Wireless Client Card?

[alkit]

Hi,

Firstly, let me congratulate you on a fantastic web site. Thanks for the time, effort and money spent to get all the networking hardware tested so vigorously.

I've pretty much decided to get an Asus RT-N56U router.

The question I still have is - what PCI/PCI-E/USB client card would work best with this router. I can't find a comparison of different cards?
Can you suggest what models work well?

Secondly, the D-link DWA-556 claims the following:
"This adapter enables you to simultaneously make or receive Internet phone calls (VoIP), surf the Web, transfer files, and stream High-Definition (HD) media when connected to an Xtreme N Gigabit Router (DIR-655 or DIR-660)"

So, is this a marketing hype, or is there something that D-link have that makes their own matching hardware perform faster than normal? Would a DIR-655 and DWA-556 combination beat the Asus RT-N56U router (and other wireless client card) in terms of speed?

Thanks for the help!

 

[thiggins]

In the early days of draft N, matching client and AP could yield higher performance. Now that the standard is settled and many generations of chipsets have passed, it's really impractical to match.
Last look at this was about a year ago: 802.11n Adapter Roundup

No plans on a new roundup anytime soon.

The best advice I can give you is to NOT use an internal card in a desktop. It really puts the antennas in a terrible position. Use a USB adapter or wireless Ethernet bridge. These put the adapter on a cable, where you can position it for better performance.