Simple home WAN setup, suggestions wanted.

[NLar]

There are 2 desktops in the house. One family PC for general use (directly wired to cable modem) and my machine for gaming (not currently connected). Possibly one or two laptops in the near future.

My heart is pretty set on the DIR-655 router, which everyone seems happy with and offers the best at the $100 price point.

The family PC will remain wired but my PC will need an adapter, for which there doesn't seem to be a standout option like the DIR-655. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but the site doesn't seem to have info on wireless adapters, which seems odd, unless it's buried somewhere.

I'm looking for something around $100 that performs well. Incredible throughput isn't required, but reliability is. I'm having a hard time finding a good solution because portable adapters seem to be the only devices that get attention while I need a desktop solution like a PCI card. I looked at USB dongles, but they looked shaky for desktop level performance (gaming, downloading/uploading considerable amounts of data).

If there isn't a good option I might consider routing a cable, but my PC is on the floor above so I'd have to cut a hole. The PC would be no more than 20 feet away from the router through a ceiling wall.

Thanks!

 

[thiggins]

The DIR-655 will be a decent choice. Since you have no wireless machines now, make sure you get all draft 11n adapters or your performance will suffer.

Each review states the adapter that is used in the wireless router's performance test. We generally don't review adapters themselves, although we do occasional articles like this one:
Can a New WiFi Adapter Change Your Wireless Performance?

You can use a USB or PCI adapter. What makes you say that adapters looks shaky" for performance? A wireless connection, even draft 11n, is definitely less satisfactory for gaming and large file transfers, despite manufacturers' marketing claims.

I think you would be happier with an Ethernet connection, but you might have a shot at a good experience with only 20 feet and a ceiling. The D-Link DWA-552 would be a logical choice if you have your heart set on PCI. But unless you get cabled antennas like the D-Link ANT24-0230, the antenna end up low to the floor and behind your machine - not a good place for optimum signal.

 

[scotty]

Like Tim says, you'd probably have a reasonable experience on wireless, although for gaming and large file transfers (a lot of which I do at home personally), wireless will leave you wanting. For what it's worth, go wired. Wireless obviously has some nice advantages, but if this setup is going to be reasonably perminanent, you can save yourself a lot of headache by running a cable.

I have a DIR-655 and it's a pretty nice unit. Do yourself a favor and go buy some fish tape.