Customer Reviews

D-Link DWA-160 Extreme-N Duo Dual-Band Draft 802.11n USB Adapter

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

I was unhappy with by Linksys adapter, I just purchase a extended warrenty on the adapter and I call tech support. They wouldn't help me; stating my router is out of warrenty. I decided to purchase all D-link products; Dir-825 router with the D-Link DWA-160 Xtreme N Duo Dual Band. Tech support was easy to reach and the tech directed me to the manual setting of the router, once there I had a idea from my research what to do and mention it to him. We followed the direction I got from [...] to the letter. I was only getting 130 Mbps with my adapter. I'm using Rev. A from Amazon.com with XP Professional. The only thing I did differently from the instruction I'm going to provide was to rename my network name by putting a "1" on the previous name so I would be sure to connected too the changed network. I'm running a total of three computer at the same time on the network and getting a very strong signal; the wireless connections are on the second floor of my house. You also would be safe to retype your password while in your manual setup. The instructions are as follows:

300Mbps Connection Requirements! Please Read!
« on: April 28, 2008, 11:21:08 AM »

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To have your Draft N wireless network connect at 300Mbps as it should, ensure that the following requirements are met.


1) The router and adapter are both D-Link 802.11N products and are using the latest firmeware/drivers. Ensure that the 802.11 Mode of the router has a 802.11N mode selected. Also if you have issues with mixed mode, try locking the 802.11Mode to either 802.11N Only or 802.11G/N.

2) If you are using encryption the router must be configured to use AES cipher. In some firmware versions/models, the only way to get the AES cipher is to run WPA2. If you can not select the Cipher, selecting WPA2 only will force this cipher type.

3) The channel width needs to be set to 20/40Auto, if it is not, the adapter will report a connection speed of 130Mbps. This is a feature that was added for compatibility with Intel 802.11N adapters, as they only operate on a channel width of 20.

D-Link reccomends that you use the D-Link Wireless utility, however the Windows Zero Config will also work.

Assuming you have met all of these conditions, you should see a 300Mbps connection speed with either the D-Link Utility or WZC.

Note: Not all Intel adapters are the same as D-Link's N line. Some Intel adapters do not support the broader 40 Channel Width option. This (by design) limits their connection speed to 130. Check the specifications of your Intel adapter to ensure that it is capable of bonding on the 40Mhz range to achieve the full 300Mbps.

Like most DIYers and pseudo-geeks, I've learned that all "quick upgrades" are really Trojan horses; nervous breakdowns in a box. Days later and exhausted on the floor from error messages, tech guys with foreign accents saying that rebooting will fix everything after a 2 hour wait on a telephone cue before your call gets cut off mysteriously. So I usually take a week off, put on a sweat band and have sedatives in reach. I did due diligence and found this product to have relatively good reviews so picked it up. (Sorry Amazon, this one time Best Buy actually had a better price!) My home network connects a Tivo, SlingBox, Vista Laptop, voip telephone, all-in-one printer via an Apple Airport Extreme hub. This D-Link was to try to cut the wires on my XP desktop to distance the spaghetti of wires from external hard drives etc. and a tethered printer. OK, those details aside, I installed the drivers via the supplied CD, chose the "manual" installation choice, typed in the name of my network and security password....."great Scott, Marty"....it was on line in an instant! OK, this should be the norm in installing things. But we all know when it does happen, shock and awe wash over us like the "08" Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. My chin is back off the floor and life is returning to normal. What to do with all the time I cleared to do this? Maybe go to the beach. Oh wait, hurricane Ike will be here tomorrow. Well, I'll savor the moment and hope my house doesn't blow away and take my network with it. Highly recommended.

Annoying, purchased after acquiring a DLINK DIR-825 with the intention to move to a full 802.11n network. Easily installed drivers and Vista x64 worked with no crashes... But every 60 seconds of connectivity there is a large lag of 2-4 seconds of non-responsiveness when on either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands (and same on Vista64 and Windows XP). I thought it was the router, but changed it out with another companies 802.11n router and the network connection still exhibits the lag. So no gaming and no streaming media over the 802.11n adapter.

Openned tickets with DLINK and have either 'move your router' response (when I thought the DIR-825 router was the issue, and not very helpful when I explicitly said the router and adapter where in line of site less then 10ft apart) with no followup to my reply or no response what-so-ever (when I opened a trouble ticket specifically about the DWA-160). Poor DLink, poor product.

Wish I could return both of the DWA-160's...

I have just a friendly warning to all potential buyers of D-Link DWA-160 adapter.

Not all D-Link DWA-160 adapters work with Win7: Only the latest ones with F/W firmware version 1.60 or 1.80 may work (see D-Link hereby). I have heard you also need H/W Hardware version B (not A) as well. D-Link (DWA-160) and Linsys Sysco (AE1000, AE2500) always say their products work with Win7 but it is not true. You must know these info before purchase the adapter on Amazon, Ebay etc

[...]

1.80 Win2K, WinXP, Vista 32, Vista 64, Win7 32, Win7 64 10/07/2010
¤ Add Profile Sync function.
¤ Remove WPA security in ad-hoc connection.
[download Drivers]

4.0.0.10 Mac OS 4/05/2010
¤ First release.
¤ Supports Mac OS 10.4 and 10.5.
[download Drivers]

1.60 Win2K, WinXP, Vista 32, Vista 64, Win7 32, Win7 64 2/18/2010
¤ Support Win7 OS
¤ Fixed: Ui issue.
¤ Fixed: ftp endurance issue.
[download Drivers]

1.40 Win2K, WinXP, Vista 32, Vista 64 3/05/2009
¤ Compatible with revisions A1 and A2.
[download Drivers] 3.2.0.17 Linux 2/05/2009
¤ First Release.
[download Drivers]

1.30 Win2K, WinXP, Vista 32, Vista 64 11/24/2008
¤ Updated Vista Driver.
[download Drivers]

1.10 Win2K, WinXP, Vista 32, Vista 64 7/22/2008
¤ Remove Useless EAP Sub Type.
[download Drivers] 1.00 Win2K, WinXP, Vista 32, Vista 64 4/14/2008
¤ Shipping Drivers.

