I have 4 rooms to wire to. 2 cat6, 1 cat5, 1 R6 cable to each room. Netgear GS105 switches wherever needed. 24 port cat6 patch panel where I have the router and home portal/firewall/DSL modem. Modular jacks all around. Lol, I got all the stuff over a month ago. Installed all the modular wall outlets, made a bunch of patch cords so I could play the the toys/new tools I bought. ...now I just have to get fired up enough to get into the crawl space under the house... Right now everything is cat6 on the floor, and down the halls, and doh.

[FurryNutz]

Glad you got it all working and running man. Thanks for updating us.

IMO, it's always best to run wired connections as much as possible, especially for high traffic items and such. People just chatting, emailing and surfing can use Wifi as an option. Streaming and gaming seems to be best for wired. Stability is key. Besides, Cat 6 is pretty cheap now days.