D-Link DWA-192 USB Wi-Fi Adapter Review

[Guest]

Today, we take a closer look at D-Link's orb-shaped DWA-192 USB Wi-Fi adapter, one of the first AC1900 USB devices in today's market.

D-Link DWA-192 USB Wi-Fi Adapter Review : Read more

 

[James Mason]

It's a pokeball.

 

[CaedenV]

Ugly as sin, but it looks like they actually managed to get an OK product out the door. I might consider something like this for clients who have desktops that just cant have a wired connection run to them.

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

This review makes no sense. How can you call it out for a weak long-range signal when the test shows it beats everything at long-range performance? Signal strength is moot if the performance is still there.

Its far from 1300 performance though, I get the same max speed from an internal Intel 2x2 card connected at 833, although it tails off a lot quicker over distance than this as clearly the extra antenna improve long-range reception quality.

 

[digitaldoc]

Indeed, "Signal strength does not consistently predict throughput," and this is another example of this.

 

[photonboy]

digitaldoc,
Read the article again:
"Signal strength does not consistently predict throughput. However, a solid signal is necessary for consistent performance."

 

[photonboy]

Sorry,
That was meant for "alex..." not digitaldoc who already explained this.

 

[thor220]

It's a pokeball.

They should have just teamed up with Pokemon. Router Pokeball = win.

 

[nukemaster]

This review makes no sense. How can you call it out for a weak long-range signal when the test shows it beats everything at long-range performance? Signal strength is moot if the performance is still there.

Its far from 1300 performance though, I get the same max speed from an internal Intel 2x2 card connected at 833, although it tails off a lot quicker over distance than this as clearly the extra antenna improve long-range reception quality.

The drop is signal strength occurs past 55 feet.

The test only goes to 50 feet.

They should test the speed at 75 feet just to see how much the reduction in signal effects it.

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

The drop is signal strength occurs past 55 feet.

The test only goes to 50 feet.

They should test the speed at 75 feet just to see how much the reduction in signal effects it.

Exactly my point. I have been using WiFi since 802.11b so am all too aware of how unpredictable it can be and how signal strength is practically meaningless. Quite often you get a good signal strength and poor performance (as its not necessarily a good signal quality) and moving the client will result in a weaker signal strength with better performance, because you pick up a cleaner signal.

Before crosstalk became an issue I used to be able to get a usable (just barely) link at -79dBm on 2.4Ghz, but now with the number of WiFi networks around its no real indication of performance at all. Its also normal to have a much weaker signal on 5Ghz without necessarily impacting performance at all.

 

[jfolander]

USD129 seems a hefty list price. Here in China, the DWA-129 is currently listed at 343 Chinese Yuan which is about USD53 (including Chinese VAT). This price is on jd.com which has a good reputation.

 

[James Mason]

It's a pokeball.

They should have just teamed up with Pokemon. Router Pokeball = win.

And given us a Porygon-Z with it.