I bought this adapter (Rev. B1) because I was only getting 65 Mbps on my Acer 8930 laptop (Vista Home Premium 64 bit) with my Intel 5100 Wireless Card a/g/n via my Netgear WNR2000 N Router. Installation was simple and only took a few minutes. I discarded the CD and loaded firmware 2.2 from D-Links site. I then was prompted to insert the adapter into a USB port. After a couple of minutes, I was prompted to enter my SSID and Password. Bingo. Now I get a consistent 270 Mbps, with a very strong signal.

D-Link would like you to think that you only get the fastest wireless speeds if you use this adapter with one of their Routers. But I found that this adapter works great with my Netgear WNR2000 Router.

Make sure you get the Rev. B1 model (not Rev. A1)

Just a warning to be careful of old versions of this adapter. I received a version A2 which did not work with my DIR-655 router. I returned it and could not get Amazon to ship me a version B1 which I knew was compatible. I went to Home Depot and got a version B1 and it worked fine.

My computer was crashing because of an obsolete driver for my old D-Link Wireless Adapter. The D-Link DWA-160 wireless adapter works very well and my system is stable again. Problem solved.

D-Link DWA-160 works well HOWEVER there is no counterpart that can feed its capabilities. I used a D-Link 655 for years and it worked flawlessly. I wanted to upgrade to a system that would allow movie streaming at acceptable quality, SO I purchased the best multi-channel system. It simply does not work. We spent 2 to 3 hours 5 times with D-Link tech help just to get the router to "handshake" with 3 DWA-160 dual band USB adapters to work. Now I can enjoy constant drop out of audio only streaming. Constant dropout of video streaming. Now if I want to download a new application I must take a nap until it is finished because my used-to-be malfunctioning computer got retarded. I cannot stream videos any better that before the BEST UPGRADE on the market! I get to enjoy constant dropout!

My purchase of this D-Link system has allowed me to again enjoy the simpler things in life. Naps. No sense of urgency has completely disappeared. I have learned to actually write notes and make appointments on a notepad.

Am I recommending this device and its counterpart????? Only if you a week to set it up and then are willing to except 10% of the quality you were used to. I am seriously thinking about trashing the new stuff and go back to the 655 router and 111 adapters. D-Link does not have this technology any where near usuable.

I received this adapter with a DLINK N router. I found it to work fairly well, although I could not test the speed due to my laptop limitations. Note that you should use this with the DLINK routers, since the "N" wireless standard is not yet, well, standardized. Also, this adapter has special speed capabilities when paired with a corresponding DLINK router.

The adapter has a very unusual configuration. It comes with a USB cable that terminates in what looks like a wireless transmitter, but in fact is the base station for the actuall transmitter (which is pictured here). I suppose this allows one to get better reception, but it looks strange. The "antenna" portion has a removable cap, which is the black part pictured above.

The instructions said to run the install wizard, which I did. This is not unusual. However, these wizards usually just install the drivers, and then Windows (I'm using XP) recognizes the adaptor when it is inserted. Instead, the wizard said to connect the adapter about 1/2 way through the install process. It then connected to my home network, including my typing in the security codes. The only problem is that once the wizard was finished, I had no connectivity. I rebooted my machine and used the Windows XP connection manager to scan for and connect to my network. After that it worked fine.

I had my laptop only about 20 feet from the base station, and I only had 4 bars reception, so I'm not sure how well this adaptor will fulfill the long range requirement.

For newer laptops with USB 2.0, this adaptor may work pretty well, but the unusual base station requires a lot of room in the laptop case. A PC-Card is much slimmer and easier to fit into that case. So I think that this adapter is best reserved for those with lots of room in their laptop case, or for desktop users who have the corresponding DLINK router.

****** Update ******
I finally hooked the device up to my laptop USB2 port (via PC card) to evaluate it's performance. The local area connection went to 130, as opposed to the normal 54. So far as Internet download goes, I'm restricted to 3 Mb anyway, so both this adapter and my internal Dell A/B minicard performed the same. However, if you were transferring files over the network between PCs, or using the network printer, this adapter is significantly faster than a standard one. If local network transfers are important, this this router/adaptor combination may be worth the extra money.

Having used this for a while, I find that I actually like the light and the configuration with a separate USB base. I can easily see the internet blinking when activity is in progress. However, I am using my laptop in a static environment, so size and bulk don't matter. For traveling purposes I don't this this is the smallest option. But hooked up to a desktop with a matching D-Link router, the local LAN performance would be superior, and the extended cord would allow better antenna locations, away from the PC itself.

I'm using this with a D-Link D-628 router, and it will not work with my computer running Windows 7 x64. When I could get D-Link's Connection Manager working, I pushed the button on the adapter, then pushed the button on my router, which is supposed to link them. Nothing happened. Manually entering my SSID address didn't work either. I don't blame Win 7, I blame D-Link. The beta and RC of Win 7 have been out for over a year now, and there is NO excuse for D-Link to have no updated firmware for Win 7. Just because something says it will work with Vista, don't assume it will work with Win 7. After I installed and reinstalled the D-Link software, even the Connection Manager would no longer run, so I couldn't try the workaround (adding a new network) that someone suggested. I plugged in using ethernet so that Win 7 could find the correct driver for this adapter, only to be told that I have "issues with the adapter driver." Unacceptable, inexcusable.